Hoops recruit update: Maurice Watson

Good news/bad news for Penn hoops fans:

Class of 2012 point guard Maurice Watson — who had Penn at the top of his list before the summer, according to his father — has been increasing his stock thanks to stellar play on the AAU circuit.

The good news, of course, is that the Boys' Latin (Philadelphia) point guard is showing great promise and could be a great "get" for Penn alongside Jamal Lewis. The bad news? Other schools are paying attention as well.

According to this Zagsblog post by the reputable Alex Kline, Watson has amassed quite the list of offers, including ones from Vermont, Rice, BU, Niagara, Morehead St., La Salle, Hofstra, Tennessee Tech, Quinnipiac, Iona, UMBC, Northeastern, Towson, Long Beach State, and last — but absolutely, definitely not least — Texas Tech.

Watson certainly is hoping for big things, as evidenced by his tweet (@ReeceWatson10):

At 12:01am the Live Period is officially over. College coaches can begin to call. Hopefully, my phone is a hotline.

As you can tell, the recruitment of Watson has suddenly undergone a vast change. Back in March, our Brian Kotloff had his own recruit scoop on Watson, and it looked like the quick PG was all but a lock for Penn, given his ties to coach Jerome Allen and his prioritization of academics. After a great summer, however, Watson will have a wealth of opportunities before him.

According to this other Alex Kline post, Watson won't make his decision until November 3 (his grandmother's birthday), so nothing is imminent. One last interesting thing to note is that Kotloff's post included a tidbit about Watson perhaps hoping to join longtime friend Xavier Harris at Penn. Well, Harris has since de-comitted, so that could play a role in Watson's forthcoming decision.