Injuries robbed Maurice Creek of stardom
Due to no fault of his own, Maurice Creek was robbed of a potentially all-time great career as a Hoosier. Imagine a world where he never struggles with injuries and develops into an even better player than he was as a freshman. Creek would have become a nearly unstoppable scorer.
On top of his own development, Creek would have had the luxury of playing with one of the most talented Indiana teams ever. The 2012-2013 squad with Cody Zeller, Victor Oladipo, Yogi Ferrell, Will Sheehey, Christian Watford, and Jordan Hulls would be joined by a 16 point per game (at least) scorer. Instead, Creek averaged 1.8 points per game during that season.
While it is sad to think about what could have been with Creek’s career at IU, there’s always another side to the story. If Creek was healthy his whole career, perhaps Oladipo wouldn’t have had the proper chance to shine and wouldn’t be the player he is today. Or, conversely, perhaps the team would have been so good that they could have secured the number one overall seed in the NCAA tournament and would avoid Syracuse and potentially go a lot deeper than the Sweet Sixteen. Maybe, if that happens, Tom Crean is still the coach of Indiana.
There are infinite possibilities of the butterfly effect, but anyway you cut it, Maurice Creek’s career is one filled with untapped potential and tragedy. It’s wonderful to see him get some shine and national attention through The Basketball Tournament, but it can’t help but make you wonder what could have been.