Crean receives third verbal commitment for 2009 season

At Saturday’s graduation ceremonies, thousands marched into Assembly Hall and left as alumni. That same day, high school junior and Oxon Hill, Md., native Maurice Creek pledged to become a future IU student.\n“I looked at IU, they got all these championships,” Creek said. “A great school overall, a great basketball school, why not? Why not go to Indiana?”\nCreek, a 6-foot-5 195-pound shooting guard and student at South Kent School (Conn.), pledged to join the IU basketball team in the 2009-10 season. Creek is ranked the No. 12 shooting guard and No. 63 prospect nationally in the class of 2009, according to recruiting service Rivals.com.\nLike recent class of 2008 signee Nick Williams, 2009 commit Bobby Capobianco and most of IU’s current recruiting prospects, Creek was a past recruiting target of new IU coach Tom Crean.\n“He’s a good person,” Creek said. “We built this relationship when he was at Marquette.”\nAlthough the short list of schools pursuing the 17-year-old included Pittsburgh and Texas, his college decision ultimately came down to IU and Miami (Fla.). He and his parents loved both schools, but the main difference was that, unlike IU, Miami is a football school trying to build a basketball program, he said.\n“(Indiana) is a basketball school in a basketball state,” Creek said. “It was a tough decision, but it’s over now.”\nJoining forwards Derek Elston and Capobianco, four- and three-star recruits, respectively, the addition of Creek to next year’s recruiting class continues to show that with Crean at the helm of the program, help seems to be on its way.\n“I’m just ready to come and do what I do best and make Indiana what it was when they were winning the championships,” Creek said. “That’s my goal.”\nCreek said the best part of his game is shooting. When asked if that meant his mid-range shooting or his three-point game, he said “all of it.” His game does not stop there, however.\n“I can do a little bit of everything,” he said. “I love to pass (and) play defense. I can work on my rebounding a little bit, but that’s not a problem.”\nAlthough Creek has yet to visit Bloomington, the 2009 recruit is ready to be at IU as a student-athlete.\n“I’m excited right now,” he said. “I really want to leave right now and go to Indiana.”