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A few months ago when we looked at the remaining spot in UB's incoming class for 2015-16, we identified a pair of high school guard prospects, a true center, and a JUCO shooting guard as the likely candidates.
Today, an already great weekend for Buffalo Men's Basketball got better thanks to some recruiting news for that last spot. It turns out UB did indeed go the JUCO route.
But not for Naquavious King, the three-point bomber detailed in the link above. Rather, it's Maurice O'Field, one of King's teammates at Midland College. The commitment was first reported by Brad Winton (@JUCORecruiting) of JUCORecruiting.com, and appears to come on the heels of O'Field being in Alumni for an official visit during the attendance-record-setting, #2-seed-clinching, going-down-in-UB-history Senior Night win over Bowling Green.
O'Field will be immediately eligible for the Bulls next season and has three years of playing time remaining.
So Who Is Maurice O'Field?
He is a basketball player, and apparently a damn good one. Originally from Cleveland, O'Field stands 6'5" and is alternatively listed as a guard or a guard/forward swingman. This is his first season at Midland after originally committing to East Tennessee State, and he's averaging 15.8 points, 5 boards, and 2.9 assists per game for the Chaparrals. It seems that Maurice never played at ETSU due to academic eligibility issues.
Let's watch some of his senior season highlights:
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You'll notice in the comments there that Maryland fans were anticipating O'Field's arrival in College Park. It seems that until recently most places were predicting him to join the Terrapins. O'Field also had offers from Arizona State, Virginia Tech, and Louisiana Tech. Sites are conflicting on whether Marquette had officially offered, but the Golden Eagles were certainly interested. Winton also reports that Baylor and Gonzaga were similarly interested.
I lead with the schools UB beat out, because I think that's a better indication of talent but I'll also point you to O'Field's page on 247, where he's rated at .9000 and a composite four-star recruit. Out of high school, Maurice was rated a two-star by most services.
For Winton's piece on the newest Bull, follow the link below:
Midland guard Maurice O'Field gives verbal commitment to Buffalo
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>LOOK AT THIS OFFER LIST. LOOK AT IT. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BullsDominate?src=hash">#BullsDominate</a> <a href="http://t.co/b3N2fihVlN">http://t.co/b3N2fihVlN</a> <a href="http://t.co/QwZHlMChLP">pic.twitter.com/QwZHlMChLP</a></p>— Bull Run (@UBBullRun) <a href="https://twitter.com/UBBullRun/status/574666827554549760">March 8, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>LOOK AT THESE WORDS RT <a href="https://twitter.com/RHoopsRecruits">@RHoopsRecruits</a>: Next year Buffalo will add Maurice O'Field and Torian Graham to a 21-win team that won the MAC East.</p>— Bull Run (@UBBullRun) <a href="https://twitter.com/UBBullRun/status/574669410306289664">March 8, 2015</a></blockquote>
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