The high school career of Basha High School's 6-foot-10, 220-pound junior post Maurice Kirby has been a very interesting one - filled with challenges, high school transfers and up and down expectations from college scouts and media.
In three years of high school basketball, Kirby has played at three different high schools, but one thing has remained consistent for Kirby - his wonderful smile and desire to play the game to the best of his ability.
Once projected as a PAC-12 college prospect, Kirby gave an early verbal commitment to Arizona State University and head coach Herb Sendek and his staff as a mere sophomore prospect, before eventually de-committing from the Sun Devils and re-opening his college recruitment just 6 months later.
Since his de-commitment from the Sun Devils, Kirby has attended several different high schools. After beginning at Flagstaff High School as a freshman, Kirby attended Posten Butte HS as a sophomore and then Basha HS this past high school season.
After a subpar summer performance last summer on the club circuit, Kirby has seen his college recruitment go up and down in a short manner of time.
Kirby remains confident about his college future and has remained very consistent in the classroom, as he possesses a 3.8 CUM GPA.
"After all we've been through, you really find out who your true friends are," said Michelle Kirby - Maurice's mother and a elementary school teacher.
After a subpar spring and summer performance last year while playing on the 17U level as a rising junior, Kirby is hopeful of having a much stronger performance this go around and looks to regain the college recruitment that he had just two years ago.
"Hopefully I will get some good looks," said Maurice Kirby. "I'm working every day."
Kirby loves the game and has not strayed from that enjoyment and passion for the game of basketball, as he has worked hard over the past several years with a personal trainer to improve his skillsets for the future.
Kirby advised me that he is currently hearing from such college programs as Stanford, Penn State, Tennessee, Drake, Princeton and San Diego State. He currently has a scholarship offer from Penn State.
Kirby will look to add more interest with a strong summer performance. This spring he played for the The Magic - an Arizona team created by California's Compton Magic, before leaving the team after one event, along with several other Arizona high school products. He currently is playing for the ICAN All-Stars (CA), and has played very well for them the remainder of this spring.
"I'm getting my confidence back now," said Kirby. "I got a ways to go, but I'm getting 15 (points) and 9 (rebounds) nightly."
Look for Kirby to generate much more interest this summer for himself, as he looks to gain stability and find himself a college home for the future. His size, length and academic performance are rare qualities among the 2013 class of prospects and well worth taking a chance on.
Arizona Hoop Review Scouting Report: Kirby stands close to 6-foot-10 in heigth and has a nice wingspan for his size. Kirby has good mobility as a post player and also exudes a nice work ethic. He has a soft touch from the perimeter out to 15 feet, but needs more touches to continue to develop his perimeter skills. He also has good low post footwork and a nice jump hook around the basket area, although he rushes his moves at times. He is a solid shotblocker with good timing. Kirby runs the floor well and competes hard to gain good inside position around the painted area. He is an active rebounder and attempts to rebound the basketball outside of his area. He is a solid passer with a willingness to find the open man on the floor. Kirby possesses a great attitude on and off the floor and has a nice smile. This young man should only continue to improve over time with better coaching, since he definitely has the right attitude.
