Another Game, Another Year
MONEY was tight when Larry Lawrence and his six brothers and five sisters were growing up in Macon, Georgia. There was no shortage of parental encouragement for athletic participation, however. "Every Christmas there was always a new football, a new basketball, and a new basketball rim under the tree because we had always worn the old ones out by then," Lawrence recalled recently. "Athletics were encouraged by our parents because it developed a sense of pride."
Lawrence, a senior, was elected cocaptain of this year's men's basketball team, which was given a shot at winning its first Ivy League title in two decades. But the 6-foot 4-inch, 190-pound forward suffered a broken foot a week before the regular season started and decided to drop out of school to give his foot more time to heal properly. "I really don't know when it occurred," he said of the stress fracture. "I assume it was the result of the pounding over and over that the foot took during the summer and fall." Lawrence mentioned to the Dartmouth training staff that he was experiencing some pain in his foot, and xrays confirmed the fracture. Four weeks in a cast failed to heal the break completely. "The doctors told me that if I played there was a 50-50 chance the break would be more serious, so I decided to give the foot a rest. The decision not to be enrolled in school was a very, very difficult one because I wanted to graduate with my class," he explained.
Lawrence has remained on campus this winter to see his teammates through the season while he works full-time for the Dartmouth Dining Association in Thayer Hall. The psychology-economics major will take a job with the First National Bank of Boston for six months and will return to Hanover next fall for his final two terms. The decision to drop out of school will enable him to play basketball for Dartmouth next winter.
"The more and more I look at the injury, it really was a blessing," observed Lawrence. "I really want to play in the National Basketball Association, or, if that doesn't work out, in Europe where my former teammate Sterling Edmonds '78 is now playing. This will give me another year to work on my game and give me the added exposure." Lawrence, who has been contacted by a couple of scouts from professional teams, was a first-team all-Ivy selection in 1978-79. Last year, he averaged 16.4 points and 7.5 rebounds and shot a potent 58 per cent from the floor to earn the Dolly Stark Award, given to Dartmouth's most valuable player. He scored 20 or more points eight times and led Dartmouth in scoring in 19 of 26 games. He scored a career high of 27 points against Manhattanville.
Losing one of the premier basketball players in New England was a blow for first-year coach Tim Cohane. "The worst thing is that Larry's injury happened just before the first game," noted Cohane. "We had geared the team around him, and it's taken a long time to revamp the team." As of mid-February, the Big Green had suffered nine consecutive losses and had an overall record of 4-14. Dartmouth had only one victory in six tries in the Ivy League. Senior forward Cleo Robertson filled some of the void created by Lawrence's absence by leading the team with an average of 15.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Senior co-captain Dave Broil, who has started at guard in every game since his first varsity contest as a sophomore, was the team's second leading scorer with 7.4 points per game. Cohane is philosophical about the loss of Lawrence. "In a way, maybe it's good in the long run," he said. "Larry will gain a little more maturity and experience; it will give the younger players a chance to develop; and it will aid in recruiting because the kids will know that Larry will be back."
In November, at Thompson Arena, Lawrence showed some of his brilliance in an exhibition game against the Republic of China. Despite playing with some pain from the stress fracture, he poured in 30 points against the visiting Taiwan squad. Four or five of those baskets were slam dunks. "I really enjoyed that game," recalled Lawrence. "There were a lot of people in the stands, and I really played well."
Lawrence doesn't remember when he first picked up a basketball, but as a child he spent "many, many hours" practicing in his yard. He first played organized basketball when he was in the fifth grade. Athletics were a prime part of the lives of the Lawrence children.
Larry attended Mount deSales High School in Macon. He didn't have an outstanding year offensively in basketball as a junior at the predominantly white Catholic school but scored 21 points per game as a senior. He was named the team's most valuable player and ranked in the top 25 in the state for his scoring. "Not too many colleges knew about me," conceded Lawrence. "But I had good grades in high school." Lawrence, who received the award for best student-athlete at Mount deSales, was encouraged by his older brothers and sisters to seek a school where he could receive a good education in addition to playing basketball. A letter from the Dartmouth coaching staff to his high school coach pointed Lawrence to Dartmouth. Going to Dartmouth from a southern community of 300,000 was quite a change for the teen-ager. "Coming to Hanover - and seeing how small it was - and the cold weather of winter were the two biggest transitions," he said.
Lawrence admits to being a "basketball junkie" who never seems to tire of the game. "I could play it 24 hours a day - or at least until they close the gym." During Saturday afternoon of Carnival weekend, while his varsity teammates were going through warmups on the Alumni Gymnasium floor, Lawrence was upstairs in the gym leading a group of senior classmates to victory over a team from the junior class. In addition to dominating play, Lawrence scored the winning basket in the pickup game. His foot injury had obviously healed. Next winter it will be back to intercollegiate basketball. "I think we'll be an extremely strong team next year," he predicted.
The Records(through February 13) BASKETBALL Men (4-14) Women (11-9) HOCKEY Men (12-5-1) Women (7-5) SWIMMING Men (6-2) Women (3-7) INDOOR TRACK Men (2-6) Women (4-4) GYMNASTICS Men (4-4) Women (3-4) SQUASH Men (4-4) Women (6-3) SKIING Dartmouth Winter Carnival Men: second Women: third
