It was an afternoon in the Fall of 1991. We were inside Manley Field House in our post-run stretching spot watching members of the Syracuse men’s basketball team playing pick-up. As we sat stretching and talking about who knows what, I remember we heard a high-pitched yell followed by a guy with his Manley socks pulled up to his knees dunking the ball.
It kept happening. Scream. Dunk. Scream. Dunk. We knew the Orange were adding a McDonald’s All-American Anthony Harris as the headliner of a strong freshman class, but who was this guy with the socks. The more we watched as the pick-up games turned into practices, this guy with the socks kept making plays.
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Lawrence Moten.
Where did he come from? None of us knew much about him that first day, but pieces started coming in as the weeks went on. When he entered the starting line-up in Atlanta against Florida State in the Big East/ACC Challenge, the country learned about Lawrence “Poetry In” Moten.
Moten was a guy who rarely dazzled, but when you looked at the box score, there he was with 18 points, a few rebounds, a couple of assists and steals. When people say someone is a “High IQ” player, they could be describing Moten. He had a knack for finding the seams in a defense, reading the play like he was back running routes for Marvin Graves and getting to where the ball would find him.
His game was old-school. Moten shot 54% from 2 during his Syracuse career. He wasn’t a big threat from 3, but he could cook defenders in the mid-range. Syracuse fans were captivated by the emotion and joy he displayed on the court and his presence helped the Orange rebound from NCAA probation to make a Sweet 16 run.
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Moten scored in double figures in 118 out of 121 career games on his way to breaking the Big East and Syracuse all-time scoring records. He was the Big East Rookie of the Year and then a three-time All-Big East First-Team selection.
As Jim Boeheim said, Syracuse has lost another legend and one of the greatest players in Orange history.
“This is a tragic day for the Syracuse basketball family,” said Boeheim. “Lawrence’s passing is such a sudden thing — it’s very hard to take. He was one of the most underrated college basketball players of all time. I believe some people took his ability for granted because he made it look so easy. Lawrence was one of our greatest players and one of the best in the history of the BIG EAST Conference.”
Like many in Syracuse, I had some interactions with Lawrence when he was around. He was always quick to engage with fans, to sincerely accept their appreciation, and maybe if you were lucky he left you with a basketball guard of his that showed him driving against Michael Jordan.
If you were really lucky, Lawrence would tell you about his daughters and all that they were doing and that smile grew wider. That’s the Poetry I’ll remember. The soft-spoken guy who loved to share a story. The guy who made all he came in contact with feel like they were the legend. The one gone too soon, but the one we’ll never forget.
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I was looking for a video to share to end this and I can’t think of anything better than this interview with Lawrence and his daughter.
