BC Sees Potential in Lawhorn
Danny Lawhorn is going to the ACC and that may come as a surprise to some people. But Al Skinner and his staff at Boston College have made a habit over the years of out-evaluating the competition to land diamond in the rough type talents…and they believe Lawhorn could be the latest in that line.
The junior point guard landed on BC’s recruiting radar in atypical fashion as the Eagles’ staff wasn’t actively recruiting him during the July live period. Instead, Skinner heard about him from one of his former players.
Tyson Wheeler, a resident of New London, Connecticut, who starred for Skinner at URI from 1994-1998 got to know Lawhorn this summer when they played together in the Greater Hartford Pro-am.
Wheeler, who still plays professionally overseas, liked what he saw out of Lawhorn as the youngster’s speed with the ball and prowess in the open floor no doubt reminded the former Atlantic 10 star of himself. Before the summer league ended, Wheeler told Lawhorn that he would be calling his former coach about him.
“Before he [Tyson] left [to go back overseas] he just told me to keep working on my game and that he was going to have coach come down and see me.”
It turns out Wheeler did more than that as BC coaches both came to the Hartford Public gym to check out the junior point guard and then also hosted him for a short unofficial visit to their Chestnut Hill campus.
That was all Skinner and his staff needed to see as they recently offered Lawhorn a scholarship…and on Friday night he accepted.
And while some people may be surprised to see Lawhorn head to the high major level this early in his career, he never doubted himself.
“Since last summer everybody was saying I couldn’t do this or I couldn’t do that,” Lawhorn told NERR. “They said because I was small I was NEC, MAAC, or possibly A-10 material, but with confidence and heart I always knew I could do anything.”
Now Lawhorn will get a chance to prove it on one of the biggest stages in college basketball…the ACC.
And as for his new friend Wheeler, there is now a bond that is sure to last.
“I talked to Tyson yesterday and he said congratulations.”
Danny Lawhorn