Lawton Signs with Maine

New England Recruiting Report | Sunday, April 29th, 2012

Putnam Science Academy's Shaun Lawton made a verbal commitment to the University of Maine over the busy weekend and followed up by signing his National Letter of Intent.  

The Harlem native came to Putnam Science Academy after an excellent high school career at Long Island Lutheran, leading them to a New York State Federation Class A title as a senior, including a 24 point performance in the tournament's semifinals against Jamesville-Dewitt.  

He was equally impressive on the summer exposure circuit running with Dana Dingle's Long Island Lightning program.  Despite his success, Lawton never earned the division I scholarship offer he yearned for and consequently chose a post-graduate year at Putnam Science Academy.  

“A lot of people said I shouldn’t go to a prep school, go Division II,” Lawton told the New York Post. “I chased my dreams.”

Those dreams were ultimately achieved as Lawton helped PSA to a 20-9 record this season while averaging 15.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 3.3 steals per game.  

He took recent visits to Maine and Norfolk State before ultimately deciding to stay in New England for another four years and compete in the America East.

"Signing Shaun to join our program is a great day for our team," said Maine head coach Ted Woodward.  "Shaun brings so many things to our program as a person and a player.  He is versatile combo guard with great size, outstanding understanding of the game, tremendous vision with the ball in his hands, and is a tough defender.  He can play multiple positions, and is a "winner" on the court.  He is a tremendous student and person with extremely high character, and we look forward to having him join us in the fall."

Lawton becomes the second Putnam Science product to play division I basketball, joining Rundell Mauge who committed to University of Pacific following a two year junior college stint.