ASU Basketball: Kimani Lawrence ready for breakthrough season

ASU basketball forward Kimani Lawrence spent most of last season recovering from injury. After a successful offseason, he’s ready to show his best days are ahead.

Kimani Lawrence could sit and discuss each aspect of his game that has improved over the past six months. Among his favorites would be mobility, ball handling and shooting.

For most players, those advances would suffice. Basketball is an embodiment of year-to-year improvement, and for collegiate athletes, their critical steps typically stem from the summer following their freshman season.

That impression could be attached to Lawrence. But it wouldn’t approach his full story.

A year ago, Lawrence was the prize of Bobby Hurley‘s recruiting trails. Ranked as a top-60 recruit in the class of 2017 by 247sports.com, the 6-foot-7 inch forward from Ashburnham, Mass. shouldered excitement and expectations as the second-highest prospect in Hurley’s brief tenure at ASU.

Early on, fans got to see flashes of Lawrence’s potential.

In the team’s first scrimmage against Division-II Northern State, the four-star prospect showed an ability to run the floor, score from the perimeter and in transition.

But after that, Lawrence didn’t see the floor much. Following the season opener against Idaho State, the announcement came of Lawrence fracturing the fifth metatarsal of his left foot, sidelining him until Jan. 4.

Lawrence spent the remainder of the season working to return to his offseason form. There were glimpses of what could have been, most notably a week in which he averaged 7.5 points, 4 rebounds and 1.5 steals in a sweep of USC and UCLA, but nothing that approximated his initial impact.

Now 20 days from his sophomore debut, Lawrence is back in shape and not worried about his foot. Complementing his technical improvement comes the greatest gift earned: the trust of his head coach.

“Kimani’s been determined,” Hurley said. “He’s won the offseason.”

Among the new faces gracing the ASU program, it’s easy to overlook Lawrence.

Early in the young season, it’s been a variation of highly-touted freshman Luguentz Dort, transfers Zylan Cheatham and Rob Edwards and sophomore guard Remy Martin sharing the spotlight.

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Originally expected to start a season ago, Lawrence’s role is likely to be different. The surplus of talent will cause him to come off the the bench to start the year.

As a competitor, it can be hard to accept that disposition. But Lawrence embodies both the competition and being a winner.

“I took what I was given and tried to make the best of it,” said Lawrence of last season. “I’m going to do the same this year. Whatever coach needs me to do, I’m going to do it.”

In the midst of Hurley’s efforts to alter the culture of the program, Lawrence’s combination of size, skill and reliability are factors that can help foster change. In years past, the Sun Devils built their teams around thin rotations and small-ball lineups that emphasized fast breaks and 3-point shooting.

Perhaps no team exercised the run-and-gun philosophy better than last year’s team. Led by the “Guard U” quartet of Martin, Tra Holder, Shannon Evans II and Kodi Justice, the Sun Devils jumped to a 12-0 start and a No. 3 ranking with one of the nation’s most prolific scoring offenses.

The flaws, however, weren’t disguised for long. ASU stumbled to an 8-10 record in Pac-12 play before squeezing into the NCAA Tournament before falling to Syracuse in the First Four.

All things considered, last season wasn’t a failure. But the issues of defensive rebounding, mismatches and breaking zone defenses remained intact.

With Herb Sendek’s recruits in the rear view mirror, Hurley hopes to morph “Guard U” into “Big Guard U,” where defense and athleticism overtake scoring and sharpshooting.

“The composition of the team is different,” Hurley said. “There’s a lot of roster flexibility to have different lineups on the floor, to impact the game depending on how you want that to take place. It’s good to have versatility.”

Lawrence, a lengthy player with a 7-foot wingspan, has that type of capability. He primarily plays the three (small forward) but can slide over to defend power forwards and centers if need be.

With a healthy foot and a full offseason to prepare, Lawrence is ready to buy into the defense-first mentality his team has established.

“I know in previous years, our defense hasn’t been very good,” he said. “This year, we got defensive size at each position, guys can switch, guys can guard multiple positions. So our defense took a big step this year.”

When ASU takes the court on Oct. 30, Lawrence might not be the player everyone has their eyes on. He won’t jam the ball like Cheatham or have shifty crossovers like Martin and Edwards.

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But for maybe the first time in his ASU career, Lawrence will be healthy. That and his work ethic will help everyone remember his name.

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.

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