University of Minnesota Athletics
Sharp Shooter: Junior Lawrence McKenzie
1/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Like Minnesota’s four freshmen, Lawrence McKenzie will be playing his first career Big Ten game against Purdue this evening. But the junior guard is far from short on experience in big games.
In his first season with the Gophers since transferring from Oklahoma, the Minneapolis, Minn. native is leading the team across the board.
McKenzie is Minnesota’s leading scorer at close to 16 points per game, plays the most minutes and has been the Gophers’ most consistent performer, scoring in double figures in 11 of 14 games. A perennial threat from outside the arc, McKenzie also ranks third in the conference in three-pointers made, with an average of 2.85 made per game.
“I’ve always been a good shooter,” McKenzie said. “Since I remember playing, shooting has been my strong point. That’s what I do. If I’m open, I just think I can hit a shot. I got my confidence from shooting a lot in the gym and making shots.”
McKenzie will be expected to take a lot of those shots this year. Along with post players Dan Coleman and Spencer Tollackson, he is one of three Gophers upperclassmen with a wealth of Division I experience.
But although playing two seasons in the Big 12 was invaluable for McKenzie, he thinks he may have learned the most as a basketball player after he made the decision to transfer home to Minnesota and sat out last year.
“I learned a lot,” McKenzie said. “It helped me mature a lot, too. The decision I made helped me think about what exactly I wanted to do with my career. It also helped me a lot schoolwise. Last year, even though I played basketball in practice, I was just a regular student. I concentrated on my grades and then I concentrated on doing everything right – getting in the gym and spending time on my game. Sitting out a year really helped me mature.”
One thing McKenzie has worked on this season as a veteran player is trying to adjust his game on the rare occasion when his shot isn’t falling.
“I try to do other things,” he said. “I try to get teammates open and try to create for other guys. I’ll rebound, play defense and just bring energy. That’s what I learned from Coach Molinari: you can’t let everything in your whole game be determined from your shot. Good players when they’re not making shots they still do other things. That’s something I have to learn to do and want to do for the team.”
In his two seasons at Oklahoma, McKenzie was a top contributor who averaged close to double digits in scoring. He is using his top-conference experience to try and help prepare the freshman class for the day-to-day grind of the Big Ten.
“We have a lot of young guys who are inexperienced and who haven’t played at this level at all,” McKenzie said. “The upperclassmen come every day and try to show what it takes. I think Coach Molinari is really doing a good job of helping us lead them, too. He’s leading us and showing us exactly what we need to be doing.”
McKenzie is expected to lead the Gophers off the court as well this year. Although he was forced to redshirt last season because of transfer rules and spent the year watching behind the bench, McKenzie was voted by his teammates this summer as one of the team captains.
It is a role that came somewhat unexpected for McKenzie, but one that seems to make sense.
“It’s good to know that your teammates have that much respect for you,” he said. “I didn’t play at all last year, but I think they knew I was going to come every day and practice hard, giving 100 percent and all my effort. My goal last year was to not let a day go by without us getting better and me getting better. I guess they understand that that’s something they can follow and learn from. Every day, I still come to practice and try to play my hardest and earn everybody’s respect.”
McKenzie’s leadership abilities and desire to constantly get better may run in his genes. His father, Larry McKenzie, is well-known in the Minnesota basketball community, as a coach and mentor. Larry coached Lawrence at Minneapolis Henry High School, where Lawrence led the team to state championships as an All-State player.
“A lot of people don’t get a chance to see their dad around that much,” Lawrence McKenzie said. “Eleven out of the 13 kids on my high school team came from a single parent household, so they considered my dad a lot like their dad. After practice, my dad and I would go home and talk about basketball. From that basketball relationship, we learned to talk about a lot of other things. Our relationship is really strong now. He became more of a best friend. If there’s something going on in my life I need to tell somebody about, that’s who I usually call.”
But the healthy father-son relationship took awhile for Lawrence to fully appreciate when he was younger.
“There were plenty of times where I didn’t want to play for him,” Lawrence said. “I felt like every time I was getting yelled at and he was picking on me. It was something I definitely learned from and can look back on it now and smile.”
This season, Larry McKenzie is coaching the Minnesota Ripknees of the American Basketball Association, a team former Gophers Moe Hargrow and Mitch Ohnstad play for. And although Larry is no longer coaching his son, Lawrence is still ready to take his advice.
“He lets me go a little bit more now, but I still hear it from him,” Lawrence said. “I get the game films and we watch it together. After my games, he always has stuff to say. He can try as hard as he wants not to say anything, but he’s still a coach.”
Gophers fans will get used to seeing the father and son tandem in Williams Arena over the next two seasons. And they likely know which player they want taking the big shot.
“I just want to play the best I can and do whatever I can to help this team win,” Lawrence said. “I think we have a great chance of turning things around.
“It’s fun to come out to play and see your friends and family in the stands - people that you know and who saw you grow up. It’s kind of amazing. I think they’re proud of me, and that makes me happy.”
story by Emily Wickstrom, athletic communications intern
