Braves floor leader Lawrence to play at Newberry

Published 12:00 pm Tuesday, May 21, 2024

When Ben Smith arrived on the job to be the Baldwin High boys basketball coach last May, he looked at game film and saw college potential. Among those who stood out was a youngster whom he learned was named Tre Lawrence.

After a run with the Braves to the GHSA AAAA semifinals in Smith’s first season, Lawrence is ready to play more basketball at the next level. Then, when it’s time to stop tying up the shoe laces for another practice, he wants to report on the game.

Lawrence, the Region 2-AAAA Player of the Year for 2023-24 for scoring 12.5 points per game while also getting around five rebounds and five assists a contest, signed to play for Newberry College in South Carolina. He was one of two seniors to start for Smith – the other being Southern Union signee Isaiah Dennis – in a lineup with three sophomores he took on the responsibility of molding into college prospects of their own.

That, after all, happened to Lawrence when he was a freshman in the Baldwin program that won the 2020-21 state championship.

“I chose Newberry because I like the program,” said Lawrence. “I went for a visit, and it felt like home. It’s small town sort of like Milledgeville … so it felt like home. Not many distractions. I feel like I’ll be able to keep my head on straight, be able to focus on school and basketball.”

While the 6-foot guard wasn’t a major contributor to Baldwin’s state winner, seeing action in only 11 varsity games that season, Lawrence saw his junior season as the point where he broke out as a player. He played in 26 games and averaged a team-high 15 points per contest. He also averaged three steals but only two assists, so the math shows he gave up some of his own scoring in order to help others find the basket more as a senior. The rebounding stayed steady at a 4.5 average two seasons ago.

“We were able to overcome a lot as a team,” said Lawrence. “Developed a lot of character. We had a lot of young guys (last season), and we were still able to do things that a lot of teams couldn’t. I just tell them to keep their heads down. Their time is coming. Everybody’s path is different. You never know how it may come out for them. They might go to the highest level. They just have to keep playing hard.”

Lawrence called his experience in the state-championship winning environment “surreal” as the city supported the team and them bringing back the title. He learned from Will Freeman and Jermyus Simmons, developing into the player he is now.

And then there was the change in coaches for Lawrence’s senior season, Smith bringing his success from Dublin High after the championship coach Anthony Webb stepped down. Lawrence said the transition wasn’t hard as Smith had a plan and the team bought into it. The Braves won their fourth region tournament championship in a row and went 27-3 overall.

“He’s a great coach,” said Lawrence. “He put a lot into the program. He got to where we want to go. Why wouldn’t you listen to someone like him? It gets you a step ahead of everyone else.”

Now Lawrence is going to keep on working and developing his basketball game to get ready for Newberry, which plays in NCAA Division II’s South Atlantic Conference.

“I always want to be the best of the best,” he said. “You don’t want to settle for mediocrity. When you get there, you want to show you belong there. I want to be the conference Player of the Year. Of course I want to start, but as a freshman … there are things you have to go through. I went through things my freshman year as a high school student. At the college level it’s going to be tougher. But I’ll be able overcome it.”

On the academic side, Lawrence has the lofty goal of studying sports journalism.