Lawrence Roberts' transfer from troubled Baylor filled the needs of Mississippi State.
By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published March 21, 2004
ORLANDO - As he rose to leave the dais the other evening, Mississippi State's Lawrence Roberts suddenly broke into song.
Not for long. Just for a few bars, but enough to show off a soft, melodic voice worthy of American Idol.
"Oh, man," he said, a bit embarrassed and unable to even recall the title or artist. "Branden (Vincent) has the voice. That's my roommate. He sings a lot, so it's rubbed off on me."
"No, man. I don't know why he's lying," chimed in Vincent, a senior forward who didn't want to take the credit - or blame - for the impromptu solo. "I just listen to a lot of slow music. ... He can get crazy sometimes. He won't get outrageous. He likes to have fun."
Not like Roberts doesn't have something to sing about.
Last summer, he was preparing for his junior season, perhaps his springboard to the NBA draft, when his life got caught up in the tumult that engulfed Baylor. One teammate found dead. Another charged with his murder. A coach disgraced for trying to cover up alleged recruiting improprieties.
The 6-foot-9, 235-pound forward had sunk to a basketball nadir, but was allowed to transfer without sitting out the required year. Now, he's at a zenith.
He and the No. 2-seeded Bulldogs (26-3), the SEC regular-season champions, meet No. 7-seeded Xavier (24-10), one of the hottest teams in the tournament, at 12:10 p.m. today at the TD Waterhouse Centre for the right to advance to the Atlanta Region Sweet 16 on Friday. The Bulldogs won the regular-season meeting 82-70 on Dec. 13 in Starksville.
No. 3-seeded N.C. State (21-9) plays No. 6 Vanderbilt (22-9) in the second game with that winner moving to the Phoenix Region on Thursday.
"I don't think either one of us could have scripted it any better," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said. "It's been the perfect marriage for both of us. He's helped us in all the areas we needed and we provided him what he needed."
Roberts, who chose MSU over Arizona, found a team looking for a post presence with the defection of Mario Austin to the NBA. The Bulldogs found a star in the making. He earned SEC player of the year and is averaging 17.1 points and 10.2 rebounds.
"I think Lawrence Roberts is one of the top five college basketball players in the country," Xavier coach Thad Matta said. "The thing with Lawrence is his ability to score. He's so athletic, he runs the floor, he gets great post position and now, unfortunately for us, he's knocking down 3's. And just his ability to rebound the basketball at both ends of the floor is incredible."
In Friday night's rout of Monmouth, Roberts had 19 points and four rebounds before leaving midway through the second half after taking a thumb to his right eye. He said his vision was a bit blurry Saturday, but there's no swelling or redness and he said he's fine.
"He's a beast," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "He's incredibly strong and athletic, skilled, great hands, and he's relentless. He's really a good player. Really good. He doesn't complain, he just goes about his business."
Teammates agree that Roberts, 21, is a diligent worker, quiet and remarkably unassuming, traits that eased his transition to his new school. In one respect, sitting out a year would have helped him adjust to new people and new surroundings. The NCAA's special waiver took that away.
"The guys were great; they didn't ask anything about the situation. They didn't bring it up," he said of the problems at Baylor that made him want to avoid television and the telephone since both brought only more revelations and more questions. "That made it a lot easier for me.
"It's going incredibly well. Right now, we're in a position where we can do some great things."
