No one in the history of Arizona State basketball has played more games than super senior forward Kimani Lawrence. As the sport delves further into the transfer portal era, where players playing at two schools are looking to become nearly as common as those who choose to stay at one, Lawrence remains a traditionalist in a sport full of frequent change.
Lawrence stayed in Tempe through the good times and the bad, riding out a five-year career as a Sun Devil while evolving into a different player. With head coach Bobby Hurley’s long-time associate head coach Rashon Burno departing to take the head job at Northern Illinois this past offseason and Remy Martin electing to spend his extra season as a Kansas Jayhawk, Lawrence remains the longest-tenured Sun Devil aside from the seventh-year head coach.
“He’s a friend at this point,” said Hurley as he met with the media Tuesday afternoon. Lawrence has experienced the highs of a No. 3 national ranking and the lows of the last two seasons and said he has an open invite to return to the program in some capacity once his playing career is over. “We’ve just spent so much time together and built that relationship. Just a tremendous amount of trust in him and his leadership and what he’s done all year.”
What Lawrence was as a player when he entered the fold in Tempe as a four-star small forward from Providence, Rhode Island, to what he is now has changed. After choosing Arizona State over Florida and USC, Lawrence began his career as more of a floor-spacing wing than interior presence. As a sophomore, the 6-foot-8 forward shot 31.4 percent while attempting 105 shots from 3-point range.
“A lot of guys today transfer a lot all over the place but just being able to stay here and finish out what I started means a lot to me,” Lawrence said. “Like I said before, the fans embraced me. The team embraced me so it means a lot that I can show them the same loyalty that they showed me.”
A shoulder issue dramatically impacted his shot form -- most notably at the free-throw line, where he went from being a 76.0 percent free-throw shooter in his first two seasons to 56.9 percent in his final three years -- and led to a playstyle change. In a program that often lauds itself as “Guard U,” Lawrence spent his fourth and fifth years becoming a rebounder and slasher, averaging over 5.0 rebounds per game in each of the final two seasons.
“The biggest challenge was just letting go of my ego,” said Lawrence, who averages 10.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this year. “That taught me a lot about myself. Coming in wanting to shoot and wanting to play the guard role and do all that, letting that go was probably the biggest thing that helped me the most.
“Right now, I just have to do what I have to do to help the team win,” Lawrence continued. “It’s not about me anymore, the shots that I get or shooting the ball. Whatever I can do to help the team win, I’ve gotta do it. That really helped me a lot and took my game to the next level.”
Doing whatever it takes to win has meant Lawrence finds nearly all his production in floaters, putbacks, and cuts to the rim. In the last two seasons, he’s shot over 50 percent each year. Showcasing his commitment to rebounding, Lawrence 21 points and 20 rebounds in a win over Washington last February.
“He’s had to adjust his game to really I wouldn’t say hide one major skill that he doesn’t really use, but he’s been able to be super effective without being able to shoot the basketball really outside of 15 feet,” Hurley said. “Rarely can you see anybody overcome that. He values other things and he’s not focused on that.”
Without caring about how his offense comes or what his box score production is, Lawrence has become a leader for the Sun Devils, who sit at 12-16 and 8-10 in Pac-12 play entering the final weekend of the regular season.
“He’s been great for us,” said sophomore guard Jay Heath. “He’s a leader. When things weren’t going right he was the one keeping us together. He’s an older guy, so he’s mature about everything. He comes to practice every day and he doesn’t take any days off. He’s been great for us setting an example.”
The leadership provided by Lawrence and the togetherness displayed by the Sun Devils has resulted in wins in five of their last six games. Ahead of visits from California and Stanford in the final weekend of the Pac-12 regular season, the Sun Devils have real seeding implications to play for. With a win over then-No. 3 UCLA, a sweep of Oregon and competitive moments against USC and Arizona, Hurley has hopes that February momentum can turn into March magic.
“I think the guys know that we’re capable of playing at the highest level in our league. We’ve seen the best teams and we’ve been able to be super competitive or win in those games,” said Hurley, who is now 20-12 in February in the past four seasons. “We are playing the best that we’ve played all year but that’s not going to guarantee us anything next week so we’ll have to finish this week as best we can and get ready for it.
“I certainly have confidence going into any game that we play next week.”
Malleability for Arizona State has been a factor in their ability to win games as of late. Without sophomore guard DJ Horne -- ASU’s leading scorer this season -- because of a stomach bug Saturday, the Sun Devils got a game-high 20 points out of sophomore guard Jay Heath. In back-to-back road games, four Sun Devils produced double figures in scoring and allowed ASU to shoot over 50 percent in the second half of each game.
“We have people playing better so there’s a better vibe,” Hurley says. “There’s a confidence about what we’re doing and guys believe that we can do something special… I think (second-half success) is a mindset thing to a large degree. I think we’ve learned some hard lessons the way we started with Arizona here and even Washington both halves in that game and we committed more to being prepared.
“We’ve been a better team to start the second half as of late.”
Thursday night ASU takes on a Cal squad without Andre Kelly, their leading scorer, and best player, who is out with a season-ending injury. Saturday’s Senior Day contest comes against a Stanford team that ASU lost in controversial fashion by 3 to in Palo Alto. Despite losing to both schools on the road, ASU will likely be favored in both contests.
“It wasn’t always easy, especially with guys not knowing each other a couple of months ago,” Lawrence said of ASU’s togetherness heading into the final two home games. “It’s a testament to the character that these guys have. We could’ve mailed it in and guys could’ve started looking to next year… but it’s a testament to the type of people that he brought into the program.
“Regardless of any of our losses, we didn’t just lay down. We always competed and tried to play hard. That translates to now. Our offense has started to click and we’re still playing hard, competing on defense. It’s good to see.”
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