Jan. 6, 2016
Commodore History Corner Archive
Chris Lawson dreamed of playing basketball for his hometown Indiana Hoosiers as a child maturing into one of his state’s top players. After two seasons playing primarily off the bench for coach Bobby Knight, the discontented center transferred to Vanderbilt coached by Eddie Fogler.
“Looking back, I wish I had never gone to Indiana,” Lawson said recently from his Kansas home. “I basically wasted two years. The atmosphere in Memorial Gym was great and the fans were outstanding. It made an impression when we played at Vanderbilt during my sophomore year. It was one of those things I remembered. When I decided to transfer, Vanderbilt was one of the places I wanted to investigate.”
Lawson was raised in Bloomington, Ind., a state well known for its basketball knowledge and passion. He was a two-time All-State player and third in the voting for Indiana’s “Mr. Basketball” while attending Bloomington South High School.
Lawson averaged 26.6 points and 11.9 rebounds per game as a senior. The 6-foot-9, 245-pounder attended most Hoosiers’ home games growing up. Said Lawson, “After my freshman year in high school I met with Coach Knight in his office during the summer and we pretty much hammered it out that was where I was going to school.”
As a freshman, Lawson appeared in 27 games (seven starts) averaging 15 minutes per game. Lawson averaged 3.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. His top performances were 20 points against Michigan and 13 points and 16 rebounds against Iowa State off the bench.
“You go from one level to another where they are bigger, faster and stronger,” Lawson said about leaping from high school to college. “I just tried to adjust to all that. The biggest adjustment for me at Indiana was in high school I played outside a lot. I never was really a true inside player with my back to the basket as a center.
“I had a lot more leeway in high school playing the floor. I had to learn a new system because Indiana was an all motion offense, which I had never played. The big deal was I never felt comfortable. I always felt I was on pins and needles. It got to the point I was fearful of making mistakes, and you are going to make mistakes.”
As a sophomore, Lawson’s playing time was reduced to 11 minutes per game while averaging 3.6 points and 1.7 boards per game. He played in 27 games with five starts. One of the games on the Hoosier schedule was a December match in Memorial Gym against his future team.
“I was there,” Lawson said. “I had a good game against Louisville in the Hoosier Dome before the Vanderbilt game. I didn’t play against Vanderbilt. It was one of those things where you would have a good game, and then you would sit.
“There was never any consistency. It goes back to not feeling comfortable, not fitting in and not belonging. I would play well and then I wouldn’t play. You make a mistake and you’d have to sit out. I didn’t see the floor in the game at Vanderbilt.”
Indiana defeated the Commodores, 84-73. Lawson said he knew that Knight recruited the top players in the country and liked the tough competition on the team. He had played in the AAU during the summers and knew most of the competition. Lawson realized during his sophomore season he would transfer.
“I probably started thinking about transferring during my freshman year,” said Lawson. “I thought I had only given this one year, so give it more time and maybe things will get better. Things didn’t get better. Things got progressively worse. By the time the season was over I had no doubt that I was leaving.”
Indiana won the Big Ten title that season with a 29-5 record and made it to the “Sweet Sixteen” in the NCAA Tournament eventually losing to Kansas. Lawson saw little playing time in that national event.
“By that time my relationship was not very good with Coach Knight,” Lawson said. “We lost to Kansas and I didn’t get into the game. I knew I wasn’t going to play because of things that happened in practice. There were some little things going on between us.
“After Kansas destroyed us in that last game, I was relieved and ready to get out of there.”
Lawson said it was “weird” when he told Knight about his transfer plans.
“I met with him everyday for at least a week and we would discuss things,” said Lawson. “Initially I knew I wanted to leave, but then I would waiver on that. He never blew up or anything. It wasn’t like we had a knock down, drag out fight or anything like that. I also don’t remember why we had to talk so much. I was wanting out of there.
“We came to an agreement that it was a good idea though it took a while. Then he wanted a list of places I wanted to transfer. Vanderbilt was on the list and the other place I wanted to visit was Stanford. He said there was absolutely no way he was going to let me go to Stanford. Stanford was out. I thought Stanford would be interesting because of the academics and it was in California.
“I visited Miami of Ohio because Joby Wright was the coach there and he recruited me to Indiana. After my freshman year, Coach Wright left for Miami and that concerned me. I had known him for years and he was a big man coach. I had a good relationship with him. The following week I had my visit with Vanderbilt. Before I left that visit, my parents and I had breakfast with Coach Fogler at the Opryland Hotel. When I left there I knew that’s where I wanted to go.”
The season before Lawson arrived on the Vanderbilt campus for classes in the summer 1991, the Commodores were 17-13 (11-7 SEC). Fogler had completed his second season as the Commodores’ coach. He replaced C.M. Newton and won the NIT Championship in his inaugural season with Vanderbilt.
Todd Milholland was the Commodores returning center and a senior captain. With Lawson’s transfer and NCAA rules he was required to sit out a redshirt year, but practiced with the team. Another transfer to Vanderbilt was guard Billy McCaffrey from Duke’s national championship team. Lawson liked the future of Vanderbilt basketball.
“I thought we were going to be pretty good because Bill [McCaffrey] came in and we both were redshirts,” said Lawson. “Bill and I had played together in a high school all-star game in Pittsburgh. I knew him a little bit, but not that well. It was awesome when he came to Vanderbilt too. I roomed with Milholland my redshirt year and I kept telling him to redshirt.
“I thought the next season we had the potential to be a pretty good team. I thought we could have a good rotation at center. He didn’t, but it would have been awesome if he did. I think we would have been even better. Then I roomed with Bill after my redshirt year for two years. That redshirt year helped me work on some things I needed to work on. I gained confidence and felt at home there.”
During Lawson’s redshirt season, the Commodores made a return trip to Bloomington to play at Indiana. Vanderbilt lost 88-51, and Lawson made the trip home.
“I went up there to support the team and see to my parents, family and friends,” said Lawson. “My former teammates were all awesome in welcoming me. Coach Knight didn’t say a word to me. He walked right past me. I didn’t expect him to acknowledge me, which was fine.”
In Lawson’s redshirt season, Vanderbilt was 15-15 (6-10 SEC) with a fourth place finish in the SEC East. In Lawson’s junior season, Vanderbilt jumped out to winning the first 11 of 12 games. One of those key games was a 90-88 victory over No. 9 ranked Louisville. In that game, Lawson became a part of “Memorial Magic” with the game tied and seconds left in the game.
“We had cleared everything out and Bill [McCaffrey] had the ball at the top of the key,” said Lawson. “We were four low across the baseline trying to spread it out so he could take his person one on one. It was one of those things where I tried to get into position and be ready if he missed the shot. He missed the shot, and I just happened to be in a good position when the ball came to me and I put it in. I was in the right place at the right time.”
Lawson scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds against the Cardinals. Another huge win for Vanderbilt that season was the 101-86 win over No.1 ranked Kentucky. Vanderbilt fans always enjoy a win over the ‘Cats especially in Memorial Gym. Starting for the Commodores that season were Lawson, McCaffrey, Bruce Elder, Ronnie McMahan and Kevin Anglin. Key players off the bench were Dan Hall and Frank Seckar.
“We had just lost to Florida [62-61] on a buzzer beater in a game we should have won,” said Lawson. “Sometimes it’s the games that you lose more than the wins that stick out in your mind. Stacy Poole was the guy that made the shot when we were up one with a few seconds to go. So we didn’t have momentum on our side and Kentucky was coming in No. 1.
“We really needed that one since it was fairly early in the SEC season and we didn’t want to fall too far behind, but is always easy to get up for Kentucky. At Indiana, it was a big rivalry and those are always the fun-type games to play. Travis Ford was their point guard who I played against many times in AAU basketball. Jamal Mashburn had a lot of publicity coming into that season. Most of them were McDonalds’ All-Americans. We played well.”
Against the ‘Cats, Lawson scored 19 points with six rebounds. After the Kentucky game, Vanderbilt won the next 17 of 20 games to finish the season as SEC champions (14-2) and earn an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. This was the third conference crown for the Commodores and their last. Their 28-6 mark is a school record for victories.
“The things I loved about that team, it was the true definition of a team,” said Lawson. “We all had roles and it was like a great family atmosphere. The chemistry was second to none. Chemistry is a thing that is overlooked in a lot of teams since we weren’t the most athletic. On paper people probably didn’t think we had much of a chance. Obviously, we had some talent. When you truly have well defined roles and everybody plays together unselfishly nobody cares who scores and gets the credit. It is amazing what we accomplished.”
Lawson started every game (34) in the post averaging 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. McCaffrey led the team with a 20.6 average while being named First Team All-SEC, an All-American and SEC Player of the Year. With the success of that historic squad, the Commodores advanced in the NCAA Tournament with wins over Boise State and Illinois propelling Vanderbilt into the “Sweet Sixteen.” Vanderbilt was knocked out of the tournament with a loss against Temple (67-59).
“At that time we were clicking on all cylinders against Boise State and Illinois,” Lawson said. “Most people had predicted we’d beat Temple. I don’t think anybody knew that they were going to have three future NBA players on that team. Eddie Jones played in the NBA forever. Rick Brunson was the point guard and Aaron McKie played for the 76ers for a long time. We played well in the first half and had the lead.
“Then Temple got out to a double-digit lead and we started to come back. We just ran out of steam. I still think about that game to this day. Obviously, it’s not the way you wanted the season to end. Kevin [Anglin] and Bruce [Elder] were seniors. We had an awesome season and with our coach leaving we really never got to celebrate our season as much as we liked.”
Fogler was selected the SEC Coach of the Year and the consensus National Coach of the Year, which is the only honor for a Vanderbilt basketball coach. He surprised Vanderbilt fans and the Nashville community when he left the Commodores for the head coaching position at South Carolina. Former Vanderbilt and NBA player and Cornell head coach, Jan van Breda Kolff was named to replace Fogler.
“I wasn’t happy since I went down there to play for him,” Lawson said about Fogler’s departure. “When you are going through the process of being recruited or transferring you want that guarantee that the coaches are going to be the same. Coach Fogler wasn’t planning on going anywhere, but I can see it both ways. I didn’t blame him… he was the National Coach of the Year. When you do that well I can see where you’d expect a raise.
“I think from the administration side things could have been handled much easier. I wasn’t happy that he left. I didn’t want him to go. I don’t know if our senior year could have been as good or not, but it would have been very solid. Coach Fogler had some recruits lined up and that fell through. Coach Fogler would make sure you were doing what you were supposed to do. All that changed when he left.
In Lawson’s senior campaign, the Commodores were 20-12 (9-7 SEC) and unable to make the NCAA Tournament field. Lawson averaged 12.3 points per game and led the Commodores in rebounding (6.8). McCaffrey repeated as First Team All-SEC while again leading the Commodores in scoring (20.6).
Vanderbilt participated in the NIT winning against Oklahoma, New Orleans, Clemson and Kansas State. The Commodores made it to the championship game in New York’s historic Madison Square Garden, but lost to Villanova (80-73). Lawson scored 16 points and collected six rebounds in his final collegiate game.
“Everybody is disappointed when you don’t make it to the NCAA especially with the talent we still had,” said Lawson. “We lost to Auburn in the first round of the SEC Tournament and they weren’t very good. When we started playing in the NIT we had the mentality that since we’re in it, let’s win it.
“We played the best basketball we played all year. Then we got to the final game against Villanova and were up 15 points at the half. It was like the way we ended the season before. We were playing well then for some reason in the second half Kerry Kittles, another future NBA player, got hot for Villanova. We went cold and lost.”
Lawson was asked to compare his two college coaches — Knight and Fogler.
“They both demand a lot out of you,” Lawson said. “However, Coach Fogler is a friend and somebody you can talk to. He created a much better atmosphere. At Vanderbilt, if we had a team dinner, he is there talking with us. Coach Knight never had any interactions with us off the court.”
Lawson was part of a Big Ten championship and SEC championship. He compared the two conferences.
“They are both physical,” Lawson said. “The Big Ten was more of a beating, banging kind of league. The guys at Purdue looked like body builders and the guys at Ohio State were huge. But you had 6-10, 6-11 guys that could jump out of the gym in the SEC and were quick. It was more physical in the Big Ten, but more athletic in the SEC.”
Lawson was asked his first thoughts on these former Vanderbilt teammates:
Billy McCaffrey — “He was one of the best players I played with, and a great guy.”
Bruce Elder — “He was smart and also fearless.”
Ronnie McMahan — “A very athletic player that could score and positive to be around.”
Kevin Anglin — “He was tough as nails and a coach on the floor.”
Chris Lawson — “Just lucky I got to play and happy for the second opportunity.”
Lawson graduated form Vanderbilt with a B.S. Degree in Human Organizational Development. He wanted to play in the NBA, but took his basketball talents overseas.
“I went to camp with the L.A. Clippers and I couldn’t have played any worse,” said Lawson. “I was thinking everything through. It was as if I was back at Indiana thinking too much instead of playing. Then after that I went to Turkey for one season, and led that team in rebounding. Turkey was okay, but it wasn’t for me.
“Then I came back when the NBA had a lockout. No options there. I ended up going to Taiwan, and I loved it there. There were some guys there from the SEC, Troy McKoy (South Carolina), Andre Riddick (Kentucky) Charles Claxton (Georgia) and Rodney Dent (Kentucky). I had three great seasons there and in between I went to a New Jersey Nets camp. The chances of me playing in the NBA were slim and none. I was not nearly good enough athletically.”
Lawson has been working as a sales representative (pharmaceutical) with Pharmacia and Upjohn’s, a company that went through many mergers since his arrival in 1998. He also helps out as a coach to his 12-year old daughter’s school’s basketball team. Lawson was asked of the importance of his experience at Vanderbilt as an athlete and student.
“I can’t put a price tag on the memories,” said Lawson. “I loved Nashville. My only other regret was not trying to make a life in Nashville with my family. I do miss it. There was the experience playing in the SEC and making it to the “Sweet Sixteen” with a quality coach and teammates. When you mention Vanderbilt there is a reaction with its academic and athletic reputation. Although with me going there I might have lowered that reputation (Lawson laughing). My time at Vanderbilt was priceless.”
Traughber’s Tidbit: The 1958-59 Vanderbilt Commodores were 15-10 (8-6 SEC) with Roy Skinner filling in as “interim coach” while head coach Bob Polk was recovering from a heart attack. In the final regular season game played in Memorial Gym (March 5) against Baylor, Commodores guard Doug Yates hit a two-handed jump shot to defeat the Bears (61-60) with 25 seconds on the clock.
The game was played under modified rules as an experiment. The major changes involved a 24-second clock and changes in fouls. The offended team took possession of the ball instead of shooting a free throw for the first six fouls of each half. After the sixth foul, the offended team received only one free throw instead of the current one-and-one bonus. All players fouled in the act of shooting still received two free throws. There was only one instance of a shot clock violation that occurred against Baylor in the second half. A report on the game with the experimental rules changes was sent to the SEC and SWC commissioners as well to the NCAA.
The game had been postponed from a December date due to an airlines strike in Dallas and poor weather in Nashville. Said Skinner about the experimental rules, “Overall I think I like the rules, especially in tonight’s game. I liked the 24-second rule in the latter part of the game, and had we not been playing under the rules tonight I doubt we would have been able to win.”
The NBA has been using the 24-second clock since 1954.
