Building a Future

On the first day of June, Tyrin Lawrence solidified Memorial Gymnasium’s place as prime SEC real estate for the season ahead. In an Instagram post, the guard who last season hit a forever-famous shot against Tennessee announced he would return for his senior year.

“I’m back,” it read.

Lawrence didn’t waste any time making the most of his return. Within days, Lawrence was hard at work on the next chapter in his Vanderbilt story—in the weight room and on the court, to be sure, but also in the Nashville offices of Foundry Commercial. He spent his summer as an intern with the commercial real estate company’s development and investment business.

Immersing himself in zoning laws, permitting processes and civic development plans, Lawrence studied ways that Foundry could help shape a community’s growth. Using Google Earth, he tried to determine what the area would look like in the future.

In some sense, the mapping project wasn’t all that different from how Lawrence surveyed his options this past spring and worked to choose his best path for growth—on and off the court.

Lawrence’s opportunity with Foundry ultimately arose because he chose another year of head coach Jerry Stackhouse’s mentorship. He did that for the same reason he chose Vanderbilt in the first place—and the same reason he took on a double major in sociology and human and organizational development: He wanted to invest in his future. And at Vanderbilt, he found a community ready to help.

“I just wanted to honestly make the most out of the opportunity while I was here,” Lawrence said. “I only get this once in life. I just wanted to leave knowing that I did all I could.”

For Foundry partner and Vanderbilt alumnus Jason Holwerda, who was a starter on the Commodores team that reached the Sweet 16 in 2004, connecting with his alma mater to offer an internship was an opportunity to give back and to move forward. In Nashville’s thriving and competitive employment market, making early connections helps Foundry earn a reputation as a desirable destination.

But for Holwerda, BS’05, the best interests of the company dovetail with his desire to give back—the same way the late Pat Emery was a ladder up for him. Emery, a longtime Vanderbilt supporter and hugely successful developer, took Holwerda under his wing when he transitioned from the court to the business world after college. So, when Holwerda learned that Lawrence was interested in pursuing a summer internship that would provide experience in the business world, the alumnus helped connect him with Foundry Commercial’s longstanding internship program.

Thus, shortly after the Instagram post in his Vanderbilt uniform, Lawrence suited up in business casual and commenced a morning ritual familiar in offices everywhere—checking morning emails.

“Originally, we gave him some pretty low-hanging fruit, some easy tasks to knock out to get settled,” Holwerda said. “He burned through those really quickly, and we had to set him up with more substantial work. Every minute he is in there, his head is down, he’s working, he’s asking good questions. He jumped in with two feet and has interacted with others on the team really well.

“He’s a hard worker and eager to learn, which is a good combination.”

Lawrence certainly didn’t appear nervous this past February, when he caught Ezra Manjon’s pass with less than a second remaining against Tennessee and drained a game-winning 3-pointer—the shot illuminated by the red light behind the backboard that accompanied the buzzer. For that matter, he didn’t show any uncertainty when he scored 25 and 24 points, respectively, in the first two rounds of the National Invitation Tournament. And yet the soft-spoken scorer with a good poker face admits he’s nervous every time he takes the court, even though it’s a place he’s spent thousands of hours. Imagine, then, the nerves that accompanied stepping into a completely unfamiliar environment—what he described as his first real job.

He was the only person there who’d ever been the lead story on SportsCenter, but in the office, he was just the rookie trying to “be a sponge” and learn.

“I appreciate the fact that he embraced going into an uncomfortable situation. It’s not easy to walk into an office and meet 40 new people, try to remember names and be personable,” Holwerda said. “And then No. 2, to jump into an industry that he knew little about beforehand and add value. I’m sure it was uncomfortable and stretched his boundaries from what he’s used to. But that’s the way we grow. That’s the way he grows as a basketball player. That’s the way he’s going to grow as a human and a businessman in the future.”

Vanderbilt’s (3) Jason Holwerda in action against Florida on Jan. 15, 2005. (Vanderbilt/Neil Brake)

Lawrence worked on a number of projects on the development and investment side of Foundry’s business. He donned a safety helmet and boots and visited an active construction site in Smyrna. In regular “lunch and learn” meetings, he picked the brains of executives and team leaders. But a nascent project in Spring Hill left the most lasting impression.

Foundry is looking to raise capital to build an industrial warehouse in the city about 30 miles south of Nashville. To do that, the company needs to paint a picture for investors of not only their project but the surrounding area and why Spring Hill is the right place for development. Lawrence’s task was to help create a map of what the area will look like in five years, culling data on other approved and proposed projects, reading business journals for information and speaking with local officials and planners.

The specific industry was new to Lawrence, but the more he did, the more he realized how many tools he already had at his disposal. The same way Stackhouse and the coaching staff had helped prepare his game, his coursework at Vanderbilt had prepared him to adapt off the court.

“HOD deals with a lot of team-oriented stuff and sociology with how people think,” Lawrence said. “So just using what I learned in the field of business—knowing how to interact with people, how they may think sometimes in certain situations. It’s knowing how to collaborate better. It definitely helps me moving into the real world with business or whatever it is.”

“Whatever it is” beyond his time with the Commodores may well be many years in professional basketball. But as it did for Holwerda and Stackhouse, at different times in life, playing basketball will eventually end. In learning more about the business world—through his coursework and the adjacent opportunities he’s been given—Lawrence is preparing for his future beyond the court. He’s working to gain knowledge that will help him with investment and business opportunities that arise alongside basketball.

And that’s why Lawrence is at Vanderbilt in the first place, inspired by his late father’s insistence on the importance of growth. Ivan Lawrence worked hard to drive that lesson home for his son.

“Basketball or not, he always told me there’s more I can do,” Lawrence said. “So I just continue to keep that mindset.”