It’s hard not to get caught up in March Madness, even if you don’t have a team in contention. But Verona native Tim Lawrence does.
Lawrence, who graduated Verona High School with the class of 2006, is now pursuing a masters in sports management at Virginia Commonwealth University and working as an assistant to its basketball team. That wouldn’t have counted for much until March 27, when the 11th-seeded VCU Rams knocked off top-seeded Kansas 71-61, to make it to the Final Four.
“I was convinced we were going to beat Kansas when Joey Rodriguez, our senior leader and point guard, hit a three-pointer with about 5 minutes left in the game,” says Lawrence. “That shot showed the type of resiliency and resolve that we have played with the entire tournament and provided us with the surge we needed to finish the game off.”
Lawrence played basketball at VHS, though he concedes that his team, which went 12-10 his senior year, didn’t have the record of this year’s team. He also played four years of varsity soccer and two years of varsity golf. After VHS, Lawrence played college hoops at Division III Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., close to VCU. His head coach there, Mike Rhoades, took a job as an assistant coach at VCU, which proved fortuitous. “During my senior year I kept in contact with Coach Rhoades and he really talked up the Center for Sports Leadership program at VCU and said I would really enjoy it and get a lot out of it,” says Lawrence. “The Center for Sports Leadership provides a great opportunity to earn a masters degree with a focus in sports leadership while also working within the VCU athletic department via graduate assistantships.”
Lawrence’s immediate focus is the Saturday night game against the Butler Bulldogs, which has a 6 p.m. start time. But after that, he will be working towards a December 2011 graduation date. After that? Lawrence is hoping for a college assistant coaching job.
