Poetry in Motion... | Page 4 | Syracusefan.com
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Poetry in Motion...

The team should wear high socks with 21 on them this year

SU was giving these out on Moten jersey retirement day.

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as i reflect on this, i knew there are probably a large number of people reading this who have never seen him play. The guy was like butter. There were so many game walking out of dome where i'd say to my father "moten had a quiet night" and then you'd hear the box score and he'd have 21 and 7. it was like that every single night. Melo was the last one who has come close.
Yep. I can still see him, as he often did, taking the pass and stepping into his shot, all in one smooth, fluid motion. It was pure poetry.
 
Rest in Peace, Lawrence Moten! Heartfelt condolences to all your family and friends that now miss you.

Hard to grasp how precious one’s life is until it is unexpectedly taken.

One of the greatest players/alumni from the Syracuse basketball family.

His absence will leave a hole in our hearts.
 
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1991 was the first year since I really began to follow the team during the Pearl years that I looked at the roster going into the season and thought to myself "Wow this might be the year that we aren't that good." We had Dave Johnson and a still developing Red Autry, but really needed someone else to step up.

You couldn't see every game on tv in those days if you weren't in CNY, so the first game I saw was vs Fla State in the Big East-ACC challenge. I knew Anthony Harris was supposed to be our most heralded freshman, but I couldn't believe what I was seeing with Lawrence Moten. I didn't even know who he was! But he ended up with 18 pts and 7 boards in that win in what became his typical night.

I'm not sure Lawrence has gotten the credit he really deserves for getting us through what could have really been a downturn of the program with the NCAA issues, along with John Wallace.

Just very shocking and sad news. RIP Lawrence.
 
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1991 was the first year since I really began to follow the team during the Pearl years that I looked at the roster going in to the season and thought to myself "Wow this might be the year that we might not be that good." We had Dave Johnson and a still developing Red Autry, but really needed someone else to step up.

You couldn't see every game on tv in those days if you weren't in CNY, so the first game I saw was vs Fla State in the Big East-ACC challenge. I knew Anthony Harris was supposed to be our most heralded freshman, but I couldn't believe what I was seeing with Lawrence Moten. I didn't even know who he was! But he ended up with 18 pts and 7 boards in that win in what became his typical night.

I'm not sure Lawrence has gotten the credit he really deserves for getting us through what could have really been a downturn of the program with the NCAA issues, along with John Wallace.

Just very shocking and sad news. RIP Lawrence.
As a 15 or 16 year old at the Dome with seasons tickets, watching the first few games of that season, I had the same exact experience. All the fan were like, man, we lost Billy Owens and the core of our legendary golden age teams. Who do we turn to now? We knew David Johnson was gonna step up. But man, it was pretty thin after him. We were all thinking that we might not be very good. As you said, Anthony Harris was the heralded freshman, and the fans waited with bated breath to see what he was gonna do (not much, it turns out). But from the first game, it was the unheralded and unhyped Moten who made his mark. I remember thinking, can this continue? Or is this just a fluke? But he kept going, a steady scorer night after night. Before long, the fans were dubbing him Poetry in Moten and some even had a sign made in the 300-level.

I’m sure his obituary will mention this. But he used to tell a story about calling his mom from the Dome when he got the nod to start his first game.
 
Whoa.
Hand to God, just this past weekend I was wearing my SU cap at a restaurant in CLT, when some random dude asked me if I remember Lawrence " Poetry In" Moten, who was his favorite player growing up. I told him of course I did, and that Poetry-In-Moten is still the best nickname I've ever heard, and so apropos for his style of play. Smooth, almost gliding on the court, everything in perfect motion. Damn. RIP
 
I'm not sure Lawrence has gotten the credit he really deserves for getting us through what could have really been a downturn of the program with the NCAA issues, along with John Wallace.
Amen, my friend. I was thinking the same thing. JW is my 2nd favorite all-time SU player and he and Poetry never got the acclaim that a lot of others get. For that matter, a lot of people forget how good Red was.

Poetry was our all-time scorer and JW was third if I recall. Everybody mentions Pearl, Sherm, DC, Bill, Melo, etc. but I have always thought Moten and Wallace were maybe a bit overlooked by comparison. And like you say, getting us through the NCAA issues was enormous and almost totally forgotten.
 

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