Golden Tornadoes back at full strength

Lawrence boys’ basketball enters the new campaign with an overdue sense of normalcy, after having last season significantly impacted by the widespread effects of Covid. The Golden Tornadoes still finished with a respectable 3-5 record in Conference A5, despite many alterations that were made due to the pandemic.

“We only had two returning kids because some kids chose not to participate due to Covid,” head coach Lou Robinson said. “We had to bring up a bunch of kids from JV and still were competitive.”

Third-year varsity player Don Smalls III is expected to dominate a large share of the offensive touches, as he solidifies himself as one of the better scorers in the county. He averaged 17.5 points per game as a junior. “Everything is going to pretty much run through him,” Robinson added.

Senior Kanye Robinson and junior Dexter Robinson will be welcomed additions to the starting lineup, as this dynamic duo were key starters on the 2018-2019 roster, but didn’t compete last season. The athletic tandem of vertical forwards should dominate minutes at the forward spot and provide an interior presence that was fickle last season.

Tyler Bowers is another set starter, after somewhat capitalizing on the sparse roster last season and giving quality minutes as a sophomore. Rounding out the presumed rotation are seniors Phillip Bernard and Adrian Wahab, junior Stephon Carabello and sophomores Avery Folawiyo and Zaire Galloway.

As is the case with most teams, the challenge for the Golden Tornadoes will be assimilating back to “normal” game conditions and settings after the uneven quagmire of last season.

“Two seasons ago we were a playoff team and very very young, and then last year was just such a mess in terms of everything,” Robinson said. “I keep telling these guys it’s great that we have this varsity experience but we don’t have varsity experience playing in front of people.”