At times this offseason, Greenwood High School head coach Fred Ford has hardly recognized JT Lawrence, his senior star who transferred back from Delta Streets Academy this summer. More than Lawrence’s transformation into the state’s top scorer, Ford has been impressed by his growth as a leader on the court.
“He’s not the same guy we knew before he left here,” Ford said of Lawrence, who served as a role player on their 2020 title run. “I told him, ‘It’s going to be kind of hard to show leadership because you used to not take it that seriously.’ But I think he’s trying to take ownership of the team, being a little bit more responsible.
“He can do what he does, but he’s gonna need the team to jell to win a championship,” the 12th-year head coach added. “I’m sure he matured a little bit and now understands that the other guys are going to need to contribute. He can’t just drop 40 or 50.”
Lawrence absolutely scorched MAIS Class 1A competition last season along with running mate Javeon “Redd” Smith, who led the Lions to their first state championship in school history. Lawrence, a 6-foot point guard, averaged 31.5 points for the highest-scoring offense in the state while shooting at an efficient 50% clip.
"I think (Lawrence) and (Smith) both grew tremendously as players by going from supportive roles to being the cornerstones of our team offensively and defensively," said Justin Childs, who coached the pair last season at Delta Streets. Childs left for Houston High this summer after Lawrence and Smith transferred back to GHS. "They love the game and really helped us go last year, and drove others to get better by never going through the motions. (Lawrence) really showed a huge step in becoming a vocal leader on the floor, like having another coach on the floor."
Smith, a 5-foot-11 shooting guard with long arms and enough bounce now to dunk as a junior, filled the stat sheet with 14 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists per contest. He turned into a knockdown 3-point specialist at DSA, but that came as no surprise to Ford.
“Redd used to kill us in practice,” Ford said of Smith. “When I was on that championship run, the way we got better was because we couldn’t even stop Redd. We couldn’t do nothing with him in practice. I already knew that.”
Despite all the success and accolades last season, Lawrence and Smith have no illusions about the challenge at hand this season. Searching for a third state championship in a row, the Bulldogs’ dynamic duo will have to focus on defense just as much as offense to take down Class 4A public school competition.
“I used to score like 18 points on fast breaks,” Lawrence said. “That’ll probably be a part of the game I’ll have to change because we need everybody crashing to get rebounds. I can’t just be leaking out.”
“I told them, ‘Man, y’all are going to have to do a bit more here than what y’all did over there,’” Ford said. “‘They’re not going to let you run up and down the floor scoring all those points. It’s not all about scoring points, either — y’all gotta stop some people.’ 4A is going to be quite different, but they know the talent they’re competing against and they understand that.”
There will surely be struggles as Lawrence and Smith acclimate to the pressure of leading a program facing elite opponents, but their camaraderie gives them an edge. The pair is constantly learning from each other and borrowing moves to get better. Smith has started using Lawrence’s hesitation to create space off the dribble, and Lawrence has taken inspiration from Smith’s ability to instantly elevate for a jump shot if a defender is not prepared to jump.
“You can see the chemistry with those guys,” Ford said. “JT will be like, ‘Hey, that’s good for Redd right there.’ They know each other and give input on plays.”
Rounding out Greenwood’s projected starting lineup are defensive standout Jakori Johnson, Demarion Meeks and fellow DSA transfer Kizear Little, who just finished football last week. Cordarion Bingmon, Markell Johnson, Davin Anderson and Labrodrick Gooch, another Lions transfer, figure to be key contributors as well. How quickly that surrounding cast can develop chemistry with Lawrence and Smith will likely decide the Bulldogs’ fate this season.
“We got the team,” Lawrence said. “We just got to play hard and play together.”
Contact Riley Overend at 662-581-7237 or roverend@gwcommonwealth.com. Follow @OverendOut on Twitter.
