UNLV basketball coach dismisses guard

By Rob Miech

Monday, Feb. 18, 2008 | 5:50 p.m.

UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger Monday dismissed sophomore guard Marcus Lawrence from the team.

Lawrence missed last weekend's trip to Provo, Utah, after being arrested early Friday morning for driving under the influence and failure to drive in a travel lane.

Kruger had immediately suspended Lawrence, a 20-year-old reserve point guard out of Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas.

That was tantamount to a dismissal, because Lawrence already had served a suspension, for academic issues, at the start of the season — and few players get a second chance from Kruger.

Two other dismissals this season — Lamar Roberson, a transfer from Houston who lacked the tough work ethic that Kruger demands, and Emmanuel Adeife, a center booted for his indiscretions — are other examples of the coach's high standards.

With Lawrence's dismissal, a 19-6 season has never looked more precarious. UNLV now barely has enough players to run a full-court scrimmage, and it's an injury, defection or another dismissal away from being truly tested.

Freshman forward Troy Cage played a career-high 21 minutes Saturday in the Rebels' 26-point loss at Brigham Young. Before Saturday, UNLV fans had not seen him in 2008, with his most recent action coming in three games in December.

Be prepared to see Rob Ketchum soon, too. He's a walk-on junior forward from Sacramento who has played only in practice this season.

As for Lawrence, it's been a season of hard lessons. In practice, he was the Rebel who most often sniped at other teammates. He was like Chris Rock with a basketball.

To the Sun, he disputed playing -- or looking as if he were playing -- with a huge chip on his shoulder.

"I'm just competitive," Lawrence said. "Teammates say I have Little Man Syndrome. I just rag on them some more, like I always do.

"I feel like, if you don't help yourself, who will? You can't depend on everybody all the time. Those poor grades were my fault. I messed up. I take the responsibility and will change it."

Lawrence had been playing sporadically, but Kruger liked his enthusiasm. Lawrence had an outstanding ratio of 51 assists to 15 turnovers.

Kruger said Lawrence's minutes will be absorbed by starting point guard Curtis Terry, shooting guard Wink Adams and freshman Kendall Wallace.

"I'm just disappointed, very much, for Marcus," Kruger said. "We've had several meetings about issues during the season. He was very much aware of what the consequences would be.

"He still made a decision that he didn't feel good about."

The only good thing to come out of Lawrence's latest chapter is that neither he nor anyone else was injured when the vehicle he was driving ended up on its side on I-215.