Editor’s note: The “Who is Syracuse?” series runs in The Daily Orange every spring to highlight individuals who embody the spirit of Syracuse University. The D.O. encouraged members of the campus community to nominate people who fit this description, and The D.O. selected the final eight nominees. This series explores their stories.

Surrounded by squeaking shoes, bouncing basketballs and laughing children, Lawrence Moten sat on a set of bleachers and surveyed the gym at the Boys & Girls Club earlier this month. About 15 children were in the gym on East Fayette Street that Wednesday afternoon.

He smiled as he scanned the court, watching basketballs float toward baskets and children chase after rebounds. As he took his eye off the court, a stray ball hit Moten. He yelled across the gym that he was doing an interview for a paper, and he didn’t want a rogue basketball hitting him in the head to throw him off track.

“This is my crew, man,” he said moments later. On the court, he’s known as “Coach Mo.”

Moten is a Syracuse University men’s basketball legend –– he’s the all-time leading scorer, and his jersey was retired in March in the Carrier Dome. He also volunteers at the Boys & Girls Club for three hours every weekday afternoon, where he shares insights to help the youth both on and off the court. He also volunteers as a mentor at Clary Middle School.

At the club, he leads a pre-snack prayer to teach the kids about gratitude. He checks their progress reports, which track school behavior and grades. At Clary Middle School, he sits in an office and welcomes students in for one-on-one and group mentoring. He eats lunch with his “lunch bunch.” He talks with them about basketball, school and respecting one another.

Moten spends his time volunteering in part because of a promise he made to his mother, Lorraine Burgess, who died five years ago. It’s a promise he intends to keep.

“My mother always told me, when I got (to Syracuse University) as a student: ‘Just don’t stay up over on that hill. Look at the people in the town,’” Moten said. “‘Get to know the people in the town.’”

A star player out of Washington, D.C., Moten arrived at Syracuse in 1991. He built a distinguished career for himself, scoring more points than anyone in Big East Conference history with 2,334. He played 11 seasons professionally, including three in the NBA.

After working as a physical education teacher in the D.C. area, he returned to his so-called “second home” in Syracuse a few months ago.

As a child, Moten spent time at Boys & Girls Club gyms in D.C. He used to spend hours at different schools and clubs, telling himself that he was on tour. He visualized himself developing into a basketball star. He grew up on 26 Q St. Northwest and was raised mostly by his now 91-year-old grandmother, Grace Ellison.

His grandmother repeatedly told him to never think he was better or worse than someone else, regardless of his basketball capabilities. She told him to take care of his family, do what makes him happy and not forget where he came from.

“You can be anything you want to be,” Ellison said. “Race doesn’t matter in life — just be the best person you can be.”

Every day Moten calls Ellison to tell her how much fun he had with the kids.

From his mother and grandmother, Moten learned “respect,” which is now a word he uses frequently with the Boys & Girls Club kids in everyday conversation.

“I appreciate teaching and motivating these youths,” Moten said. “It’s important because I remember being in the Boys & Girls Clubs when I was … a little kid in Washington, my grandmother supporting me. It made me question, ‘Do I really love this game? Basketball? What do I want to be in life?’ You have to see yourself doing well.”

Freddy Jimenez, an assistant at the Boys & Girls Club, said Moten’s lessons at the club extend beyond the basketball court. Jimenez said that when Moten takes a break to grab a snack or say hello to a visitor, the children get antsy. They need Moten’s guidance, he said.

“He’s been here in the kids’ shoes,” Jimenez said. “A lot of these guys may not have that belief that they can get out of where they’re at. It’s a pretty rough area. Put it this way: We don’t see a lot of male figures in their families. Not all of them, but most of them, when they get picked up, it’s usually moms.”

Moten stressed the importance of having the kids he works with broaden their perspectives, regardless of where they’re from or who they are.

“Just don’t be stuck. Even with these youths, I love them, but they just know the Eastside,” he said. “They don’t know the Northside, South Side, Westside. They’re stuck in their own little borough. We try to have them understand that you can have friends from all over.”

From 2015-16, Moten served as assistant coach at Division III Gallaudet University, a college for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. He picked up some sign language there. Moten played in a wheelchair celebrity basketball game in Utica last Thursday. He said his future goals involve coaching or working for Syracuse Athletics in fundraising.

At the club on Wednesday afternoon, a boy approached Moten and smiled while he showed him an improved progress report. Another girl’s T-shirt read, “Kindness is power.” The rest of the kids were playing pickup basketball.

“Pick and roll!” Moten yelled.

“Go go! All the way!”

“Great move!”

“Head up! Head up!” Moten blew his whistle. “Always keep your head up, Miles.”

“Good job today, man,” Moten said, the sound of laughter filling the gym as he jogged to the other side of the court. He reached out and gave another high-five to a boy.

“Every day is an audition,” Moten told him. “Whether it be sports or whatever, you never know who’s watching. You always have to be prepared to try to do the right thing, try to stay positive. Every single day.”

Published on April 22, 2018 at 10:47 pm

Contact Matthew: [email protected] | @MatthewGut21