Lawrence Moten, Syracuse University’s all-time leading scorer and ex-NBA player, has died at 53.
WASHINGTON — Lawrence Moten – an Archbishop Carroll High School basketball great who became Syracuse University’s all-time leading scorer ─ has died at 53.
Moten – who earned the nickname “Poetry in Moten” while playing for the Orange – was a second-round draft pick by the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1995 before going to the Washington Wizards. He would play only eight teams for his hometown NBA team in 1998.
A Syracuse athletic department spokesperson said Tuesday that multiple staff members learned of Moten’s death from various contacts and that Moten was at home in Washington, D.C., when he died. A cause of death was not immediately clear.
Moten scored 2,334 points for SU and also set a Big East Conference record with 1,405.
At Archbishop Carroll High School, Moten was named All-Metropolitan Area in both football and basketball. He was also a teammate of another SU great, quarterback Marvin Graves.
Moten averaged 28 points and 10 rebounds per game with the Lions.
Moten attended New Hampton Prep before going to Syracuse.
After the NBA, Moten played in a number of leagues in the U.S. and overseas.
When his playing career was over, Moten was never far from the basketball court, working in management and coaching positions in both Upstate New York and the D.C. area.
In June, Moten joined the staff at Digital Pioneers Academy in D.C., working as the program’s General Manager of Basketball Operations and Youth Development.
Moten was named to Syracuse’s All-Century Team in 1999, and his jersey was retired in 2018.
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