Marymount Freshman Triumphs Over Tragedies : Basketball: He overcomes death of mother, sister and childhood friend Hank Gathers to become Mariners’ most steady player.

Marymount College freshman guard Julian Lawrence says his upbringing and tragic personal life have helped him become a better basketball player.

Lawrence, 20, has been a steady performer for the Mariners, who have struggled to a 9-16 record, 2-6 in Southern California Athletic Conference play.

He believes enduring the recent death of his mother, sister and childhood friend Hank Gathers has strengthened him as a person and competitor. Lawrence also says growing up in the crime-ridden projects of North Philadelphia made him a tougher player.

He became a starter when sophomore David Dinnel sustained a back injury in a car accident shortly before the season began. But after a couple of games, Marymount Coach Jim Masterson knew he could not keep Lawrence out of the lineup after Dinnel returned. Dinnel’s doctors still have not cleared him to play and, according to Masterson, they probably won’t this season.

Lawrence has filled the spot just fine. He leads the Mariners in scoring at 22.8 points and he is second on the team in rebounding at 6.1. In a 97-81 loss to Compton College on Wednesday, Lawrence scored 26 points. Compton, ranked 10th in California by the JC Athletic Bureau, is the SCAC’s only undefeated team.

Last week he had a game-high 32 points in a 100-98 overtime loss to Harbor College and he scored 30 in a 99-74 loss to 13th-ranked L.A. City College.

“I wasn’t aware he was hurting us so much until I saw the stats at the end of the game,” Harbor Coach Ken Curry said. “We were focusing more on (Kerry) Baker because he’s their big man, but Julian is a scorer.”

The 6-foot-3 Lawrence usually is called on to defend an opponents’ post man.

“I don’t think I’m overmatched,” Lawrence said. “Size don’t mean nothing. It’s your heart. The size of your heart is what really counts.”

East L.A. Coach Jorge Calienes says Lawrence’s appearance is deceiving. He watched Lawrence create problems in the Mariners’ 110-108 victory over the Huskies last month.

“He really hurt us inside,” Calienes said. “He’s kind of skinny and small, but he gets the job done. He’s very perceptive and strong. He plays a lot bigger than 6-3.”

Masterson said: “What he lacks in size he makes up in hustle. He’s very quick and he’s a fierce competitor. At practice or in a game he always gives 100%. Always.”

Lawrence says going all-out comes naturally. His style developed from playing “street ball” on the playgrounds in Philadelphia.

“It’s so laid-back here,” Lawrence said. “At home we play basketball as a job. Here we do it for fun. We take it seriously over there. Kids get out of school at 3 p.m. and they practice hard until 6:30.”

Lawrence was raised in an area where basketball helped keep boys out of trouble. One of his neighbors was Gathers, a standout at Loyola Marymount who collapsed during a game at Gersten Pavilion in March and later died. Lawrence used to play against Gathers and his younger brother Charles in neighborhood pickup games. The three athletes played at Dobbins Tech High along with Bo Kimble, Gathers’ teammate at Loyola, who is now a rookie with the Clippers.

Gathers’ death shocked Lawrence although he was already emotionally drained from three previous hardships. His mother died of cancer in January and his sister died of cardiac arrest in February at age 30.

His father also had a stroke shortly after his mother died, forcing young Lawrence to support the family.

“It was a difficult year for me. First my mom, then my sister, then Hank. It was tough.” Lawrence said as his eyes watered.

Rich Yankowitz, Lawrence’s coach at Dobbins Tech, said: “He was pretty shaken up. He had a lot of problems at home. He had a lot of tough childhood developments. With the mental toughness he achieved just from surviving in that tough Philly neighborhood, he didn’t need more adversity and yet he got it.”

Lawrence said the tragedies had a greater impact because during that time he was not playing basketball. He held a full-time job because he didn’t meet academic requirements to compete in the NCAA.

After graduating from Dobbins Tech in 1989, Lawrence received a basketball scholarship to Cheyney University in Pennsylvania. But he said several weeks after classes started administrators discovered he was a Proposition 48 casualty for failing to score 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

NCAA rules forbid athletes who don’t have a minimum of a 2.0 grade-point average and a 700 on the SAT from competing as freshmen. Lawrence says his scholarship was pulled and he couldn’t afford to pay tuition at the small Division II college.

The news was good for Masterson, who had recruited Lawrence. When Lawrence enrolled at Cheyney, Masterson kept in touch. The coach told him he would always be welcomed at the private Palos Verdes community college. Masterson is allowed to get out-of-state athletes because his recruiting district includes only eight local high schools.

Lawrence said he took Masterson’s offer because he had no others and he remembered Gathers saying how great California was. He says there is a huge difference between the San Pedro apartment he lives in now and the apartment in the projects where he spent his childhood. His father still lives there and Lawrence still considers it home.

“North Philly is one of the worst neighborhoods in the country, but that’s where I come from,” Lawrence said. “I know where I want to go, but I’ll never forget where I came from.”

At Dobbins Tech Lawrence went to the playoffs each of the three seasons he played varsity basketball. As a junior he averaged 10 points and as a senior he averaged 13. He says he learned a lot from watching teammate Doug Overton, who is now a point guard at La Salle.

Yankowitz said Lawrence was an average player but developed into a solid scorer.

“He’s an outstanding standstill jump shooter,” said Yankowitz who has led Dobbins Tech to the playoffs 19 of his 20 years as coach.

Lawrence says he’ll return to Marymount next season.

“I’m on a mission,” he said. “I want to play Division I basketball. And even if I don’t, I’m at least going to get my degree because I told my mother I’d get my degree no matter what.”