Greater Net Worth : Always a Fine Shooter, Lauer Became Complete Player During Senior Year

Peter Lauer might not be the prototypal gym rat, but he could very well be one of the most eccentric.

The 6-foot-2 senior guard is shooting around inside the Thousand Oaks High gym most nights, and chances are he’ll be alone except for someone he dragged along to rebound for him.

But the only sounds will come from the ball and the soles of his shoes. There’s no chatter, no small talk. He demands absolute silence and seriousness. Visitors sporting so much as a grin will find themselves standing outside, staring at the stars.

That’s where Shannon Rex, Lauer’s girlfriend and frequent companion on evening shootarounds, found herself when she made the mistake of smiling during a recent workout.

“He messed up and he couldn’t make, like, six of ‘em,” she said. “He asked me to walk out for a second.”

Nothing against her, of course. That’s just the way he is.

“When I’m shooting I don’t like anyone saying anything,” said Lauer, who will play for the South in the Ventura County all-star game tonight at 8 at Ventura High. “I don’t know why because in practice I’m fine.

“That’s why I have Shannon go with me a lot. . . . She doesn’t mind. I don’t mind being there by myself. It’s quiet time.”

If anything pierces the silence, he loses his concentration, his jumper and sometimes his cool.

“He concentrates so intensely is really what it is,” said his father, Peter Sr. “It’s a bit of an exaggeration if I said I couldn’t talk to him about his shot. It’s just that when he’s really in a groove he concentrates so intensely.”

For Lauer, a Times’ All-Ventura County selection last season, basketball is serious business. Even now, months after he played his last game as a Thousand Oaks Lancer, he’s constantly preparing for his next opponent, the one he fears will beat him.

“He won’t impress you with his physical presence, but one of his strong points is his conditioning,” said Thousand Oaks Coach Ed Chevalier.

Jason Hartman, the Lancers’ leading scorer last season, has been impressed with Lauer’s work ethic since they first were teammates at age 10.

“He worked his butt off all the time,” Hartman said. “Extra after practice, before practice, on weekends, whenever. . . . He was in there quite often.”

Lauer finished his senior season second on the team in scoring (16.8 points per game) and first in assists (3.9). His defense, suspect when he first made the varsity as a sophomore, blossomed, as did his ability to drive to the basket.

“His whole game has come a long way,” Chevalier said. “The offensive end came naturally to him. It’s his defense that’s made tremendous strides because of his hard work.”

A day rarely passes when Lauer doesn’t think about shooting. He’ll skip lunch or take an hour out of the night to sneak into the gym for a quick workout.

Actually, he doesn’t have to sneak in--he has a key.

Even when the family goes on vacations, nobody will forget to bring a ball along. After all, who knows where you might run into a gym?

“We’d be driving along and my dad’s all, ‘Look, there’s a hoop,’ ” Lauer said.

As for skipping a day, forget it. He’d probably break out in a rash.

“I never went a day without shooting,” Lauer said. “Even Thanksgiving, after dinner, we go back to the gym to shoot around.”

Lauer and his younger brother, Mike, a varsity starter as a sophomore last season, have been fed a steady diet of basketball by Peter Sr. ever since they can remember.

“My dad set up a regulation hoop when I was 4,” Lauer said. “He never wanted me on anything lower.”

As soon as he was able to manage the weight of the ball, his father taught him the “right” way to shoot, and basketball nets have not been the same since.

“Both boys took a liking to it,” said Peter Sr. “It honestly pleased me. I never pushed them. They just showed a natural interest. My biggest joy was that he was so interested because you can’t force the kids.” Lauer is bound for Redlands, a Division III school in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, where he will face a new set of dilemmas as a freshman. He’ll have to adjust to college life, earn playing time and adjust to new opponents.

But you can be certain that the evening shooting will continue.

“It’s a little gym,” he said, “but I like it.”

And Lauer did what he would never do in the gym--he smiled.