College
Lawson began playing for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2006–07 season; he wore number 5. In 38 games, he led the Tar Heels with 5.6 assists per game and was fourth with 10.2 points per game, during which time he helped the Tar Heels win a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title, as well as the ACC Tournament. During his sophomore year he had 12.7 ppg and 5.3 assists per game, although he saw much less playing time due to an ankle sprain that kept him out much of the season. In spite of this nagging injury, he eventually returned to help Carolina repeat as both ACC regular season and tournament champions and ultimately earn a berth to the Final Four.
He was charged with driving after drinking on June 6, 2008 by a police officer who felt that Lawson's music was too loud. He was not charged with a DWI because he was below the legal limit of .08 BAC, but still received misdemeanors due to state law prohibiting anyone under the age of 21 from driving after drinking any amount of alcohol. He was also charged for driving with a suspended license.
On the day of the deadline to withdraw from the June 16 2008 NBA Draft, Lawson decided to return to North Carolina for his junior season, along with Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and All-American Tyler Hansbrough, who all spurned the NBA draft to return to UNC, leaving the starters for the 2007–2008 season intact for the 2008–2009 season.
Lawson was voted to the All-ACC First Team his junior year and was named the ACC Player of the Year, the first time a point guard had won the ACC's highest honor since fellow Tar Heel Phil Ford won the award in 1978. Lawson was also a consensus second team all American as a junior, which makes him eligible to have his jersey honored in the rafters of the Smith Center at the conclusion of his college career. In 2009, Lawson also won the Bob Cousy Award that honors the best collegiate point guard. During the 2009 NCAA championship game, he also set a record with 8 steals against Michigan State, giving him the most steals of any player in an NCAA championship game and helping lead the Tar Heels to a national title.
On April 23, 2009 Lawson announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2009 NBA Draft.
Read more about this topic: Ty Lawson
Famous quotes containing the word college:
“No girl who is going to marry need bother to win a college degree; she just naturally becomes a “Master of Arts” and a “Doctor of Philosophy” after catering to an ordinary man for a few years.”
—Helen Rowland (1875–1950)
“... [a] girl one day flared out and told the principal “the only mission opening before a girl in his school was to marry one of those candidates [for the ministry].” He said he didn’t know but it was. And when at last that same girl announced her desire and intention to go to college it was received with about the same incredulity and dismay as if a brass button on one of those candidate’s coats had propounded a new method for squaring the circle or trisecting the arc.”
—Anna Julia Cooper (1859–1964)
“In looking back over the college careers of those who for various reasons have been prominent in undergraduate life ... one cannot help noticing that these men have nearly always shown from the start an interest in the lives of their fellow students. A large acquaintance means that many persons are dependent on a man and conversely that he himself is dependent on many. Success necessarily means larger responsibilities, and responsibilities mean many friends.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)