Jeff Goodman
@GoodmanESPN
Source: Memphis coach Josh Pastner set to hire the father of three (maybe four) top recruits:

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketba...tant-coach

...Keelon Lawson is the head coach at Hamilton High in Memphis and is the last coach to lead a city school to a state title while going unbeaten in the largest classification. Lawson, who played at UAB and LeMoyne-Owen in college, also spoke to at least two other schools -- including Vanderbilt -- about potentially joining their coaching staff, sources said.

Lawson is the father of three heralded recruits. The oldest, K.J. Lawson, is a 6-foot-7 wing ranked 37th in the country by ESPN.com. He has already committed to play for Pastner at Memphis.

Dedric Lawson is a 6-8 power forward in the Class of 2016 who is ranked seventh in the country by ESPN.com. Chandler Lawson is a 6-6 wing who is ranked No. 1 overall in the Class of 2019 by one recruiting site. Jonathan Lawson is a sixth-grader who one coach said "may be the best of all of the brothers."

The family is also related to current Memphis assistant Robert Kirby...

Sounds like Pastner is in some good company. Great, great hire! >>>

"This wouldn't be the first time a father was hired with ties to a recruit.

Larry Brown hired Ed Manning at Kansas prior to locking up Danny Manning, and Bill Self hired Ronnie Chalmers on his staff with the Jayhawks a few years ago to help secure Mario Chalmers.

Recently, Texas A&M hired John Reese to help lure J-Mychal Reese, who recently left the school and transferred to North Texas."

TOO SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!

From the Tiger beat writer >>>

L. Jason Smith @TheCAJasonSmith
Source within Memphis athletic department says Keelon Lawson will be named assistant coach within next 24 to 48 hours. Story coming.

CBSSports now has an article on the hire ->

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketba...-weeks-end


...Under normal circumstances, this would not qualify as news because the hiring of a third assistant doesn't typically get much attention. But Lawson's situation is different, as previously noted at CBSSports.com, because he is the father of three elite recruits expected to enroll in college in the next five years -- and another who is now a sixth-grader.

The Lawson brothers, previously profiled here, are K.J. Lawson, Dedric Lawson, Chandler Lawson and Jonathan Lawson, and each could, theoretically, become a McDonald's All-American. K.J., a 6-7 wing, is ranked No. 32 nationally in the Class of 2015 by 247Sports. Dedric, a 6-9 forward, is ranked No. 5 nationally in the Class of 2016 by 247Sports. Chandler, a 6-6 wing, is ranked No. 1 nationally in the Class of 2019 by Future150.com. And Jonathan, though too young to rank, is considered their equal as a prospect.

K.J. is already committed to Memphis.

Dedric will be formally committed soon, according to sources.

"Josh had to do this," said one rival college coach. "He had no choice. If he didn't do it, another coach would've, and he couldn't risk letting those kids get out of Memphis."

I've always hated that schools are able to do that... same thing with Temple and Brunson (if that works out)... I think there should be some kind of rule against it.

(07-16-2014 01:20 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  I've always hated that schools are able to do that... same thing with Temple and Brunson (if that works out)... I think there should be some kind of rule against it.

There is a rule aka "The Calipari Rule" that prevents schools from hiring someone to get a player. The exception is that you have to hire him as an assistant coach. You can only have 3 assistants in basketball so you have to think long and hard before you hire someone.

In this case, Lawson was approached by several SEC schools in attempts to hire him to get his sons before Memphis really got involved. So what choice do you have? Do you not hire him and allow him to go to another school? Or do you hire him? It's really a no-brainer in this case.

(07-16-2014 01:25 PM)mairving Wrote:  

(07-16-2014 01:20 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  I've always hated that schools are able to do that... same thing with Temple and Brunson (if that works out)... I think there should be some kind of rule against it.

There is a rule aka "The Calipari Rule" that prevents schools from hiring someone to get a player. The exception is that you have to hire him as an assistant coach. You can only have 3 assistants in basketball so you have to think long and hard before you hire someone.

In this case, Lawson was approached by several SEC schools in attempts to hire him to get his sons before Memphis really got involved. So what choice do you have? Do you not hire him and allow him to go to another school? Or do you hire him? It's really a no-brainer in this case.

How is it "long and hard" to think about a guy that's going to automatically bring in 4 apparent NBA talents... then he'll probably be let go a year or two later... He doesn't even have to do anything coaching - wise necessarily (though Pastner could use the help). They need a rule that you can't hire a kids parents within 2 years of his high school graduation. (unless the parent is already coaching at the university level a-la Alford at UCLA and his son.)

(07-16-2014 01:20 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  I've always hated that schools are able to do that... same thing with Temple and Brunson (if that works out)... I think there should be some kind of rule against it.

I’m not defending (i guess i am) or taking shots at any programs decision, but if the Temple situation with Brunson works out it is a bit different. Brunson is a product of Temple basketball and learned the game under John Chaney. Brunson played 9 seasons in the NBA and was an assistant coach on both the D1 college and NBA levels. After Chaneys retirement he showed interest in the Temple head coaches position. Dunphy is in his early 60’s with 4 years left on his contract, I saw this move as Temple selecting its next head coach when Dunphys contract expires and someone who can help with Temples recruiting deficiencies immediately being someone who can relate to todays high school players better than Fran and his staff.

(07-16-2014 01:35 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  

(07-16-2014 01:25 PM)mairving Wrote:  

(07-16-2014 01:20 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  I've always hated that schools are able to do that... same thing with Temple and Brunson (if that works out)... I think there should be some kind of rule against it.

There is a rule aka "The Calipari Rule" that prevents schools from hiring someone to get a player. The exception is that you have to hire him as an assistant coach. You can only have 3 assistants in basketball so you have to think long and hard before you hire someone.


In this case, Lawson was approached by several SEC schools in attempts to hire him to get his sons before Memphis really got involved. So what choice do you have? Do you not hire him and allow him to go to another school? Or do you hire him? It's really a no-brainer in this case.

How is it "long and hard" to think about a guy that's going to automatically bring in 4 apparent NBA talents... then he'll probably be let go a year or two later... He doesn't even have to do anything coaching - wise necessarily (though Pastner could use the help). They need a rule that you can't hire a kids parents within 2 years of his high school graduation. (unless the parent is already coaching at the university level a-la Alford at UCLA and his son.)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad that it's Memphis getting a good deal... I just don't think anyone should be able to do it. It's right on par with paying a kid to come to your school. It happens frequently at our local area high schools that play for state titles year in and year out. It's just BS.

(07-16-2014 01:37 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad that it's Memphis getting a good deal... I just don't think anyone should be able to do it. It's right on par with paying a kid to come to your school. It happens frequently at our local area high schools that play for state titles year in and year out. It's just BS.

Total BS --- it's paying a third Assistant coach who has, as one of his primary responsibilities, recruiting. Assistant coaches are hired all of the time for their recruiting connections and abilities. Hell, that's why Pastner himself was hired.

(07-16-2014 11:20 AM)Tigers2B1 Wrote:  ...Keelon Lawson is the head coach at Hamilton High in Memphis and is the last coach to lead a city school to a state title while going unbeaten in the largest classification. Lawson, who played at UAB and LeMoyne-Owen in college, also spoke to at least two other schools -- including Vanderbilt -- about potentially joining their coaching staff, sources said.

Lawson is the father of three heralded recruits. The oldest, K.J. Lawson, is a 6-foot-7 wing ranked 37th in the country by ESPN.com. He has already committed to play for Pastner at Memphis.

Dedric Lawson is a 6-8 power forward in the Class of 2016 who is ranked seventh in the country by ESPN.com. Chandler Lawson is a 6-6 wing who is ranked No. 1 overall in the Class of 2019 by one recruiting site. Jonathan Lawson is a sixth-grader who one coach said "may be the best of all of the brothers."

The family is also related to current Memphis assistant Robert Kirby...

It sounds like he is no pushover on his own when it comes to coaching basketball. It would be a bigger issue if he hired someone like myself, in order to have the inside route to my four sons.

(07-16-2014 01:49 PM)PGPirate Wrote:  It sounds like he is no pushover on his own when it comes to coaching basketball. It would be a bigger issue if he hired someone like myself, in order to have the inside route to my four sons.

No it wouldn't --- coaches are hired all of the time based on their ability to recruit players. In fact, we made that mistake when we hired our previous football coach, who was Rival's #1 national recruiter while at LSU. Guy could actually coach worth a damn --- but that wasn't his job (at LSU).

(07-16-2014 01:49 PM)PGPirate Wrote:  

(07-16-2014 11:20 AM)Tigers2B1 Wrote:  ...Keelon Lawson is the head coach at Hamilton High in Memphis and is the last coach to lead a city school to a state title while going unbeaten in the largest classification. Lawson, who played at UAB and LeMoyne-Owen in college, also spoke to at least two other schools -- including Vanderbilt -- about potentially joining their coaching staff, sources said.

Lawson is the father of three heralded recruits. The oldest, K.J. Lawson, is a 6-foot-7 wing ranked 37th in the country by ESPN.com. He has already committed to play for Pastner at Memphis.

Dedric Lawson is a 6-8 power forward in the Class of 2016 who is ranked seventh in the country by ESPN.com. Chandler Lawson is a 6-6 wing who is ranked No. 1 overall in the Class of 2019 by one recruiting site. Jonathan Lawson is a sixth-grader who one coach said "may be the best of all of the brothers."

The family is also related to current Memphis assistant Robert Kirby...

It sounds like he is no pushover on his own when it comes to coaching basketball. It would be a bigger issue if he hired someone like myself, in order to have the inside route to my four sons.

Kansas hired Ed Manning when Larry Brown was the coach and Ronnie Chalmers when Bill Self was the coach. Both sons led their teams to national championships. I do wish that Chalmers wouldn't have been hired. Chalmers resigned shortly after Kansas won the National Championship over Memphis.

meh, if you don't like it then don't do it.

(07-16-2014 01:45 PM)TIGERCITY Wrote:  

(07-16-2014 01:37 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad that it's Memphis getting a good deal... I just don't think anyone should be able to do it. It's right on par with paying a kid to come to your school. It happens frequently at our local area high schools that play for state titles year in and year out. It's just BS.

Total BS --- it's paying a third Assistant coach who has, as one of his primary responsibilities, recruiting. Assistant coaches are hired all of the time for their recruiting connections and abilities. Hell, that's why Pastner himself was hired.

Pastner wouldn't have had a son coming into the program who was a top level recruit. If you don't think that the primary reason for his hire was his sons then you're absolutely dumb.

Also, I'm not saying that, if he's such a recruiting guru as you say, that he couldn't be hired. His son's just shouldn't be able to come there if he was hired within a certain amount of time before their high school graduation.

(07-16-2014 01:53 PM)TIGERCITY Wrote:  

(07-16-2014 01:49 PM)PGPirate Wrote:  It sounds like he is no pushover on his own when it comes to coaching basketball. It would be a bigger issue if he hired someone like myself, in order to have the inside route to my four sons.

No it wouldn't --- coaches are hired all of the time based on their ability to recruit players. In fact, we made that mistake when we hired our previous football coach, who was Rival's #1 national recruiter while at LSU. Guy could actually coach worth a damn --- but that wasn't his job (at LSU).

After the boosters hired Pastner, who had no head coaching experience, they thought they could do it again in football with the hire of Larry Porter. While Pastner's inexperience still shows Porter was so off the charts bad that he didn't even last past two seasons. Extra risky when you're doing this with a head coach. Here, with an assistant, I don't see the downside.

(07-16-2014 02:12 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  

(07-16-2014 01:45 PM)TIGERCITY Wrote:  

(07-16-2014 01:37 PM)invisiblehand Wrote:  Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad that it's Memphis getting a good deal... I just don't think anyone should be able to do it. It's right on par with paying a kid to come to your school. It happens frequently at our local area high schools that play for state titles year in and year out. It's just BS.

Total BS --- it's paying a third Assistant coach who has, as one of his primary responsibilities, recruiting. Assistant coaches are hired all of the time for their recruiting connections and abilities. Hell, that's why Pastner himself was hired.

Pastner wouldn't have had a son coming into the program who was a top level recruit. If you don't think that the primary reason for his hire was his sons then you're absolutely dumb.

Also, I'm not saying that, if he's such a recruiting guru as you say, that he couldn't be hired. His son's just shouldn't be able to come there if he was hired within a certain amount of time before their high school graduation.

Really? How long?

(07-16-2014 02:10 PM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  meh, if you don't like it then don't do it.

^ this.