Passing of Syracuse basketball legend and D.C. native Lawrence Moten is devastating

This hits close to home for me. Lawrence Moten, one of the greatest players in Syracuse men's basketball history who remains the program's all-time leading scorer, has passed away at the way-too-young age of 53.

Mike Waters of Syracuse.com first reported on Moten's passing. This is unimaginably devastating and heartbreaking. Not only was Moten one of my favorite 'Cuse players ever, but he's also from Washington, D.C., and I'm from the Baltimore to Washington corridor.

My thoughts are with his family, and Orange Nation sends love to the 'Cuse coaching staff and everyone associated with the program.

It's hard to accurately describe in words just how good Moten, aka "Poetry," was on the Hill. He's the Orange's all-time leading scorer, with 2,334 career points. Over his four-year tenure in Central New York, Moten averaged an impressive 19.3 points per contest.

When his college career was over, the 6-foot-5 Moten, an elite shooting guard, was also the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Big East Conference. That Big East record stood until February of 2020, when Marquette guard Markus Howard passed Moten for the top spot in that conference.

It's been a tough few weeks for the Syracuse basketball community. Earlier this month, former Syracuse women's basketball star guard Tiana Mangakahia passed away at the age of 30.

Lawrence Moten, a Syracuse basketball legend, has died.

What's remarkable about Moten is that he produced one of the best careers in Syracuse and Big East basketball, yet he wasn't a highly ranked prospect coming out of Archbishop Carroll High School in D.C. As Waters noted, Moten took a year at the New Hampton School in New Hampton, N.H., to qualify academically. Former 'Cuse star power forward Tyler Lydon also attended the New Hampton School.

Moten played for the Orange from 1991 to 1995. He was an All-American as a senior and made the All-Big East first team in each of his sophomore, junior and senior campaigns. Syracuse basketball won at least 20 games in every season with Moten on the Hill, making the NCAA Tournament three times.

In the 1995 NBA Draft, the Vancouver Grizzlies selected Moten in the second round at No. 36 overall. He played for the Grizzlies and the Washington Wizards in the NBA, along with the ABA, the CBA, in Spain and in Venezuela.

As I wrote about in early July of this year, Moten had taken a role as the general manager of basketball operations and youth development at the Digital Pioneers Academy, a public charter school in Washington.

In early March of 2018, Moten's No. 21 jersey was retired in the JMA Wireless Dome, then known as the Carrier Dome. At the time, per SU Athletics, Hall of Famer and long-time Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim said, "The all-time leading scorer in the BIG EAST Conference says an awful lot about how good a player is. From day one, Lawrence Moten was an automatic scorer. Nobody ever stopped him. He understood how to play the game and how to score points. He was also a very good defender and a terrific all-around player. He's one of the BIG EAST's greatest players."

I didn't personally know Moten, but he's a huge fan favorite among Orange Nation, and plenty of people have said how much they respected him for his play on the court, and for who he was as a person away from basketball.

RIP, Poetry. We love you.