Lawson Lovering is playing up to his size at a crucial time

BOULDER — Before the first practice in his team’s eight-day gap between games, Colorado Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle had a message for his team.

“We’re not just going to stay in shape, we’re gonna get in better shape,” Boyle said.

That sentence was far from music to freshman center Lawson Lovering’s ears.

“Basketball players, we want to be in shape but we never want to run,” Lovering told DNVR while dripping with sweat on Wednesday. “It’s something you’ve got to do to become better.”

Colorado has hit a point in the season where long breaks are the standard. The Buffaloes had seven days off between its games against Milwaukee and CSU Bakersfield. After Tuesday’s game against Kansas, they’ll take an eight-day break, with a few days off for the team to visit their families.

Lovering, the Buffs’ 7-foot-1 freshman center, will head north to his home in Wyoming. His father, Bill, serves in the Air Force, and Lovering plans to stay in shape at Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne. The trip is the reverse of the one his family has taken for every CU home game so far this season.

Lovering grew up playing ball with his dad, who played collegiately at Colorado Christian, but Lawson started winning one-on-one in middle school.

“He got fat and slow, so it wasn’t that hard from there,” Lovering said, laughing. “His knees are all broken so there’s no way he could keep up.”

Still, Lawson said his dad has plenty of tips for him.

“It’s mostly mental stuff that he gives me. He tells me I’m better than he ever was, but he just gives me what he sees on the court,” Lovering said. “A big thing for me is my mental game hasn’t really caught up to my physical game.”

Lovering’s freshman season has been a learning experience. He’s facing off against true seven-footers, after never seeing anybody over six-foot-eight or six-foot-nine in Wyoming high school ball. Part of the process is learning from his big-man opponents.

“It’s interesting to watch how they move and and how they play and just learning,” Lovering said. “I just try to watch those guys and try to learn from those guys that are more experienced than me. It’s nice to know they’re around.”

Lovering is tackling new lessons every week. The biggest improvement, he says, is his ability to use his size.

“I’m playing bigger,” he said. “I’m playing more like a 7-footer, not just like a 6-7 dude.”

Right now, he’s working on trying to hold the ball higher above his head in the post and he’s working on his posture, too.

“I do slouch a lot; I’m making myself smaller ducking through doorways and everything,” he said. “I’ll figure it out. Hopefully I’ll have a lot better posture by the end  of the season.”

Lawson isn’t the only Buffalo working his way through growing pains. In fact, the entire team—which features 10 underclassmen out of 12 student-athletes on scholarship—has struggled against some low-end Division I competition.

Still, the Buffs are 9-3 heading into a big-time matchup against No. 7 Kansas.

“It’s gonna be hectic. I can feel it,” Lovering said.”It’s like a storm is just brewing right now. I feel it coming. It’s gonna be a long conference season and we’ve just gotta be prepared for that.”

If Lovering keeps playing bigger and bigger, the Buffs will be just fine.