Wiser and more confident, Nebraska's Jamarques Lawrence is ready to take the next step

Legendary Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has coached and faced as many impressive freshmen as anyone in the Big Ten Conference.

As he tried to recap the Spartans’ second-half comeback win at Nebraska back in late February last season, the performance of one budding Husker stuck with him.

True freshman Jamarques Lawrence scored a career-high 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting against MSU. That included accounting for nine of NU’s first 17 points to help his team get off to a blazing start.

“The Lawrence kid is going to be a hell of a player,” Izzo said. “We couldn’t guard him.”

Several months removed from that night, Lawrence still hadn’t heard Izzo’s comments when asked about them during a summer media session on Wednesday.

The praise wasn’t as much validation as it was confirmation for the former three-star recruit from Plainfield (N.J.) Roselle Catholic that he belonged at college basketball’s highest level.

“Definitely confirmation,” Lawrence said. “Shoutout to Coach Izzo, for sure.”

Fun fact: Jamarques Lawrence's 5 3s today tied the @HuskerHoops freshman record in a B1G game. 🎯#B1Gstats x @JLawrence10_ pic.twitter.com/p7Ho34dOLM

— Nebraska On BTN (@NebraskaOnBTN) March 5, 2023

Lawrence’s late-season surge set the tone

Nebraska threw Lawrence into the fire last season after senior Emmanuel Bandoumel went down at Penn State on Jan. 21. Before that game, he had averaged 10.1 minutes, 2.0 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 0.3 assists over his first 15 appearances.

Lawrence’s development took off after replacing Bandoumel in the starting lineup vs. Northwestern on Jan. 25. He averaged 9.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 39 percent from 3-point range over NU’s final 12 games.

That included scoring in double figures in seven of those 12 starts, highlighted by 15-point efforts vs. MSU and Iowa.

Junior guard C.J. Wilcher grew up with Lawrence back in Plainfield. He wasn’t surprised at all about how his younger teammate answered the call.

“I was telling him from this time last year that he was going to play and make an impact because that’s what he does,” Wilcher said. “He scores the ball, shoots it well, and I knew that he would work in our system.”

An emphasis on ball handling, limiting ‘rookie mistakes’ for Year 2

Lawrence’s impressive finish has set the tone going into his sophomore campaign.

As well as he played down the stretch last year, Lawrence knows he still has plenty of work to take his game to the next level. But the experience he gained in 2022-23 has him ready for the challenge.

“I feel very confident going into this year,” Lawrence said. “I think I needed that, just getting thrown into the fire; I made a lot of rookie mistakes throughout the games. So, I think just looking back on my film, that’s going to help me a lot.

“Just little things, especially on defense. Me spacing the floor out more, getting to spots better, shot selection, all types of stuff like that.”

An example of Lawrence’s growth is how he looks back on his performance in Nebraska’s Big Ten Tournament loss to Minnesota. He took five shots in the first 4:19 of play, including four 3-pointers.

While that included a four-point play to give NU an 8-0 lead, Lawrence missed four of those shots. 

“I wasn’t thinking that game,” Lawrence said. “I feel like those three shots were bad shots. To me, those were bad shots. That’s just me learning the game. We could’ve gotten an extra pass out of those possessions. I’m just learning through that.”

Along with being smarter with his shot selection, Lawrence has developed a much stricter diet and locked in on his strength and conditioning. He’s also focusing on his ball handling more than ever this offseason.

“I’m really working on my ball handling a lot this year,” Lawrence said. “There’s a chance I might play a little bit of one (point guard), so ball handling has been a main thing for me.”