Ben Lawson to Play for Great Britain National Team

Rising sophomore, and hopefully soon to be WKU’s key big man Ben Lawson will be playing for his motherland, Great Britain, in the Under-20 European Basketball Championships, which is set to tip off next month in Greece.

Lawson, who is from Hitchin, England (about an hour from London) appeared in 12 games in his freshman campaign on the Hill, and averaged two points and 1.5 rebounds, which might not seem like much, but is a hefty amount for averaging only eight minutes of play. While Lawson wasn’t the freshman impact player that, say, George Fant, T.J. Price or even Derrick Gordon were, but then again, he didn’t have to be. The WKU staff knew he’d be a work in progress, but is an exceptional player, and I’ve heard people who know WKU athletics best (i.e. Rivals’ Jordan Wells and Inside Hilltopper Sports’ Jason Martin) say that the only reason Lawson landed on the Hill was because he’s an international player – and, especially in his junior and senior campaigns, he should be one of the best centers in college basketball.

This isn’t Lawson’s first rodeo in the EBC; he played for the Great Britian U-18 squad last summer, in which Britain finished in last place. The Brits will open play on July 8th against Latvia, and will also face Hungary, host Greece and Lithuania before the second round, should they qualify…at least, I think that’s how it works.