Columbus East’s Keaton Lawson (3) looks for an open teammate against Columbus North Dec. 19 at Columbus East High School.
Nicholas Shaw | For the Republic
Saying that Keaton Lawson is thrilled to be on the basketball court might be an understatement.
The Columbus East senior missed the second half of football season due to a broken collarbone. Now that he’s back to being healthy, he’s already made an impact on the court and looks to carry the momentum in the last two months of the regular season.
In September during football practice, Lawson landed wrong. After tests confirmed it was a broken collarbone, Lawson knew at that moment his career as an Olympian football player was over.
“I was a little sad, but I couldn’t stop working. I had to move on to basketball season. Knowing that basketball season was coming up, I would have to grind and work to be better,” Lawson said. “It feels perfectly fine. It works great. I went to physical therapy and didn’t skip one (session). It helped me get back to where I used to be.”
Keaton Lawson
While Lawson enjoyed playing football, basketball is more in his blood. He got to watch his older siblings Kaden and Kylah playing when he was younger and playing with them, and occasionally against them, in the driveway.
Kylah eventually become a standout basketball player at Columbus North and currently is a senior basketball player at UIndy. She spent the first two seasons at Division III Hanover before transferring to the Division II Greyhounds.
“They were playing when I was born, and that was where my competitive nature came from,” Keaton Lawson said of his siblings.
After surgery, Lawson was told his recovery time was going to be two months, which would be just in time for the beginning of the hoops season. He wasn’t afraid to admit was he was nervous through rehab and had to battle through those tough roads along the way, but most importantly, it was about trusting himself and the process.
“I was a little scared to come back, but I knew I had to fight through it and trust myself that I won’t get hurt again,” Lawson said. “I was a little scared, but it feels fine now.”
Lawson was a two-way football player for East, playing wide receiver and safety. In five games before the collarbone injury, he finished with 17 receptions for 402 yards and six touchdowns. Last spring, he competed in track and was a regional qualifier in the long jump, high jump and as part of the Olympians’ 4×100-meter relay team.
Lawson was an All-Hoosier Hills Conference selection last year for both football and basketball as a junior. He led East to a sectional runner-up finish in basketball, averaging team-highs of 18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.0 steals per game.
Lawson’s 6-foot, 5, 190-pound stature is a gift and a big advantage for his team during any rebound or jump ball situation on the court. What makes Lawson stand out more is his ability to make his teammates better and get everyone on the floor involved.
The Olympians have played in only three games this season due to the winter storms in December that postponed a couple contests. Nevertheless, Lawson leads the team with 16.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 3.5 steals and 2.5 blocks per game.
“The thing that people don’t understand about Keaton, is he’s making every single one of our guys better,” East coach Perry Nash said.” He has really taken a back seat. He knows for us to advance is he’s got to get these young guys experience, good reps and good experience. He has done an amazing job. One of these times, he’s going to drop 40, 50 points, we all know it’s coming, but right now, he is getting guys better.”
Lawson made his commitment last month to play basketball at Indiana Wesleyan. Before he arrives though, Lawson hopes to bring the Olympians a sectional title, which they haven’t won since 1996.
“Being with my brothers, I’ve been playing with them since kindergarten, third grade, all the way through high school,” Lawson said. “Being able to play with them and play my senior year and winning games with them is a really good feeling, playing with my friends because I know I’ve got to do it for them and not just myself. My family, they’ve been supporting me the whole time, so that’s who I’ll do it for.”
