Lawrence Moten, Syracuse Men's Basketball's All-Time Leading Scorer, Dies at 53

The Washington, D.C., native made four All-Big East teams.

Lawrence Moten was Syracuse's all-time leading scorer. / Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

Lawrence Moten, Syracuse men's basketball's all-time leading scorer, died Tuesday. He was 53.

"This is a tragic day for the Syracuse basketball family," Jim Boeheim, Moten's college coach, said via the Orange. "Lawrence's passing is such a sudden thing—it's very hard to take. He was one of the most underrated college basketball players of all time. I believe some people took his ability for granted because he made it look so easy."

Moten played for Syracuse from 1991 to '95 during a multi-decade run of success for the team under Boeheim. During Moten's four-year career, the Orange won four games in the NCAA tournament.

Individually, the Washington, D.C., native made four All-Big East teams. He was the league's Rookie of the Year, an All-Freshman selection, a two-time All-Big East tournament selection and an NCAA All-Region selection. He remains ninth on the conference's all-time scoring list and held the record for most points in Big East play with 1,405 until 2020, when he was passed by Marquette's Markus Howard.

In the NBA, Moten played three seasons—two years with the Vancouver Grizzlies and one year with the Washington Bullets.

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