SWIC men sign Dallas basketball standout

Continuing to broaden its recruiting at the national level, the Southwestern Illinois College Blue Storm has journeyed deep into the heart of Texas for its latest player.

SWIC head coach Jay Harrington announced on Wednesday that Cervanute Lawson from Cedar Hill High School in Dallas has signed a letter of intent to play for the Blue Storm beginning in the 2015-16 season.

The 6-foot-5 210-pound Lawson averaged 10 points and seven rebounds in his only season at Cedar Hill last season after playing his first three years at perennial Texas high school power Duncanville, (Texas) his first three years. Cedar Hill finished 28-4 this past season.

Lawson is the first high school player from Texas landed by the Blue Storm in many years, according to Harrington, who with the help of former SWIC All-American Corbin Thomas and Cedar Hill coach Brandon Thomas was able to land a talented player from basketball talent-rich Dallas area.

“Acutallly we were in on three kids from Cedar Hill. One kid decided to stay home, another chose to attend Eastern Oklahoma and we were fortunate enough to get Cervanute. The kids down there just don’t want to go that far from home,” Harrington said. “ (Brandon) Thomas was the head coach at Seton Academy when Corbin (Thomas) played there and Brandon then left to take head job at Cedar Hill which is how we heared about Cervanute.”

Lawson joins a strong group of athletic forwards at SWIC including returning sophomores Dez Marshall, Chris Galbreath and Quan Poindexter for the 2015-16 season.

“Cervanute’s stats are not overwhelming, but he played on a top team with 12 very good players and they all played. When watched him (Cervanute) play, I loved what I saw. He is an absolute high-flyer who is extremely athletic and plays hard. He fits into what we want to do and the type of team we want to be this season. We’re going to play a different style this season. We’re going to press and get after it on both ends of the floor.

“Cervanute needs to improve his 3-point shooting, but we’ll work on that. But he’s got a chance to be a special player. e’re not a team which throws a lot of alley-oops passes but we may go to him a few times this season. Like I said, he’s a high-flyer.’’

This story was originally published June 17, 2015 at 7:22 PM with the headline "SWIC men sign Dallas basketball standout."