The 17-year-old freshman starter has grown into a senior leader and dominating defender.
ATLANTA -- With age comes wisdom. With knowledge comes power. These commonly used sayings are undeniably true when referring to Georgia State defensive end Shawanye Lawrence.
He is now a 275-pound senior and one of the leaders of the Georgia State defense, but four years ago, he was the youngest player on the team, a 17-year-old freshman who earned a starting berth.
Lawrence, who finally turned 18 during the last week of his freshman season, remembers being playfully reminded of his young age by head coach Trent Miles as well as his teammates.
“He doesn’t do it as much, but he still does it,” Lawrence said, smiling and recalling his head coach’s jokes about not being old enough to shave.
Starting 11 games at defensive end, the true freshman totaled 25 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one pass breakup, one sack and four quarterback hurries. Not allowing youth to discredit his impact, Lawrence proved himself to be a valuable asset to the Panthers’ defense.
Despite his success during his first season, Lawrence admits making the transition to collegiate football at such a young age wasn’t always easy.
“It was a big eye-opener for me,” Lawrence said. “There were a lot of new things to learn, seeing as though I was able to be in the position to come in as a starter. It was a lot to catch up on and adjust to.”
Along with wisdom came the growing knowledge of the game. Being able to come into the program as a starter helped Lawrence adjust to the rapid pace.
“Playing during my freshman year really helped me out,” Lawrence said. “The game is now much slower to me. I can recognize things faster, such as formations, which helps me play smarter.”
This adjustment took the form of 50 tackles, two pass breakups, one sack and 3.5 tackles for loss during his sophomore season, 2014. One of his highlights was collecting a career-high six tackles with a 9-yard sack at Clemson.
A psychology major at Georgia State, Lawrence continued to develop as a player as he received honorable mention All-Sun Belt Conference honors while helping the Panthers rank in the top four of the Sun Belt in scoring defense, total defense and rushing defense during his junior season of 2015.
As a senior, he is again a key performer for a defense that is one of the top units in the Sun Belt. The Panthers are allowing 5.0 yards per play, a figure that leads the Sun Belt. Lawrence has collected 31 tackles, two pass breakups and a forced fumble, along with many contributions that don’t show up on the stat sheet.
While developing as a football player, the McDonough, Ga., native (Eagles Landing High School) is also expanding his artistic potential. Enjoying drawing in his spare time, Lawrence reflects on when he first picked up this hobby.
“At a young age,” Lawrence said. “I’d say around nine or ten. I use to watch my brother draw and began to develop techniques of my own. I’ve gotten pretty good at it.”
His unique first name, pronounced shuh-WAN-yay, also has an artistic flair to it.
“My mom combined my name,” Lawrence said, laughing. “She named me after Boyz II Men members Shawn and Wanya.”
