Young Harris College Athletics

Earl Lawrence begins his second season as an assistant coach for the Young Harris College men's basketball program.

Lawrence comes to the Enchanted Valley from Central Baptist College in Conway, Arkansas. While at Central Baptist, the Mustangs posted their best winning percentage ever at .710, finishing with a 22-9 record overall and a co-American Midwest Conference regular-season championship in addition to their third straight selection to the NAIA National Tournament.

During the 2019-2020 season, the Mustangs set a new mark for home wins in a season, defending Reddin Fieldhouse by going 15-1 at home. Central Baptist had four players -  Tyrone Alston, Darius Williams, Darius Polley and Tedrick Wolfe - earn All-AMC honors and Alston and Williams earned NAIA All-America honors marking the first time CBC has ever had two All-Americans in the same season. CBC earned a  No. 7 seed in the NAIA National Tournament against William Penn University, but the tournament was canceled by the CoVID-19 pandemic.
 
Prior to Central Baptist, Lawrence spent one season as an assistant coach at his alma mater Clark Atlanta University in 2016-17 under head coach Tony Lamarr. During his tenure at CAU, the Panthers qualified for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament.
 
Lawrence also coached two seasons of AAU basketball for the Georgia Stars, a Nike Elite Youth Basketball League team from 2017-19.
 
Lawrence, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, played four years of collegiate basketball. He played two years in the NAIA at Middle Georgia State College and two years at the NCAA Division II level at Clark Atlanta. After finishing his college career, he played professional basketball in Mexico.
 
He graduated from Clark Atlanta in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in business administration with plans to pursue a master's degree in the future. He resides in Atlanta with his son, Eli.