July 19, 2004 James Quinn MDVarsity.com Magazine Staff The Spalding Cavaliers are coming off a 29-8 season in which they won Baltimore's MIAA "A" Conference, were ranked No. 2 in the Baltimore Sun, No. 12 in the Washington Post, were ranked No. 29, nationally by USA Today and reached the BCL tournament finals. Inspite of the graduation of All-American and DC Player of the Year Rudy Gay, Coach Mike Glick still feels that the Cavaliers can be very competitive in the MIAA "A" Conference and the BCL in 2004-2005. Part of the reason for Glick's optomism is the prsence of three battle-tested seniors who will likely be Division-I college recruits next season. While Coach Glick does not expect any one player to replace Gay's 21 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots a game, he does hope that rising 6'5" senior Lawrwnce Dixon will become a consistent double figure scorer and frontcourt leader for Spalding next season. As we noted in our 2004-2005 preview on Spalding last month on MdVarsity.com, Glick has a very deep and talented backcourt returning and has two excellent juniors coming up from his excellent 2003-2004 JV team. As we have seen on several occasions this summer at Ban The Brick, Spalding's ability to compete with top opponents next year will hinge largely on their slightly undersized frontcourt's ability to compete with bigger, deeper teams. MdVarsity.com traveled to St. Albans for a key Ban The Brick match-up between WCAC power Gonzaga and Spalding on Sunday. We also scouted and interviewed Spalding's Lawrence Dixon. We had seen Spalding play several times previously this summer and Dixon had scored in double figures in each contest. On Sunday, the Purple Eagles defeated Spalding 62-42, but it wasn't for lack of production on Dixon's part. Dixon had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. The slender resident of Columbia, Md., showed nice ball skills as he both handled and passed the ball well. He did not make his only three point attempt, but he did hit a couple of 15-17 foot jumpers and scored on a couple of nice slicing drives off of dribble penetration. Though thin, Dixon is a pretty good "run'jump" athlete with evolving perimeter skills. Dixon has played on the Spalding varsity since he was a sophomore. He was an alternate starter/top substitute as a junior. Glick had expected a bigger junior year from Dixon, but he was slowed early in the season by a knee injury that forced him to miss some valuable preseason practice time. Dixon averaged about 6 points and 4 rebounds as a junior, though those numbers are decieving since the Cavaliers played a very deliberate style last year and their offensive attack, except for their "go-to-guy" Rudy Gay, was very balanced. Dixon's emergence as a D-I prospect took off last Spring after his junior season. "Lawrence had a GREAT off-season," Coach Glick told MdVarsity.com in May. "The improvement that Lawrence has made in the six weeks since our season ended was unbelievable. I don't think I have EVER had a player improve so much in such a short time."