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Show EcaHy Laster gives Utfes big jft 10 ine uaiiy , t , 111 V? in ii.n 1 111 mw 1 w in HWiiJ Laster is a senior sociology. He h: season he can land, so that he can trjfo " Playing with the bjbh shp he hopes to get his d" work either on the West? back in Chicago. tCoaso, He is married and ha, , who will be two years 2 day. "Peaches" J birthday present sonwouldbeavicCg BY BRUCE WOODBURY Asst. Sports Editor He is only 6-5, which might not seem very big when he is performing per-forming on the basketball court among the much taller giants, but when you are standing by the side of him he looks pretty big. His name is Early Laster, nickname "Peaches," and he is one of the starting forwards on the Utah basketball team. He is also one of the reasons for the rise of the Redskins during the past few weeks. P "Peaches" was pretty modest when asked if he was the reason for the seasoning of the team, and said that it wasn't all due to his efforts. This is probably true but a look at the things he has done the last week or so shows that his contributions to the team have been substantial. He sat on the couch across from the pool hall and looked out at the falling snow. "I don t like snow very much," he said. This point was proven true last week when the Utes invaded the cactus country of Arizona where there is nary a trace of snow. Against the two Arizona schools Laster must have felt the warmth of the sun, at least on his shooting hand, as he scored a total of 47 points in the two games and led the team in rebounding against Arizona State, grabbing 16 boards. "Peaches" attributes the rise of the team to the fact that they -re passing more, taking the smarter shots and working together fetter than they were at the start of the season. Although he is only 6-5 , Laster is sometimes called on to fill in at center for Jim Mahler, as he did against the Sun Devils when the big man got in foul trouble. Playing against guys who are five or six inches bigger than you can be tough, and he said that if he didn't have the defensive help from the rest of his teammates, the job would be almost impossible. impos-sible. "The big men have a problem prob-lem with me though," he grinned, "I am quicker than a lot of them and as a result can do some things mat they can't." Laster is from Carbondale, 111. He decided to come to Utah because they play a lot of the top teams in the country and they have a good basketball program. He said there is some difference in basketball back East than here, especially in the officiating. "Back home and on the West coast," he said, "they let you play a more wide open game and don't call the nit picky type of fouls they do here in the WAC." He prefers the wide open game more because he likes to throw his weight around under the basket. "Peaches" thinks this week's game with BYU in Provo is a key one: "Besides the fact that BYU is our arch rival, a road win this week could give us the championship, champion-ship, what with five conference games left at home." He feels that Utah should win, "provided we play like we have been playing the last few games." |
