Cason Wallace (Savannah Armitage Photo)
Before he was sure how talented Cason Wallace was on the basketball court, Richardson (Texas) High School coach Kevin Lawson knew he was going to be special.
“It’s his character that I like better than anything. I would love Cason and think he was the best even if he was not good at basketball. He is a great kid,” said Lawson. “He is the type of kid, and I have been doing this a long time, who is special.
“When he walks in and sees my wife and kids he says hello to them and gives my boys a high five. When he leaves he goes by and says goodbye to everyone. That is who he is and has nothing to do with him being one of the best players in the country.
“I just knew he was special when he started doing that. He always takes time to give my wife a hug and say hello. I just like who he is.”
Wallace (6-4, 185 pounds) is also a top 10 player in the 2022 recruiting class who plans to make his college choice Nov. 7. The leader for the combo guard seems to be Kentucky where he would join 2022 commits Skyy Clark, Shaedon Sharpe, and Chris Livingston. Wallace is a five-star recruit and one of the best backcourt defensive players in the 2022 recruiting class.
“He’s just good at everything. He makes everyone else on the team better. He’s tough and will always guard the other team’s best player,” Lawson said. “He’s not a kid who will score 30 points. He can do that but he almost passes too much to make others better and does not put himself in position to score 30.
“You would think he has sticky on the end of his fingers. He just sucks the ball to him on deflections, rebounds. He’s just a winner and in defensive transition, the way he blocks shots is off the charts. I have not seen anyone do what he does. You think a guy is going to get a layup or dunk and Cason will swallow him up.
“He might be even better on defense than offense just because of the way he changes the game and frustrates the other team. Not many players can do that. But he’s so good it’s hard to say what he is really best at.”
However, Lawson says fans at whatever school he picks are going to love his demeanor. He remembers a tailgate football fundraiser the basketball team did when Wallace was a sophomore. Players were bringing extra drinks from the parking lot to the basketball office.
“My wife is in the office at my desk. The players sit down and a kid reaches in to take a soft drink. Cason said, ‘Hey, put that back. You didn’t pay for it.’ He was doing that because that is who he is,” Lawson said. “My wife, Kelly, could not wait to tell me about that. I tell that story to coaches recruiting him because that really tells who he is as a person even when nobody’s looking. That’s just who he is and why he’s special.”
