UK voice has ties to L.A., Coach K

Mark Story / Herald-Leader Sports Columnist

Mark Story

Matthew Laurence spent the past 10 years in almost every huddle with Mike Krzyzewski as a "behind-the-bench reporter" for the Duke basketball radio network.

Now, Laurence — a former Hollywood actor who played Brian Austin Green's father on the original Beverly Hills 90210 — is working in radio in the hometown of the Kentucky Wildcats.

"When I went in and told Coach K I was leaving, one of the things we talked about was the whole Duke-Kentucky thing," Laurence said Thursday.

Laurence, 59, says, only half-jokingly, that he owes his entire post-Hollywood life to the networking power of celebrity golf tournaments.

First, charity golf led him to Duke.

Through playing in golf events, Laurence became friends with former Seton Hall basketball coach P.J. Carlesimo.

One year, they both were playing in The Duke Children's Classic. There, Krzyzewski and his wife, Mickie, invited Carlesimo to dinner.

"I knew P.J., so I was asked to tag along," Laurence said. That night, a friendship between Coach K and the actor was launched.

Laurence had a long acting career. He appeared in the 1983 cult rock-and-roll movie Eddie & The Cruisers, which starred Tom Berenger and Ellen Barkin.

"Creatively, that's the thing I did I'm most proud of," Laurence said.

Yet even now, he's more apt to be recognized from his role of Mel Silver, the father of Austin Green's David Silver on 90210.

"My boy, he's done pretty well for himself," Laurence jokes of Austin Green.

It was a decade ago when Laurence showed up to play in the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic, which raises money to fight cancer in memory of former North Carolina State Coach Jim Valvano.

There, he again had dinner with Coach K and his wife.

"I'd been out there, in L.A., for over 20 years," Laurence said. "I'd gotten very disillusioned with the direction the industry was taking. I was really unhappy."

That night, the Krzyzewskis asked him how he was doing, so he told them. "Coach K encouraged me to think about going into sports (broadcasting)," Laurence said.

That was an intriguing idea for a guy who had grown up in New York loving sports. Eventually, he called Krzyzewski to ask if the coach could make contacts on his behalf at ESPN.

"But he told me, 'Move to Durham, I've got something in mind,'" Laurence said.

Which is how a former actor ended up behind the Duke bench with access to the Blue Devils' huddles for 10 years, including the 2001 NCAA championship season.

"For somebody who loves basketball, it was just an amazing opportunity to get to see how Mike Krzyzewski works from huddle to huddle," Laurence said.

Which isn't to say there weren't challenges reporting from Coach K's huddles. Krzyzewski is known to have a bit of a salty vocabulary at work.

"He does, no question, but most coaches do," Laurence said. "But, yes, I sometimes felt like my job was to be his translator."

In Durham, Laurence stayed active on the celebrity golf circuit.

He met his wife, Shannon, at a celebrity golf event.

By this year, the couple had two young children (ages 5 and 2) and the idea of moving closer to Shannon's family in Frankfort was appealing.

Across the years, Laurence had been a frequent participant in Lexington's Children's Charity Golf Classic. In this year's event, he was paired for two days with Lynn Martin, who owns Lexington radio company LM Communications.

"The first day, we got to joking about me coming up here to work for him," Laurence said. "By the end of the second day, we weren't joking."

Eventually, Laurence accepted a job as an advertising representative for LM, which owns six area radio stations.

Says Laurence: "I often wonder how my life would have turned out if I hadn't learned how to play golf."

In Lexington, Laurence will keep his hand in broadcasting. He's become a regular on WLXG-AM's The Sports Huddle with Chris Cross and Mike Cameron. Laurence will serve as host of weekend shows pegged to Kentucky football and basketball games.

"When I met with Coach K before I left, he told me he thought Kentucky had a real chance to win the national championship," Laurence said.

So what if UK and Duke end up facing each other with a 2009 Final Four berth on the line. Who would the former Duke insider turned Lexington broadcaster root for?

"That would be a tough one for me," Laurence said. "I break out in cold chills just thinking about that."

Reach Mark Story at 231-3230 or (800) 950-6397, Ext. 3230, or at mstory@herald-leader.com. Your e-mail could appear on the blog Read Mark Story's E-mail at Kentucky.com.