Remembering 'Cotton' Clayton
Jul. 2—HENDERSON — With a nickname like "Cotton," Lawrence Clayton wasn't likely to be easily forgotten. But his elite prowess as both a high school and collegiate athlete have cemented his name in not only Vance County sports lore but on a statewide level and beyond.
Clayton died Wednesday at the age of 82. He and beloved wife Betty would have celebrated 62 years of matrimony in December.
Cotton Clayton, who earned his nickname at an early age for his white-colored hair, held the N.C. High School Athletic Association career points record for 44 years, tallying 2,758 points for Kittrell's Zeb Vance High from 1956-59.
Cotton Clayton went on to star for East Carolina's basketball and baseball teams and was inducted into the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984, having notably been the leading hitter for the Pirates' 1961 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championship baseball team.
"We're so proud of him and also, his grandkids are as well," Cotton's son Randy said Friday. "They really like to brag on him, kind of tell people what he's accomplished and how special of a person he is to them."
Cotton played outfield and third base at East Carolina while also averaging 14.9 points and 9.9 rebounds on the basketball team before leaving school early to embark on a seven-year minor league baseball career that ended in 1968 just one level shy of the Baltimore Orioles.
Cotton spent several years in Triple-A around the years of the organization's heyday. The Orioles won World Series in 1966 and 1970, the era of Hall of Fame players Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and Jim Palmer, along with Hall of Fame coach Earl Weaver.
Cotton finished with 787 hits in the minors, 75 home runs, 387 RBIs, and 59 stolen bases.
Already with four children by 1968 at the age of 28, he decided to end his pro career.
"We're very proud of all of his accomplishments," Randy said. "He really doesn't brag much about it at all except when people bring it up to him all the time. So he's been kind of humble that way."
Cotton still ranks fourth all-time in NCHSAA men's basketball scoring behind JamesOn Curry (Eastern Alamance), Sage Surratt (East Lincoln) and Akeem Richmond (Southern Lee).
Curry was the one that first broke the mark in 2003 in a game in High Point that Cotton and the Clayton family attended, posing for pictures with Curry afterwards.
"He held it for long enough," Randy said. "He was perfectly fine with somebody breaking it. He met him and really thought he was a good kid."
Curry had been a prized North Carolina recruit before landing himself in trouble and eventually heading off to Oklahoma State.
Suratt starred collegiately in football for Wake Forest while Richmond eventually landed at East Carolina of all places, leading the Pirates to a postseason national championship (non-NCAA/NIT Tournament) in 2013.
Cotton's name is right there with those stars, and he still holds the record for most rebounds in a game with 46, registered in January of 1959 for Zeb Vance in a 61-37 victory against Knightdale.
Cotton was proud to be a Pirate, going back to Greenville on occasion for letterman appreciation days at football, basketball and baseball games.
He was also a great dad.
"A lot of fun," Randy said. "Laughing all the time and telling jokes. He's the kind of person that he would walk into a room and just light up a room. A fun-loving person."
If you'd like to share any stories about Cotton Clayton, contact kholtzman@hendersondispatch.com or call 252-436-2831.
