Cincinnati native, Byron Larkin played football and basketball at Moeller High School then continued on to play basketball from 1984-85 and 1987-88 at Xavier University. He won three Midwestern Collegiate Conference Tournaments and was MVP of all three, plus was a part of Xavier's first-ever NCAA Tournament win.

Larkin was named first alternate to the 1987 Team USA competing in the Pan American games in Indianapolis, Indiana, then spent 6 seasons playing abroad professionally in Venezuela, China, and Hong Kong. Today Byron can be heard on the radio as the Xavier men's basketball color commentator.