While attending the
University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, LaRose played for coach
Dan Devine's
Missouri Tigers football team from 1958 to 1960. He led the team in receiving yardage as a sophomore and again as a senior, and was a first-team all-conference selection after those seasons. He was a key member of the 1960 Tigers team that posted an undefeated 11–0 record, claimed the
Big Eight Conference championship, won the
1961 Orange Bowl, and finished No. 4 in the Coaches Poll. Following his senior season in 1960, LaRose was recognized as a unanimous first-team
All-American at the
end position, having been a first-team selection of the Associated Press (AP), the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA),
The Sporting News, United Press International (UPI), Central Press Association (CPA),
Time magazine, and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. He was inducted into the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992. ==Professional career==