Johnny Earl Dawkins Jr. (born September 28, 1963) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach and former player who is the head coach for the UCF men's basketball team. From 2008 to 2016, he was the head coach of

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. He was a two-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and national player of the year as a senior in 1986 while at

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

from 1982 to 1986. Dawkins subsequently played nine seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

(1986–1989),

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

(1989–1994), and

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

(1994–1995). From 1998 to 2008, he served as an assistant basketball coach at his alma mater, Duke.

Playing career

College

Dawkins was born and raised in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He played basketball at Mackin Catholic High School in Washington, D.C. before enrolling at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. At Duke, he became the team's all-time leading scorer with 2,556 points, which stood until 2006 when JJ Redick surpassed it. In Dawkins' senior year at Duke, the 1985–86 season, the Duke Blue Devils attained a win–loss record of 37–3, which was an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

record for both games played and games won in a single season. They reached the 1986 NCAA championship game, where they lost to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, 72–69. In his senior season, Dawkins averaged 20.2 points per game and won the

Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is "the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men's and women's college basketball players of the year," as chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors. It is named in honor o ...

Award, presented to the nation's top Collegiate Basketball Player. He also served as alternate on the 1984 United States Olympic basketball team. He graduated with a degree in political science. His jersey number 24 was later retired. Dawkins has received a number of honors, including selection to the ACC 50th Anniversary men's basketball team honoring the 50 greatest players in

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

history and being named the 78th greatest player in college basketball history by '' The Sporting News''' book, ''Legends of College Basketball'', in 2002.

NBA

In the 1986 NBA draft, Dawkins was selected by the

as the 10th pick overall. He appeared in the 1987

NBA Slam Dunk Contest The NBA Slam Dunk Contest (officially known as the AT&T Slam Dunk) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. The contest was conceived of and started by the American Basketball Associat ...

, where he finished sixth out of eight. He ended up playing in the NBA for nine seasons, also appearing for the

and the

. In his NBA career, he averaged 11.1 points, 5.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds.

Coaching career

Following his NBA career, Dawkins went back to

in 1996, where he worked as an administrative intern in the athletic department and was on the air as an analyst for Duke's home basketball games. He joined the Duke coaching staff in 1998, working alongside head coach

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( , ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980–81 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, 1980 to 2021� ...

. He was promoted to associate head coach in charge of player development in 1999. In April 2008, he was named head coach at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, succeeding Trent Johnson. During his time with the Cardinal, he became known as "the king of the NIT" (with crowns in 2012 and 2015). But Dawkins could not get over the hump in the NCAA tournament, with only one

appearance Appearance may refer to: * Visual appearance, the way in which objects reflect and transmit light * Human physical appearance, what someone looks like * ''Appearances'' (film), a 1921 film directed by Donald Crisp * Appearance (philosophy), or ...

(2014) in 8 seasons. On March 14, 2016, at the conclusion of his eighth season, and after a disappointing one NCAA Tournament appearance in eight seasons as head coach, Dawkins was fired. On March 23, 2016, Dawkins was hired as head coach by the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

. Shortly thereafter, his son, Aubrey Dawkins, transferred from Michigan to play for his father. On March 2, 2019, UCF defeated (#8 AP Poll/#6 Coaches Poll)

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

at Fertitta Center, stopping the nation's longest home winning streak at 33. With the win UCF entered the AP Poll for the first time since the 2010–11 Knights spent four weeks in the poll, peaking at 19.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Stanford profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawkins, Johnny 1963 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen African-American basketball coaches All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Archbishop Carroll High School (Washington, D.C.) alumni Basketball coaches from Washington, D.C. Basketball players from Washington, D.C. College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Detroit Pistons players Duke Blue Devils men's basketball coaches Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Philadelphia 76ers players Point guards San Antonio Spurs draft picks San Antonio Spurs players Shooting guards Stanford Cardinal men's basketball coaches UCF Knights men's basketball coaches