Clovis' Dawson flourishing at Liberty

Basketball is a brotherhood. John Dawson’s found new life in Division I hoops, both by being a big brother and knowing when he needed one.

The 2013 Clovis High graduate is off to a rousing start at Liberty University, where he is averaging a team-high 13.7 points, along with 4.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the Flames.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound point guard landed at Liberty (5-15, 2-3 Big South) after transferring from Marquette, and redshirting the last two semesters to retain his sophomore year of eligibility. He’s finding play in the Big South Conference to be a challenge, although not on the same level as Marquette and the Big East

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Since the spring semester began, John Dawson has started all nine games for Liberty and leads the Flames with 13.7 points per game.

“It’s not as physical,” Dawson said. “You’re not facing NBA prospects night in and night out. They do have some guys who can go for 30 at any time, though.”

Though Dawson found the spotlight at times in his freshman season with the Golden Eagles — including a 80-72 overtime win over Georgetown where he scored seven of his 12 points in the extra session — it never quite worked out.

After Buzz Williams left the Golden Eagles for Virginia Tech, Dawson never fit into new coach Steve Wojciechowski’s system. He played just four minutes in the 2014-15 season opener, and not at all in the Golden Eagles’ next seven games.

“I didn’t feel like I was contributing to the team,” Dawson said. “I thought it would be better for me and Marquette if I parted ways.”

He found the right fit with Liberty, the Jerry Falwell-founded private university in Lynchburg, Virginia, and coach Dale Layer. And the right fit wasn’t always about basketball.

“It focuses on the full life as far as your spiritual walk,” Dawson said, “becoming a man.”

But before Dawson ever logged a minute, he had another coach. The Flames relieved Layer of the head coach position, and brought Ritchie McKay back for his second stint with Liberty.

McKay, a former head coach for the University of New Mexico, had never met Dawson. But Clovis High alum Nelson Franse would always say his alma mater produces great talent, and McKay knew going into a scrimmage with Marquette that the Golden Eagles had a point guard from Clovis.

McKay paid special attention to Dawson during the scrimmage, and quickly grew an appreciation for Dawson’s talents. The admiration continued when their paths led them both to Liberty.

“He wants to guard the best play, he wants to make the stop,” McKay said. “He’ll guard anybody, 1 through 5. If there’s a loose ball, he’ll dive on the floor even when he’s got four fouls. That’s an attribute you don’t get in a player on every team. It sometimes only comes around every three or four years.”

Dawson, meanwhile, spoke with McKay to see how he could help the team during his redshirt semester. The answer was to be a servant for his teammates. Talk to them, push them, do what’s best for them and keep them out of harm’s way — the same lessons he learned growing up with eight siblings and various foster children.

But everybody needs help, too. Though the two were never official teammates at Clovis, Dawson frequently talked with fellow Clovis alum Jaye Crockett. The elder Wildcat was familiar with both Division I basketball and adjusting to new coaches, having played for four different coaches in four seasons at Texas Tech.

“Jaye was everybody’s big brother,” Dawson said. “He was a big icon at Clovis. He’d always come back, play summer league ball. When he came back, he wasn’t the Hollywood type.”

Dawson’s type? Whatever it is, McKay is glad to have it on the floor.

“To have a player of not only his abilities,” McKay said, “but his character and leadership is really instrumental. It’s why we’ve started to play a little better of late.”

Dawson wants the improvement to continue.

“I plan on winning the conference, I plan on our team taking over the conference,” Dawson said. “We win the conference tournament, we get into the Big Dance. But right now, we’ve got to take it one game at a time.”