{"id":10498,"date":"2016-10-26T14:35:49","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T14:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=10498&post_type=story"},"modified":"2020-05-26T17:09:26","modified_gmt":"2020-05-26T17:09:26","slug":"basketball-coach-abe-and-johnny-dawkins","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/basketball-coach-abe-and-johnny-dawkins\/","title":{"rendered":"Off the Court"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\tPlay video<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Fall 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

Excerpt from video interview<\/h2>\n

Coach Dawkins: How did basketball become a passion?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coach Abe:<\/strong> My mother really wanted me to be a swimmer, but my dad saw I was getting tall, so he shot basketballs with me. I swam in high school and won state championships, but my father passed away when I was about 12 so I wanted to continue [playing basketball] for him. I played in high school and because I was 6’3″ and super strong, I started getting recruited by a lot of schools, so I had to pick between swimming and basketball. We didn\u2019t have the money to send me to college, so through basketball, I got to go to school for free, and that was huge.<\/p>\n

Coach Dawkins:<\/strong> I got into basketball at an early age. My father and his brothers would go out and play pickup ball quite a bit, and I was always intrigued by these great stories about what they accomplished. I just wanted to get involved, so on those Saturday mornings, I would literally go sleep downstairs in front of the door so they couldn\u2019t leave without me, and then I was able to go see them compete, and I just became more fascinated by the game. I love to compete, and it just kind of grew from there.<\/p>\n

Coach Abe: Why did you become a coach?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coach Dawkins:<\/strong> I\u2019ve always loved this game. I started playing at an early age and was able to have success, which was great. I realized how fortunate I was. Coaching was a way for me to give back to the game. It\u2019s my way of saying thanks to all the coaches that came along in my career to help motivate me, not just in how I shot the basketball or defended it, but in the type of person I became. Coaches play an instrumental role in young people becoming great citizens, not just terrific basketball players. Now, the story of how I actually made the transition is kind of interesting. I was at Duke University studying to be an athletic director and about six months into the program, Coach K [Mike Krzyzewski] came to me and said, \u201cHey, Johnny, you ever think about coaching?\u201d As you know, when someone\u2019s coaching you, they\u2019re your coach for life, and so I said, \u201cWell I guess I\u2019m coaching now.\u201d I transitioned pretty much that week to coaching, and I\u2019m just happy he saw that in me because now that I\u2019m in this profession, I can see how much I can affect young people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

Coach Abe: Besides Coach K, who\u2019s your biggest role model?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coach Dawkins:<\/strong> My father. [He] started me off playing basketball. I really [paid attention to] what he showed me on the basketball court [and] his work ethic. My father has gone through a lot. He was a Washington, D.C., bus driver in the \u201970s and \u201980s. He was military, a Green Beret, so [it was] a little disciplined in our household, and I appreciate everything he taught me.<\/p>\n

Coach Dawkins:<\/strong> What got you into coaching?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coach Abe:<\/strong> It\u2019s funny because I went to Duquesne University to get my master\u2019s [degree] because I wanted to be an athletic director. I wanted to stay in sports, but I did not want to be a coach. Most of us who have played the game at a high level don\u2019t want to coach because we see what our coaches go through. But I felt like a lot of young women weren\u2019t very empowered, and I could see they didn\u2019t have a lot of great role models as women. When I got into [coaching], I found that I could really empower these young women and try to help them academically and [athletically]. I really wanted to give back. It\u2019s not about the wow factor or being on TV or about you or me. It\u2019s about these young people.<\/p>\n

Coach Dawkins: Absolutely. Talk about your core values for your program.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coach Abe:<\/strong> Number one \u2014 family first. And that\u2019s not my family \u2014 it\u2019s the university family, it\u2019s the Athletics Department family. It\u2019s our women\u2019s basketball family. I try to lead that way in terms of how [my team] views themselves. Academics is second, and basketball is third.<\/p>\n

Coach Abe: Why did you pick Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coach Dawkins:<\/strong> It wasn\u2019t difficult to choose Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, to be quite frank. The potential this university has \u2014 I\u2019ve watched it from afar, and it has everything. This place was built for success, and I mean built to win. And I don\u2019t mean just in our sport, but it\u2019s built to win in everything \u2014 academically, athletically. What\u2019s not to like? It\u2019s in a beautiful location in Florida. The people here have been amazing. The community is behind the programs. \u2026 It\u2019s a place where you can really leave your legacy. For a coach like me, those are things I look forward to. If anybody\u2019s ever watched my career, I don\u2019t jump from place to place. I like to make a place my home, and I think that can happen because I really believe in what I think we can accomplish here.<\/p>\n

Coach Dawkins: How about you, coach?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coach Abe:<\/strong> I found out you were coming [to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½], so I had to come so I could work with you. To be honest, it\u2019s the exact same reasons that you [mentioned]. I\u2019ve always wanted to live in Florida, so when I got the call, I was really intrigued. There\u2019s so much new energy. I talked to some of my role models, and Joanne McCallie at Duke said, \u201cYou have to work with [Dawson].\u201d I\u2019m going to sneak in and watch some of your practices \u2014 I want to learn from you.<\/p>\n

Coach Abe: How do you motivate your players, and how do they motivate you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coach Dawkins:<\/strong> One, I think we try to live what we do. When student-athletes see adults do things the right way, they want to emulate that, so I think that\u2019s a motivation. \u2026 If you\u2019re thinking of tactical motivation, we\u2019ve had amazing guest speakers, such as the Navy SEALs, come in and [talk to our student-athletes about] some of the things they\u2019ve gone through. I\u2019m really big about [instilling in players that] in this life and in this game of basketball, it\u2019s about getting outside your comfort zone.<\/p>\n

They motivate me every day. \u2026 You don\u2019t become a student-athlete here without earning it. You earn it not just because you are a good basketball player but because of what you\u2019ve done in the classroom. \u2026 It\u2019s difficult to do all the things they do and to live up to everyone\u2019s expectations, and so that really motivates me.<\/p>\n

Coach Dawkins: How do you determine student-athlete success?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coach Abe:<\/strong> For me, it\u2019s making sure they\u2019re empowered when they graduate. I want them to be able to leave this university with a lot of apples in their basket, and not just [having come] to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and played basketball. \u2026 We do a lot of mentoring for our young women on \u201cWhat are you going to do the next 55 years of your life?\u201d It\u2019s not just these four years. How are we going to use this great university to propel you into your future? I want them prepared for life. That\u2019s success to me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[sidebar background=”#f3eded” position=”left” content_align=”left”]<\/p>\n

Katie Abrahamson-Henderson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 49 Hometown:<\/strong> Cedar Rapids, Iowa<\/p>\n

Alma maters:<\/strong> University of Iowa, B.S. in physical\u00a0education, sports administration; Duquesne University, M.S. in education<\/p>\n

\n
Playing time:<\/strong><\/dt>\n
1986\u201388 University of Georgia<\/dd>\n
1988\u201390 University of Iowa<\/dd>\n
R\u00e9sum\u00e9:<\/strong><\/dt>\n
1990\u201392 Assistant coach, Duquesne University<\/dd>\n
1992\u201394 Assistant coach, University of Maine<\/dd>\n
1994\u20132000 Assistant coach and recruiting\u00a0coordinator, Iowa State University<\/dd>\n
2000\u201302 Associate head coach, Michigan State\u00a0University<\/dd>\n
2002\u201307 Head coach, Missouri State University<\/dd>\n
2007\u201308 Assistant coach and co-recruiting\u00a0coordinator, University of Washington<\/dd>\n
2008\u201310 Associate head coach, Indiana University<\/dd>\n
2010\u20132016 Head coach, University at Albany, SUNY<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

[\/sidebar]\u00a0[sidebar background=”#f3eded” position=”right” content_align=”left”]<\/p>\n

Johnny Dawkins<\/strong><\/p>\n

Age:<\/strong> 52 Hometown:<\/strong> Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Alma mater:<\/strong> Duke University, B.A. in political science<\/p>\n

\n
Playing time:<\/strong><\/dt>\n
1982\u201386 Duke University<\/dd>\n
1986 10th overall pick in NBA Draft by\u00a0San Antonio Spurs<\/dd>\n
1986\u201389 San Antonio Spurs<\/dd>\n
1989\u201394 Philadelphia 76ers<\/dd>\n
1994\u201395 Detroit Pistons<\/dd>\n
R\u00e9sum\u00e9:<\/strong><\/dt>\n
1998\u201399 Assistant coach, Duke University<\/dd>\n
2000\u201308 Associate head coach, Duke University<\/dd>\n
2006\u201308 Player personnel director, USA Basketball\u00a0Senior National Team<\/dd>\n
2008\u201316 Head coach, Stanford University<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

[\/sidebar]<\/p>\n

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