Dawson ready to go green

Updated: March 28, 2011 9:38AM

Lew Wallace's Branden Dawson was named the Post Tribune's Boys Basketball Player of the Year for several reasons. Without question, he's the best basketball player in the region. And with all due respect to Washington's Cody Zeller, an argument could be made that Dawson is the best in the state.

You name it and Dawson has it: the strong moves to the basket, the willingness to play defense, an overall passion for the game. In other words, all the things that piqued Michigan State coach Tom Izzo's interest to successfully recruit him.

Izzo, who started recruiting Dawson in the fall of his junior year, fell in love quickly with his skill set.

"There are a million things I like about Branden, but I really love the way he goes after rebounds and runs the floor," Izzo said. "I went to a Wallace practice and I liked the way he worked hard on so many things. I've always liked players who are versatile."

And for that, Izzo can thank a mom who learned from her own mistakes as a basketball player.

"Yes and no," said Cassandra Dawson who played for Roosevelt from 1987 to 1989. "My head wasn't always into it."

So what was her mind on?

"Boys," she said with a laugh.

But Mom's "do what I say, not what I did" game plan laid the ground work for Dawson to become a dominant force from the time he was a 10-year-old winning sectional titles at Norton Elementary School to the time he led his team to an AAU national title just before becoming a freshman at Wallace.

"I taught him to be good at everything you do," Cassandra said.

And that trend continued at Wallace, where he was an automatic contributor on Renaldo Thomas' Glen Park reclamation project.

"He had a nose for the basketball and was a tremendous rebounder," Thomas said. "He enjoys playing the game and made it fun."

This is how much fun Dawson made it for the Hornets: In the previous three seasons before Dawson came to Wallace, the Hornets were 14-51. In Dawson's four-year run at Wallace, the Hornets were 56-34, including last year when Wallace made its first trip to the state finals.

The four-year turnaround was impressive, but how can Dawson be player of the year this year when his team finished under .500 (10-11) and didn't make it through their regional?

Fair question.

Because of Dawson and the Hornets' success the season before, Wallace became a national attraction and as the spotlight got brighter, the schedule got tougher, including being featured in an ESPN game against Chicago Simeon, the first time a region team was so honored. And you'd have to go back to 1992 and Michigan City's Charles Macon to find the last region player to make the McDonald's All-America team.

Imagine Dawson having a major hand in all of this while losing several key members from last year's state runner-up and still averaging 24 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, and four blocked shots per game. No player had more pressure on him to perform this season and no player came through it better. Even in his last game with the Hornets, a 69-65 loss to Western in the Crown Point Regional, Dawson rode off into the sunset with guns blazing to the tune of 28 points and 15 boards.

"He took that state final loss (to Washington) hard, so he worked hard during the offseason and made himself into a premier player," Thomas said. "I'm very proud of what he's achieved and there's better basketball in the future for him."

Dawson took the loss to Western even harder.

"That loss was like a punch in the gut," he said, knowing his team made just 8-of-24 free throws.

His future includes a trip to East Lansing, Mich., where Izzo said Dawson has a chance to start next season for a Spartans team that endured a first-round NCAA Tournament exit after making the Final Four the previous two seasons.

Not quite the same rebuilding job Dawson had to endure four seasons ago, but a challenge Izzo feels Dawson will meet.

"I told Branden that he would definitely be in the playing group but he has a good chance to be above that," Izzo said. "I was ecstatic. For us, that's what I would call a five-star, big-time recruit and those guys don't grow on trees."

Dawson can't get to East Lansing fast enough. He watched the Spartans lose to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and he's ready to bring some enthusiasm and rebounding to the team.

"It just didn't look like they had any energy," he said.

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