For Josh Dawson going to Fayetteville to play basketball every year came to be expected.
It’ll now be his home for the next four.
Dawson, Kinston’s energetic point guard who guided the Vikings to back-to-back state titles, has signed to play at Fayetteville State.
The reigning two-time area player of the year said he chose the Broncos over several schools because they were the ones who seemed to want him most.
“They kept coming back and coming back, and since Day 1 they’ve been here,” Dawson said. “They were just showing that they really care about me a lot.”
When the 6-foot-1 guard graduates next month, he will leave Kinston as its most decorated athlete in terms of team state titles won. He’s the only Vikings athlete to ever win three state titles in a four-year span, and the 2011 team his sophomore year came one win shy of playing for a fourth championship.
The success Dawson learned while donning the green and gold will serve him well at the next level, he believes.
“Working out every day, it gets me better as an individual,” he said. “In college, I’m going to have to keep working to get stronger and keep getting better and better every day.”
Dawson, who said he’ll major in sociology, averaged 11.7 points and seven assists and was the guy that made Kinston’s motor run for 30 games last season — the final 19 of them wins.
He was named the Eastern Plains 2A Conference Player of the Year, the East Region’s Most Outstanding Player of the state 2A championship game, the most outstanding player of the regionals — played in Fayetteville — and played in the Southeast Elite 24 Classic charity game in Wilmington.
But none of that compares to working hard at achieving a goal such as playing college basketball.
“This means a lot,” Dawson said. “It means that all my hard work has paid off in going to the next level.”
Vikings coach Perry Tyndall, fresh off coaching the team its second straight championship in his first year, sees Dawson as an impact player immediately for the Broncos.
“Anytime we have a student-athlete move on and have their education taken care of and to be able to continue to do what they love is special,” Tyndall said. “He deserves it. He’s just a hard-working kid that loves the game.
“I think he fits in immediately. He’s going to have the opportunity to step in and play and contribute a lot. I think they’re going to expect a lot out of him right out of the gate, and he’ll be very capable of doing that.”
While Dawson may have been the engine that drove the Kinston basketball machine this season, his recruitment has gone relatively quiet compared to some of his teammates.
Fellow senior Denzel Keyes committed then signed to play football and basketball at N.C. A&T University in February, and sophomore Brandon Ingram has already received offers from N.C. State and Wake Forest, and figures to get many more in the coming months.
But Dawson, in his usual humble manner, enjoyed watching his teammates get the glory — and getting them the basketball.
“I’m not a person that’s going to envy anyone and where they’re going in life, because God has his own plan for everybody,” he said.
One driving force behind Dawson’s success and humility is his faith. And that’s the biggest reason Dawson feels is behind the signing of his national letter of intent to a CIAA program.
“It’s been a great time (at Kinston High), but I still give all the glory to God,” he said. “Without him, without these teammates and these wonderful coaches it wouldn’t have been able to have been done.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.