AkronÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Mikal Dawson (22) celebrates a win over Kent State in the Mid-American Conference tournament championship game on Saturday, March 12, 2022, in Cleveland.
AkronÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Mikal Dawson (22) celebrates a win over Kent State in the Mid-American Conference tournament championship game on Saturday, March 12, 2022, in Cleveland.
A former state high school basketball champion is returning to his hometown of Huntington.
Mikal Dawson, who starred for both the Huntington High and Huntington Prep boys basketball teams, announced his commitment to Marshall University on Monday by transfer from Akron. As a graduate transfer, he has one year of eligibility remaining.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI feel like as a kid, if you went to a Marshall game for the first time, after that first one, you kind of had that thought in the back of your mind that you wanted to play for Marshall when you got older,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Dawson said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œFor me, it was kind of crazy, because I had that moment. I grew up watching Marshall basketball, and IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m playing in the Cam Henderson Center next year.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Dawson spent the last five seasons with the Zips, playing four of those after sitting out the 2022-23 season due to injury.
He appeared in all 35 games for Akron last season, which included a Mid-American Conference tournament championship and NCAA tournament appearance. The Zips went 24-11.
Dawson credited his previous coaching staff for growing his knowledge of the game and said that heÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s excited to return to Huntington as a much more refined basketball player. And heÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s hoping to impact the Herd in a big way.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m a competitor. I bring a lot of physicality to the game. Obviously I can shoot the ball, too, but I feel like thereÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a lot more that I can do that when I was at Akron, no one saw me do,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Dawson said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œI feel like coach Corny (new Marshall coach Cornelius Jackson) is going to give me that ability to showcase what I can do.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Listed at 6-foot-5 and 222 pounds, Dawson brings both size and experience to Marshall after playing in 109 games in four seasons at Akron, with 24 starts. His career scoring average is 4.5 points per game to go with a 2.4 rebounding average.
He committed to Marshall almost three weeks after announcing that heÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™d enter the transfer portal and bidding farewell to the Zips. Not long after his visit to Marshall, his mind was made up.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œCorny, heÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a good coach, and I hung out with the players. TheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve got a lot of talent, and liked being around them,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Dawson said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œBut, I mean, nothing beats playing in front of the home crowd. That trumped everything.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
In three seasons at Huntington High, Dawson helped the Highlanders to a state championship during his junior season and collected a number of awards and honors, including being named the West Virginia Class AAA Player of the Year in his junior and senior seasons.
Luke Creasy is a reporter for The Herald-Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @LukeCreasy or reach him by phone at 304-526-2800.
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