Lou Dawkins joined the NIU men’s basketball coaching staff on April 14, 2011, following seven highly-successful seasons as the head coach at Saginaw High School in Saginaw, Mich.
Dawkins has played a key role in the rebuilding process at NIU that has seen a program which had produced just two winning seasons in the previous 15 years grow to earn its fourth postseason appearance, and the second-most wins, in school history in 2015-16.
The Huskies posted a 21-13 record in 2015-16 and accepted an invitation to the inaugural Vegas 16 tournament. NIU’s success came despite having the second-youngest team in the MAC, a squad that saw nearly 40 percent of its scoring come from freshmen.
Three Huskies earned conference postseason honors, including sophomore Marin Maric who was named to the All-MAC Third Team; Aaric Armstead was named to the MAC All-Defensive Team and Marshawn Wilson was recognized on the MAC All-Freshman Team. It marked the first time since the 2002-03 season that NIU has three all-league honorees.
In addition to its success on the court, the NIU men’s basketball team also achieved in the classroom in 2015-16, posting the highest team GPA on record during the 2015 Fall Semester.
The success of the 2015-16 season was a result of the building blocks set in place since Dawkins’ arrival with head coach Mark Montgomery in 2011.
Ranking among the youngest teams in the country in both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, the Huskies still recorded a number of program milestones, including NIU’s first MAC Tournament victory since 2003. NIU also posted its first win at Miami (Ohio) since 1981, its first win at Central Michigan since 2006 and its first victory over Kent State since 2003.
During the 2013-14 season, the Huskies engineered the largest single-season win improvement in school history, and the 10th-largest nationally for the season, recording a 10-win improvement, going 15-17, at the time it was NIU’s most victories since the 2005-06 season. The Huskies advanced to the second round of the MAC Tournament for the second time in three seasons while Jordan Threloff (All-MAC honorable mention) and Aaric Armstead (MAC All-Freshman team) earned league honors.
The Huskies continued to make strides during the 2014-15 season, Dawkins’ fourth at NIU. The Huskies posted a 14-16 record playing against a strength of schedule ranked 147th in the nation, NIU’s best since 2004-05, and posted its first winning non-conference record in nine seasons. Playing in a much-improved MAC, NIU also posted a RPI of 188, the school’s best since 2005-06.
During his seven seasons as the head coach at Saginaw High, Dawkins had an overall record of 149-28 and led the Trojans to Michigan Class A state championships in 2007 and 2008 and reached the state semifinals in 2005; the Trojans finished 2007 ranked second nationally by MaxPreps and in 2008 they were fourth in the USA Today Super 25. Dawkins was named the national coach of the year in 2007. He was also the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Coach of the Year in 2007 and the Michigan AP Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2008.
The Trojans won the Saginaw Valley Conference championship in six of Dawkins' seven seasons as head coach and he was named the conference coach of the year on three occasions. Dawkins also served as the Director of Athletics at Saginaw High during his final three years as head coach.
Dawkins coached 11 players that went on to receive NCAA Division I basketball scholarships, including Michigan State's Draymond Green, now a member of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, and Josh Southern of Boston College.
Prior to becoming the varsity coach at Saginaw High, Dawkins was the junior varsity coach for six seasons, compiling an overall mark of 112-10.
A Saginaw, Mich., native, Dawkins played collegiately at the University of Tulsa from 1989-94 under J.D. Barnett and Tubby Smith. He helped the Golden Hurricanes reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 1994; Dawkins earned all-conference second team honors and was also named Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year that season. He still ranks fifth all-time in Tulsa history with 339 career assists and sixth all-time in school history with 176 steals.
Dawkins received his bachelor's degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation from Tulsa in 1994. He and his wife, Latricia, have been married for 22 years and have three sons; Mario, 25, Christian, 23 and Elijah, 1, along with a daughter, Hailee, 18. Their fourth son, Dorian, passed away six years ago at the age of 14.
