Andre Dawkins will not participate in any basketball activities this year. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY
(note: for background, Andre Dawkins Sr. annouced in April his son was working through his grief, and Mike Krzyzewski confirmed in June that Dawkins would redshirt.)
DURHAM—While Duke and basketball teams around the country will open practice on Friday, one Blue Devil will not be taking the floor.
Andre Dawkins, who will redshirt this season, will not practice with the team this year. He is also not in the team picture. His name, though, is still on the roster and he is still in school, according to his father, Andre Dawkins Sr.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski announced in June that Dawkins, who has one year of eligibility remaining, would redshirt and focus on working through grief associated with the 2009 death of his sister. Lacey Dawkins died in a car accident on Dec. 5, 2009, while driving to watch her brother play against St. John’s. She had never seen her brother play in college.
Dawkins Sr. said that his son is working through his grief.
“He is doing really well with that,” Dawkins Sr. said. “We’re supporting him in whatever way we can.
“We’re just taking it one day at a time.”
Dawkins arrived at Duke a year earlier than anticipated after forgoing his final year of high school eligibility. Last season, he started 14 games and averaged 8.4 points per game, but his production and playing time came in spurts. He hit more than five 3-pointers on three occasions, Nov. 15 against Michigan State, Jan. 19 versus Wake Forest (when he hit all seven in the first half) and Feb. 23 at Florida State, where he posted 22 total points. After that, though, he only scored a combined eight points over the final six games of the season.
Dawkins Sr. said that his son does still plan on returning to the team and playing the 2013-14 season.
Comments
No Need to Take it easy on Dstoiber
Mon, 10/15/2012 - 09:04 — URpompousDo not assume that DSTOIBER is uninformed of Dawkins plite. Nobody, semi-uninformed, takes time to post comments on these BLOGs. Dstoiber only meant it as a backhanded comment on the inconsistant performance of Dawkins over the last 2 years. I think Dstoiber wanted the reporter to ask him or should I say DSTOIBER is actually asking this to Dawkins..."Are you using this as an excuse for your poor performance?" Then Dawkins natural response should have been.." No you insensitive, pompous, non athletic State fan. You must have a silver spoon and no tragedy in your life. Do not question a 20 year olds emotional distress of losing his sister/ best friend.. Furthermore, back off and figure out why your team has under-performed since 1983." But Dawkins is too mature for that, so he left it for me to point out to you.... What is wrong with you? Do you not poccess any empathy and compassion for others except for your own kind? Do you not know how to deduce logic when you read? My guess is...all of the above.
Take it Easy...
Fri, 10/12/2012 - 09:55 — gwilso3I think everyone needs to simmer down a bit. I am going to assume that dstoiber had no ill intent and is simply not that familiar with Dawkins' story.
As I recall, Andre did not miss a game after his sister's death, including the game she was enroute to attend. My take is that he never really gave himself a chance to deal with the loss and in his two and a half seasons since then he has struggled because of it. He has come to the realization that he needs to take time to deal with it instead of pushing through. He has loads of potential and shows it in spurts but his emotions I think have held him back tremendously on the court. I think we all wish him the best and are anxious for him to return next season healthy in mind and body.
Andre background
Fri, 10/12/2012 - 09:37 — laura_keeley (author)dstoiber, I understand that it looks odd, but that's really all the information we have:
his sister died in 2009, in the middle of his freshman year. He took a few days away from the team at that time, but never missed any long stretches of games or anything. He announced this spring that he was taking time away from the team because he needed time to grieve, Mike Krzyzewski announced that he would redshirt this fall, and it became known on Wednesday that he is completely away from the team this year and won't be at practice.
The N&O's story when Dawkins first announced he needed more time to grieve: http://bit.ly/Wbp0lS
Krzyzewski's summer announcement that Dawkins will redshirt: http://bit.ly/UQ3qFE
That's all we got. To try to go back and retroactively speculate about how he dealt with his grief in the interim would be most inappropriate. Maybe someday Dawkins will choose to talk about it. Until then, this is what we've got.
Thanks for reading. I've added the two links here to the post above as well.
no troll
Thu, 10/11/2012 - 10:45 — SlackZaci don't think he was trolling. it's not a terrible question. it just seems like an odd time to take a year away from basketball. if that's what he needs, then good for him for doing it and good for Duke for allowing him to do so.
but you're right, people deal with grief differently. Torrey Smith played in a game 5 days after his brother's death and had the game of his life. Brett Favre played one of the best games of his career a week after his father's death.
In this guy's defense....
Thu, 10/11/2012 - 10:44 — Voiceofreason22Perhaps this guy hasn't followed Duke basketball as closely over the last three years and doesn't have the emotional connection with the team and Andre's story. This is a comment forum -- it's not like he's showing up at a funeral and asking how the person died -- free speech and questions are encouraged. With that said, to answer your question with less moral righteousness, everyone grieves in their own way. If you've ever experienced loss you'd know healing doesn't always happen on a time line. He did lose his sister in a very tragic accident so I believe this guy can grieve in any way he sees fit. Even if that's taking a year off three years after the fact.
Andre Dawkins
Wed, 10/10/2012 - 20:17 — dstoiberI am having trouble understanding this story. His sister died in 2009, and three years later, he is unable to play or practice basketball because he is dealing with grief. He played last year. How did he deal with the grief then? What did he do in 2010? I am not a Duke fan, so I don't know all the background? What has changed? Is he grappling with mental/emotional issues that include - but are not limited to - the grief over his sister's death? Perhaps the writer could have done a better job of explaining this strange time line.
It's A Process
Thu, 10/11/2012 - 12:53 — BidPapaSimpI don't want to call you stupid or crazy, but everyone is different. I also would like to help you understand without name calling and shouting at you. I'm sorry you don't understand, but seeing as how I have been the same way in my past dealing with grief(in my opinion, I have no idea how he is dealing with it and don't want to know.) I must let you know. Not everyone grieves in the same way, some people grieve immediately and are, for lack of better term able to move on. Others burry the pain inside almost to the point of neglecting it and never dealing with it. When it finially hits you, and it's not a matter of if or how long but when, it hits you hard. I applaude him for making this decesion. He has every right to do as he needs to do without us(public/fans) questioning him.
Are you kidding me?????
Thu, 10/11/2012 - 08:57 — tonenpoeYou are a complete moron. Who are you to question why Andre Dawkins is just now dealing with the death sister? If you had any decency or intelligence you would say to yourself "oh he must have been using basketball as his outlet for not dealing with her passing"...... I mean good grief you can't be this dumb???? Then again you tried to defend your stupid comment with atupid response. And the writer wrote all that was necessary regarding this situation because nobody knows what's going on through Andre Dawkins head right now and nobody should be asking him questions unless he's willing to talk about it. He lost his sister in a car accident while enroute to see him play for the first time in college........put yourself in that situation and let's see how you handle that at the age of 17/18!
I think no one has the right
Wed, 10/10/2012 - 22:56 — KwikwitI think no one has the right to judge anothers greif for anyone. It doesn't matter if you understand it or not.
I hope Andre finds peace and solace and moves on with his life. I pity the writer above for he lacks qualities beyond simple compassion.
My personal belief is formed by the wishes of those that have passed. I think our loved ones gone from this world want us to move on on lives holding dear memories of of them in our hearts.
comment trolls
Thu, 10/11/2012 - 05:13 — dstoiberI didn't judge anyone. I am looking for more depth to a story that was noticeably lacking same. Why don't you take your righteous moralizing somewhere else?
What is wrong with you?
Thu, 10/11/2012 - 08:54 — richardfocI am stunned that you would want more information than what has already been shared. You have absolutely no right to ask for more clarification about an obviously grief stricken college student! And yes, I know he put himself in the public eye by choosing to play for such a high profile team but he never expected his sister to pass and then have jerks like you wanting more details about his private grieving process.