Dotson’s play makes Knicks believers
Early Thursday, University of Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson received a phone call from New York Knicks representatives asking about Damyean Dotson.
In advance of the NBA draft, Dotson, a 6-5 guard who played at Yates, had worked out for 19 teams. To answer any lingering questions, Sampson told the Knicks to pull up Dotson’s shot attempts from a game against Memphis from the 2016-17 season — when he scored 31 points, including five 3-pointers — and “call me back.” They did. The Knicks selected Dotson with the No. 44 overall selection in the second round Thursday night, ending UH’s 16-year drought of not having a player selected in the draft.
“When they called me back,
there was no doubt in my mind that if Dot was there at 44 the Knicks were going to take him,” Sampson said.
Dotson, a two-year starter after transferring from Oregon, is the first UH player drafted since the Phoenix Suns took Alton Ford in the second round in 2001. At No. 44, Dotson matches UH’s highest draft pick since Alvaro Teheran went to the Philadelphia 76ers in 1991.
“Man, this is a dream come true for me,” Dotson said.
Dotson was not among the players invited to Thursday’s NBA draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. But he decided to attend, along with his mother Lorie, and made his way out of the stands after hearing his name called. He slapped high-fives with some of the Knicks fans attending the draft.
As a senior, Dotson was named to the American Athletic Conference first team after averaging 17.4 points and 6.9 rebounds. He ranked in the top 10 nationally in 3-point fieldgoal percentage (44.3). He made at least one 3-pointer in a school-record 32 consecutive games to end his career.
But it was during the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in April — a gathering of 64 seniors who played in front of professional scouts — that Dotson’s stock began to rise. It was his private workouts for teams, including the Knicks, that sparked increased interest in Dotson as the draft drew closer.
“Dot really helped himself with those workouts,” Sampson said. “He put himself on the map with the great year he had.”
At Oregon, Dotson was at the center of a sexual assault investigation along with two other players that led to his dismissal from the team. Charges were never filed against Dotson, and he resurrected his career back home at UH.
“I tried to stay positive,” Dotson said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen, and I was just hoping for the best.”
Asked Thursday what the early setbacks taught him, Dotson said: “Just to stay focused, learn from it, maturity. It made me work even harder. It made me hungrier.”
In his two seasons at UH, Dotson was a model teammate, serving as a team captain and starting all 64 games.
“He deserves all the credit,” Sampson said. “He’s an unbelievable student of the game. Of all the kids I’ve had get drafted, this is the one I feel best about.”