OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Bradley guard Dodie Dunson (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington H.S.) once again has been selected as one of 30 national candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in basketball, which focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. Dunson also was one of 30 candidates on the initial 2010 list, but suffered a season-ending broken left forearm in the second game of the 2009-10 season and was granted a medical redshirt, which has allowed him to return to Bradley as a fifth-year senior in 2010-11.
Community: A social work major, Dunson is a regular and willing participant in several social service projects at Bradley and in his hometown of Bloomington, Ill. Among those, he speaks to school children of all age ranges, focusing on maintaining positive attitudes and keeping their attention on things that will make them successful in life.
Classroom: In 2006, Dunson was diagnosed with a severe form of dyslexia and an auditory processing disorder, which affects his ability to comprehend effectively both written and verbally communicated words. He has significant difficulties in word reading, reading comprehension and word decoding.
After struggling his first grading period at Bradley, the academic support staff suggested Dunson meet with a learning specialist. Dunson meets with the learning specialist an average of 20 hours per week to improve his word recognition and reading comprehension skills. He also spends countless hours reviewing note cards, taking homemade practice exams and re-writing essays. He also voluntarily reports to the basketball program's academic resource center to study on weekends and often times 2-3 different times throughout the day.
Dunson's hard work has paid off as his grade point average at Bradley has risen to 3.65 and he has earned a spot on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll in each of the last four semesters, twice with perfect 4.0 terms, as well as the 2009-10 Missouri Valley Conference Honor Roll.
Character: While completing biographical information for Bradley's Office of Athletic Communications, Dunson indicated his "best non-atletic talent" is working with kids. He also has expressed a desire to give back to those people who suffer from his similar learning disabilities. He strives to be a role model for others to follow, always flashing a warm smile and being respectful of everyone around him.
Dunson's teammates quickly took to his personality and elected him a team co-captain for the 2008-09 season, before he had yet donned a Braves uniform. Heading into the 2010-11 season, Dunson is now a three-time team captain.
Competition: Dunson began his college playing career at Iowa State in 2006-07 and averaged 5.2 points per game, but elected to transfer after his freshman season. Following a standout sophomore season at Vincennes University, Dunson came to Bradley in the summer of 2008. As a junior in 2008-09, Dunson helped the Braves t0 21 wins and the championship game of the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament by averaging 10.1 points per game, despite playing the final seven games with a broken bone in his right (shooting) hand. He was the MVC Newcomer of the Week Nov. 17, 2008, after scoring a career-best 21 points in the season-opener at Illinois-Chicago, He was the team's leading scorer in 10 games and was Bradley's most-accurate 3-point shooter at 36.8 percent.
The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 men's and 10 women's finalists midway through the regular season, and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The winner of the 2011 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in men's basketball will be announced during the Final Four in Houston.
