After receiving an ally-oop pass from forward Israel Hakim (‘12) in the game against Oak Grove,  Aubrey Dawkins (‘13) a junior shooting guard for Palo Alto perfectly executed a slam dunk for two points which proved to fans that he was the real deal.

Aubrey moved across the country from North Carolina to Los Altos in 2008 when his father Johnny Dawkins accepted the job of head coach for the Stanford men’s basketball team. His father attended Duke University (‘86) to pursue his basketball career. During his senior year at Duke, Mr. Dawkins was honored with the Naismith College Player of the Year Award and was drafted to the San Antonio Spurs the same year he graduated. He played on several teams including the Philadelphia 76ers and the Detroit Pistons before finally retiring as a player and starting his career as a coach.
Aubrey picked up his father’s passion for basketball at a young age and hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps by playing college hoops.

“I like how basketball is a team sport and I like the flow of it”, Aubrey said.

At age six he joined a recreational league in North Carolina, and continued to play throughout elementary and middle school. When he first came to California, Aubrey attended St. Francis High School and developed his skills as a shooting guard.

In 2010, the Dawkins family moved from Los Altos to the Stanford campus, which allowed Aubrey to attend Palo Alto High School and join the Viking basketball squad.

While shooting around at the Stanford rec center one day during the summer of 2008, Paly guard Aldis Petriceks (‘13) saw the last name Dawkins on the back of a blue Duke jersey, and was curious to see if Aubrey, the new player in town had the skills to match the rumors he had heard.

“I heard he was the new Stanford coach’s son so I was anxious to see who he was and if he was as good as people said he was,” Petriceks said.

Being the son of an NBA alumnus and the Stanford Men’s Coach places more pressure on Aubrey than the average high school basketball player endures. Dawkins however does not let these expectations get to his head. Instead, he embraces the challenges that people have placed upon him.

“I like being in those pressure situations,” Aubrey said. It shows the mental toughness that you have.”

Similar to Petriceks, Paly forward E.J. Floreal (‘13) and Hakim shared a curiosity when they first saw Aubrey play at the Stanford gym. Floreal, Hakim and Dawkins initially developed a “friendly competitiveness” towards each other.

After playing together on multiple teams, they were able to learn more about each other’s playing styles and eventually developed a good chemistry. The three played on National Junior Basketball (NJB) teams together and in pick-up games at the Stanford rec center and continued to grow as teammates.

“[Me, Israel and E.J.] are all best friends. We have a group name for ourselves: The ‘B.Y.B.’ That stands for ‘Bouncy Young Brothers’,” Aubrey said.
The friendship that grew between the three over the summer has continued to blossom during their league season at Paly.

“We have a special connection when we play,” Aubrey said. “We’ve been playing together for a while so we know each other’s playing styles.”

The experience playing with Hakim and Floreal has allowed Aubrey to smoothly transition to playing Paly basketball. At six foot four inches’, Aubrey added vertical advantage to the squad, whose average height is six-foot-one. Over the course of the season, Aubrey has contributed to the Vikings’ offense by averaging 12 points and five rebounds per game.

“Aubrey has come into his own role on the team of being a guy who can get some baskets for us and some offensive rebounds,” Petriceks said.

Besides offensive ability Aubrey is a quick thinker who takes responsability for his mistakes.

“He recognizes when to make the pass and when to take his own shot,” Floreal said. “If he makes a bad pass or does something wrong he recognizes that it’s his fault and he will be able to tell you.”

A strong work ethic has benefited Aubrey in his growth as a player over the course of a season. His improvement has not gone unnoticed according to head coach Adam Sax.

“His defense is the area that has improved the most,” Sax said. “He has become a better help defender.”

While Aubrey is serious and focused on improving his game, he has an easygoing personality outside the gym.

“He is light-hearted and he likes to joke around and hes keeps spirits up in the locker room,” Petriceks said.

When he’s not practicing or hanging out with Hakim and Floreal, Aubrey attends almost every Stanford Men’s Basketball home game.

“It has motivated me to try to get to that level by seeing [the Stanford players] play,” Dawkins said.

Whether Aubrey is shooting hoops, or making his teammates laugh, his aspirations to play college basketball drive him to keep pushing himself to reach the next level of basketball. Despite a transcontinental move, Aubrey always remembers the words his father once told him: “Just keep your head up and play your game.”