Former professional player and Florida State standout Antonio Dawson serves as the Director of Program Performance for the Vanderbilt men’s basketball program. The 2023-24 season marks his second with the Commodores.

Dawson brings a wealth of coaching and playing experience to Nashville. On the AAU level, he was the head coach for Stackhouse Elite/Southeast United on the Adidas Gauntlet – one of the top grassroots programs in the nation. He helped mentor future NBA players Brandon Ingram and Ahmad Caver.

He spent five seasons as a high school coach in Atlanta highlighted by assisting Meadowcreek High School to the 2017 7A State Championship.

As a player, Dawson was one of the most prolific scorers in Florida State University men’s basketball history. He was the second-fastest player in school history to reach 1,000 points and averaged 19.4 points per game in his career with the Seminoles. During his time in Tallahassee, Dawson teamed with another future NBA player George McCloud to lead the Seminoles to the 1988 NCAA Tournament.

Dawson enjoyed a successful pro career with stops with the Sacramento Kings and Boston Celtics in the NBA. Overseas, he played in eight different countries, finishing as the league’s top scorer in Greece, Germany and Spain.

He was one of the top scorers in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) in the U.S., posting 27.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in 141 career games with the Pensacola Tornadoes, Rapid City Thrillers and Rockford Lightning. He was twice named first team All-CBA and was the MVP of the 1994 CBA All-Star Game.

Dawson graduated from Florida State University in 1989 with a degree in criminal justice.