Carroll “CD” Dawson, former Baylor men’s basketball player and coach and Houston Rockets general manager, died on September 9 at 86 years old, leaving behind a decades-long legacy in men’s basketball.
“The Rockets family mourns the loss of beloved former coach and general manager Carroll Dawson, affectionately known as CD,” the Rockets said in a statement. “For nearly three decades, CD was a cornerstone of our organization, instrumental in shaping the careers of stars like Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.”
The Alba, Texas native, a 6-foot-5 All-American honoree, came to Baylor and played center for the Bears from 1959 to 1960 after a stint at Paris Junior College. He earned All-Southwest Conference honors in 1960. He became an assistant coach for the team in 1963 after 22 months in the Army – much of that time spent playing on the Army basketball team.
Notably, Dawson in 1966 recruited Tommy Bowman, the first Black scholarship student-athlete at Baylor. A Baylor Proud retelling says Dawson discovered Bowman during a random gas station stop in Athens, Texas. “The attendant asked about the Baylor sticker on Dawson’s car; when he learned Dawson was a coach, he proudly noted that Athens had the best basketball player in the state: Tommy Bowman,” Baylor Proud writes. From there, Dawson was redirected to Bowman’s house where he shelled peas with Bowman’s mom as he sold her on Baylor.
Dawson became Baylor men’s basketball head coach in 1973 and boasted a 44-51 record until his departure in 1977. Current head coach Scott Drew told the Waco Tribune-Herald that Dawson was always an ally.
“My first memory of CD was when he drafted my brother, Bryce Drew, with the 16th pick in the NBA Draft,” Drew said in a Tribune-Herald article. “When we attended the press conference he made our family feel at home and was a father figure to a lot of the players on the Rockets.
“When I got the job at Baylor, CD, was one of the first to congratulate me and right away offered to help in any way that was NCAA permissible. In the early years CD always knew just the right thing to say to encourage me and our team through the rebuilding process. One of my biggest personal highlights in our national championship parade was seeing CD and his wife Sharon walking in the parade. They so much deserved the applause. CD lived and died Baylor/Rockets basketball.”
Dawson enjoyed a brief career in the Dallas Cowboys’ scouting department – thanks to a chance encounter with Gil Brandt, according to the Dallas Morning News’ obituary – before joining the Houston Rockets in 1979.
There he served the franchise for over three decades, assistant coaching for 17 seasons, helping the team win back-to-back 1995 and 1995 NBA championships, and bringing in stars including Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, Steve Francis, and Tracy McGrady as the Rockets’ general manager. The team bolstered a 461-409 record during Dawson’s tenure as general manager from 1996 to 2005, and he was the only person to coach on all four of Houston’s NBA Finals teams in 1981, 1986, 1994, and 1995. “During his time with the Rockets, CD became renowned for his sharp basketball mind, his ability to spot and develop talent, and his role in securing key players who would define the team’s success,” the Dallas Morning News obituary writes. “Most notably, he played a key role in developing Hakeem Olajuwon, orchestrated pivotal trades for stars like Steve Francis and Tracy McGrady, and negotiated with the Chinese government to secure Yao Ming as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft.”
His contributions to the sport landed him on the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.
In addition to his career in men’s basketball, Dawson also helped create the Houston Comets, the WNBA’s first dynasty. After hiring coach Van Chancellor and signing key players Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, and Tina Thompson, the team went on to win four consecutive WNBA titles from 1997 to 2000.
