[1] In 2008, Dawson played for the North Otago Penguins of the Conference Basketball League (CBL).
Dawson spent two seasons in the Australian NBL as a development player with the Wollongong Hawks (2009/10)[2] and Cairns Taipans (2010/11).
[9][10] Originally facing a two-year suspension, the Sports Tribunal were lenient after being satisfied he hadn't intentionally cheated and found his taking of prohibited substance tamoxifen was not for performance-enhancing purposes.
[14] On 10 June 2016, Dawson signed with the Mackay Meteors for the rest of the 2016 Queensland Basketball League season.
[18][19] He was suspended for the presence of a prohibited substance, higenamine, in a sample taken from him at a National Basketball League (NBL) game on May 27.