Joe Dawson (Hebrew: ג'ו דאוסן; born May 16, 1960) is an American-Israeli former professional basketball player.
He played high school basketball at Druid High School in his native Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and played four years of college basketball for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, leading the team in scoring and rebounding multiple times and was an all-conference selection.
After going undrafted in the 1982 NBA draft, he started his professional career in the Continental Basketball Association, and was selected as an all-star in each of the three seasons he played there.
He was inducted in the Southern Miss Hall of Fame in 2011, and is the father of professional basketball player Shawn Dawson.
[3] As a senior he averaged 21.4 points per game, shooting 53% from the field and 78% from the free throw line,[3] and was selected in the 4A All-State first team.
[9] Dawson's junior year saw him average 15.4 points (second behind Eddie Jiles) and 10.3 rebounds (first); he also led the team in field goal percentage and minutes per game (a career-high 37.5).
[13] He was selected for the second year in a row in the All-South Independent first team by the Associated Press, and again was named an All-American by Sporting News.
After going undrafted, he joined the Maine Lumberjacks of the Continental Basketball Association, where he averaged 14.4 points and 8.6 rebounds over 40 games in his first season as a professional player, and was selected as a CBA All-Star.