Senior guard Jada Dawkins is behind schedule for her breakout season at Zion-Benton.
Coach Drew Cuttill recalls Dawkins certainly looked like a player to watch a year ago.
“Jada had the best summer and best fall as far as consistency,” Cuttill said. “She was excited for the season after putting in so much work.”
And Dawkins showed her potential in the first nine minutes of the Zee-Bees’ season opener against Thornridge. She stuffed the stat sheet with five points, six rebounds, two steals and an assist.
Then, poof, Dawkins’ junior season was gone in a flash when she suffered an ankle injury.
“I was in the best condition and so excited for that first game,” she said. “I had just played the best first quarter ever.
“I still remember the play. It was three-up and was on a press break. Once I got the ball, I went up for a layup. But on my way down, I landed on my foot. My ankle bended all the way to the point where you could see the whole bottom of my shoe.”
Twelve months later, Dawkins is healthy and ready to make a difference on the court. In Zion-Benton’s season-opening loss to Julian on Tuesday, she posted five points, nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block.
“I played decent, but I was still a little rusty,” Dawkins said. “Once I hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter, I was back in the game, and then everything started to feel normal again.”
Zion-Benton sophomore point guard Victoria Aniyah Hunter said Dawkins plays with an intensity that uplifts her teammates.
“Jada is very competitive, and any position she plays or even any sport, she executes it very well and always looks to score,” Hunter said.
Zion-Benton senior guard SaMyra Epps agreed that Dawkins’ presence is important for the Zee-Bees.
“I’m excited to have Jada back on the court,” Epps said. “She brings great aggression to the court. She isn’t afraid to attack the rim, jump to get the rebound and get in the passing lane for a steal.”
Looking back, Cuttill said Dawkins’ injury changed the trajectory of her basketball and track careers.
“Jada was most likely going to be our leading scorer,” Cuttill said. “It was really difficult for Jada, especially when you put in all that offseason work and you know your game has progressed.”
Even in the immediate aftermath of the injury, Dawkins sensed she was headed toward a long and difficult recovery.
“All I could do was sit and cry,” she said. “I wasn’t crying just because I knew my season was over, but I was crying because I didn’t know what I would be, let alone what I would do, without sports.”
Dawkins eventually stopped attending practices and games.
“As the weeks went by and I didn’t see any progress in my ankle healing, I started to feel more and more defeated,” she said. “It felt like everyone was progressing in life, but I was stuck in the same spot.”
After five months of physical therapy, Dawkins shed her crutches and returned to the jumping events in track. She was healthy physically, but she still struggled.
“I ended up not having any progress my whole junior track season,” she said. “I felt so down and defeated and felt I lost all of my athletic abilities. I felt I needed something else to pour my energy and time into, so I started hanging out with some old friends.”
Dawkins said she got into a fight, which had consequences.
“I ended up in places I never expected myself to be in,” she said.
Dawkins was subsequently suspended from the basketball team for the entire summer.
“Reflecting back on my summer and all of the wasted time, I started putting my time back into sports,” she said. “I did everything in my room and in my house. I would do basic workouts, like running up the stairs 50 times or do 50 sit-ups.”
Cuttill, who is also an assistant for the flag football team, convinced Dawkins to give that rapidly growing sport a try. She was an instant standout at wide receiver, scoring 13 touchdowns to earn All-North Suburban Conference honors.
“It was almost like her audition to buy back into what we were doing as a program,” Cuttill said. “Her confidence came back. She was a great route runner. She could play flag football at the next level.”
Dawkins said she also gained valuable insight into how to handle adversity.
“I learned so many things since my injury,” Dawkins said. “You grow from experiences and from relationships. They all teach you valuable life lessons and help you stay level-headed and disciplined.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter.
