Heyward Harrell Dotson (July 12, 1948 – May 1, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, attorney, and civil servant.

Biography

Dotson was born on July 12, 1948, in Lugoff, South Carolina and was raised on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

. He played basketball for

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...

before attending

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

on a scholarship. He was a member of Columbia Lions men's basketball team, where he averaged 13.7 points a game and led the Lions in assists, helping the team capture the Ivy League Men's Basketball championship title during the 1967–1968 season and earn a spot in the 1968 NCAA University Division basketball tournament. Dotson averaged more than 18 points a game in the 1968-69 and 1969-70 seasons. He averaged 16.7 points a game, and finished his career with 1,266 points, making him the first basketball player from Staten Island to ever score 1,000 points at both the high school and collegiate levels. Dotson was initiated into the Eta Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. After graduating in 1970, Dotson was drafted by the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

and

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

. He declined to join either franchise and studied European history at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

, on a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

. He was

's first Rhodes Scholar. At Oxford, Dotson was a member of its men's basketball team and led the Blues to the 1971 B.U.S.F. National Championship. After Oxford, Dotson was traded to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

, which cut him. He then played for the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

. Dotson then graduated from Columbia Law School in 1976 and worked for

Shea & Gould Shea & Gould was one of New York's best-known law firms. It was established as a result of a merger in 1964 between the firm Manning, Hollinger & Shea and Gallup, and the firm Climenko & Gould. Then in the 1970s the firm acquired several smaller n ...

. He later joined the office of assemblymen

Keith L. T. Wright Keith L. T. Wright (born January 3, 1955) is an American politician and a former member of the New York State Assembly. He was first elected to the assembly in 1992 and was re-elected eleven times. In early 2007, he proposed a bill limiting reta ...

and then the

New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...

's Office. He also served as a professor at the

Metropolitan College of New York Metropolitan College of New York (MCNY), formerly Audrey Cohen College, is a private college in New York City. MCNY is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and consists of three schools: The Audrey Cohen School for Huma ...

. He ran for the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

in 2001 but lost in the primaries, and worked as a substitute teacher in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

. Dotson sued the

New York City government The government of New York City, headquartered at New York City Hall in Lower Manhattan, is organized under the New York City Charter and provides for a mayor-council system. The mayor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for the ...

in 2012, when courthouse guards forced him to pass through a metal detector and caused his defibrillator to go haywire. Dotson died of liver failure on May 1, 2020, in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

References

1948 births People from Lugoff, South Carolina Columbia Lions men's basketball players {{DEFAULTSORT:Dotson, Heyward American Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Columbia Law School alumni 20th-century American lawyers 2020 deaths