Willard star Dawson is Max-ed out

The silence hung thick in the air. As players and coaches of the Willard boys basketball team processed a soul-crushing, season-ending defeat on March 7, one player sat in front of his locker, jersey pulled over his face. The Crimson Flashes had just lost by two points in overtime against rival Lexington in a Division II district semifinal. The game paired two teams ranked in the top 10 of the final Associated Press state poll and was back-and-forth throughout. After the initial shock and sting of the loss settled, Max Dawson remained still with his black and crimson jersey buried in his hands. Even minutes later, the Willard senior standout was walking around in his uniform — dazed and shocked with the season's end. "I've been fortunate to be around some great players in 40 years," Willard assistant coach Dave Hirschy said. "I can remember that same feeling of sitting in disappointing locker rooms after a loss. The thing that Max had along with those great players is, none of those guys wanted to take their uniform off. "They never wanted it to end. They had to be forced out." Though it was a difficult way to end his career, there is much more to Dawson than 1,849 career points, Player of the Year awards and three All-Ohio selections. Despite being required to take the uniform off for a final time, days later Dawson was in the gym — with two junior high players. He helped eighth-grader Jackson Hall, his cousin, and JJ Bedingfield, a seventh-grader, through a workout. "He not only carried the torch, but he's willing to pass it on," Willard head coach Joe Bedingfield said. "He has the "it" factor that every coach would love to have in every kid." Dawson will be remembered by many as the third all-time leading scorer. As someone who helped add championships to a Willard program steeped in tradition. But to those close to Dawson who see him every day, the basketball success is somewhat secondary. Serving others Dawson has worked hard on his basketball skills to land a full scholarship to nearby NCAA Division II Ashland University. But he's worked even harder in the classroom and the community. Dawson peer tutors second-grade students twice a week. He volunteers at the food pantry, filling up boxes with food and stacking them to be prepared for distribution. He's also part of the schoolwide recycling program and trash pickup on U.S. 224 as part of the Adopt a Highway program. Also through the school, Dawson volunteered to speak at a Veterans Day assembly. He assisted with the pregame football ceremonies during Willard's annual military appreciation night. When an "honor flight" — veterans who fly to Washington, D.C., from Columbus — returned near midnight, Dawson was among the 70 students there who formed a tunnel to welcome them back. When the WHS basketball team did a military appreciation during this past season, it was Dawson who tracked down the information from the players for whom they were dedicating the game. The information went in the program that was distributed. Dawson also participated in an Honor Run 5K — and won — and has placed wreaths on the graves as part of the Wreaths Across America program. "When I think about Max, I think about a young man who thinks about others before himself," Bedingfield said. "He's a leader at school in everything he does." Before playing in an All-Star game in Sandusky on March 28 — where he made eight 3-pointers and took home Most Valuable Player honors with 33 points — Dawson had helped preschool students with an Easter egg hunt. For his part, Dawson said he was taught at a young age to serve others. "That's a big part of leadership, and if you want to be a leader, that's where it starts — to serve others," he said. "I think we have a great program with students helping in the community, and growing up I've always wanted to be a part of that. "I always want to be involved and speak at those events to appreciate those veterans, and the adopt a highway is something I try to get my name in every time," Dawson added. "It's important to serve our community. They support us so much in sports, that I think it's the least we can do to give back to them." The rule of two When Dawson and fellow classmate and 1,000-point scorer Cam Robinson were freshmen, they were role players on a Willard team that went 19-6 and won an SBC Bay Division championship. That team also took a heart-wrenching loss, 65-64, against Western Reserve in a Div. III district championship game. After the crushing loss, Bedingfield pulled the two freshmen aside. "I told them it was their turn to carry the torch," Bedingfield recalled. "But to be honest, I wasn't really sure." Bedingfield said Dawson didn't look like a high school kid when he was a freshman. "He was small, weak, scored 141 points and didn't get a lot of time," Bedingfield said. "But he and Cam and his teammates embraced the challenge." Bedingfield credits Dawson for what came next. But Dawson also deflects the credit to his coach. Regardless, anytime Dawson went to the gym to shoot or go through a workout, there was a rule that he wasn't allowed to go alone. "Coach B knew before I did that I was going to need all the guys to step up in big games when I got older," Dawson said. "I was going to need them in the gym with me. He kind of challenged me with that after my sophomore year. "I took it as a challenge to make as many of my teammates around me better as I went along." Willard took a slight step back during Dawson's sophomore season to 14-10. It went 15-9 in 2022-23 with another league championship. This season, Willard was 19-5 overall and again won the league title. After losing by 10 points at home against Div. III regional finalist Margaretta, the Flashes went to Castalia and were up nearly 50 points in the fourth quarter of a 77-39 win to force a co-title thanks to the stunning win. "Max is a self-starter," Hirschy said. "You never had to beg or plead to get him in the gym. He brought others along with him. That's what made him such a valuable team guy, not just an individual talent." Four days after the rout at Margaretta, the Flashes cruised past Vermilion on Feb. 20 to officially clinch its title share. It was a fifth championship in the past six seasons for the program. Dawson and Robinson were the first two to cut down the net. After taking photos, Dawson was then able to rattle off all six seniors on the spot from the 2020-21 team — crediting them for the moment. "When I came in as a freshman, there was a rich history," he said. "We wanted to keep that going. We saw a great senior class when we were freshmen with Austin Adelman, Myles PInkston, Micah Dawson, Jake Cok, Cooper Wiers and Trey Mock. "They kind of set the tone for us, and then I think we wanted to leave to the future what they left to us." Place in history After two years of high school, Dawson had scored just 610 points. Two years later, he finished just 151 points shy of 2,000 for his career. But from the time he was little, Dawson found his way in the gym. It was there he picked up nuances from both the boys' and girls' programs at Willard. Dawson's father, Jon, was the girls coach at WHS for several of his formative years. "Being around my dad's practices, I think that kind of helped me fall in love with the game," he said. "But it also helped me learn the game. I was watching those high-intensity games as a kid and knew I wanted to be part of them." In junior high, Max was watching older bother, Micah and his teammates. He noticed how the elite played. They always stuck out to him. "I would say the biggest thing from those years as a kid was I learned how to play the game the right way," Max said. "When you see great players, it's how you want to play. It improved my IQ and learning to play he right way all the time, no matter who it's with or what the score is in that game" Dawson was special mention All-Ohio as a sophomore, then scored 609 points in 2022-23 to earn All-Ohio second-team recognition. This season, he topped that with 630 points. Dawson averaged 26.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. The standout was also a two-time SBC Bay Player of the Year and was OPSWA Northwest District Co-Player of the Year this season. Dawson — who wore No. 3 in high school — fittingly finished third in single-season scoring and career points behind Jimmy Langhurst and Nick Dials. Langhurst had an 807-point season and finished with 2,199 career points (2003-06), while Dials had a 676-point season and 2,180 career points (2000-03). "As a competitor, you always want to set your standards as high as they can be, and those two are obviously the highest," Dawson said of Langhurst and Dials. "So when you're in the gym and you don't really feel like working out, that gives you the motivation. "You want to have as much success as those guys do. When you talk about the rich tradition here, they set the tone." There was never a moment or sequence that led Dawson to believe he was capable of 1,239 points in two seasons. "It just kind of became natural for me to stay in the gym," he said. "I don't think there was ever really one moment, it was just trusting the process to get better each day over time. "If anything, it was taking my work in the gym and weight room more seriously than ever." That is also what led Bedingfield to describe Dawson as having the "it" factor when talking to college coaches. "That's hard to define," Bedingfield said. "But he is the son of a coach who has grown up in the program and knows how important it is to the community." "Max Dawson is a kid that's worked incredibly hard and deserves everything he gets." Or, as Hirschy noted, the image of Dawson not willing to remove his No. 3 jersey spoke volumes — with no words. "Those kids who don't want to take the uniform off are the kids you want to surround yourself with," Hirschy said.