On3’s Talia Goodman is showcasing women’s college basketball coaches taking over at new schools. This is the fourth edition of the series – in which we’ll take a deeper look at some of the 50-plus coaches who took over new programs during a turbulent offseason.
Dawn Thornton bio
BORN: Jackson, Mississippi
EXPERIENCE: 2007-10: Tougaloo College, 2010-14: Prairie ViewA&M, 2014-16: Prairie View (head coach), 2017-19: Shorter University (head coach), 2019-24: Arkansas Pine-Bluff (head coach)
PLAYED: Jackson State
Why Alabama A&M?
Dawn Thornton has spent the entirety of her Division I head coaching career in the SWAC. She’s passionate about coaching HBCUs – she wants student-athletes to embrace and love their experience as she did when she played for Jackson State.
Thornton, who led Arkansas Pine-Bluff for the last five seasons, took the head coaching position at Alabama A&M because she loved the school and administration’s dedication to women’s basketball.
“One thing that I experienced through the interview process is how connected everyone is to women’s basketball,” Thornton told On3. “It’s a very special place. Dr. Paul Bryan, our athletic director, is a phenomenal administrator. At this point in my career, I just finished my 17th season, and I really want to be a part of a place where I’m attracted to the administration.”
She’s a product of the SWAC and being a part of this conference as a player gives her a point of view that aligns perfectly with coaching in the conference.
“I like to think that those were some of the best times of my life,” Thornton said. “Being a student-athlete and being a part of this conference was beautiful for me and having an opportunity to pour into young women that look like you, that look up to you and a few may even want to be like me. I take this very seriously and I know what it means to me as a student-athlete and that passion pours through my coaching as I have stayed in this conference.”
Dawn Thornton’s coaching style, portal mindset
Dawn Thornton wants her players to play with swag.
Her teams play competitive basketball with plenty of energy and that won’t change at Alabama A&M.
“That’s the way that this game of basketball is changing,” Thornton said. “You’re seeing a lot more [swag] in the league. Young women are being very, very competitive on every level. That’s what we want to be able to do.”
And Thornton believes Alabama A&M has the personnel to play that kind of basketball. Coming from an in-conference university gave her an advantage in the transfer portal, as she was already communicating with several players who had interest in joining the Bulldogs rather than Arkansas-Pine Bluff. She was able to land Colorado transfer and daughter of Deion Sanders, Shelomi Sanders, keep four Bulldogs who originally entered the portal and bring over a few key pieces from Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
“We want to put a brand out where young ladies are playing fearless and are really excited about accepting any challenge that comes their way,” Thornton said. “We want them to handle any type of adversity, learn to pivot and continue to push through.”
Although the transfer portal has become a fixture in college athletics, Thornton wants to encourage players to spend all four years at their institution.
“One thing that the transfer portal has done is eliminate young women and young men from having the opportunity of being connected to a university,” Thornton said. “It’s become more of a business. It’s becoming more of a job. I want to take that feel out of that. I want these young women who chose to go to an HBCU, I want them to be able to embrace what that is and what that feels like and have that warmth inside of them for the rest of their lives. In order to do that, it’s my job to make sure that their experience is one that would make them want to come back to be stakeholders to our program.”
Something you may not know about Thornton
Dawn Thornton is not only a huge foodie but a self-proclaimed master chef. If she wasn’t coaching, she’d be cooking.
“I would probably have my own food truck if I wasn’t coaching,” Thornton said. “And I would actually be working the food truck myself because I love to cook. I love to be in the kitchen. I feel like there’s nobody that can cook better than me.”
And whenever she travels, food is always the No. 1 priority for Thornton.
“When I go out of town with my friends, we can go and eat five or six times a day,” Thornton said. “We don’t have to finish the whole meal, but we’re going to sample everywhere. I used to get on diners, drive-ins and dives when we got to town and hit all 15 spots in two days.”
The post The Journey: Dawn Thornton’s love for SWAC led her to Alabama A&M appeared first on On3.