Salem Director of Athletics, Michael Williams, completed the program’s national search for a basketball coach when he named Danielle Dawson as the sixth head coach in program history on Thursday, September 5th.
Dawson takes over at Salem College after spending the last two seasons at Shaw University, taking over for Sharee Boyd, who departed for Francis Marion. In 2023-24, Boyd led the Spirits to eight wins, the most since the 2017-18 season under then head coach Britni Mohney, who won 10 games.
Dawson brings a wealth of experience to the Salem, serving as an assistant coach at four NCAA Division I programs (Monmouth, N.C. A&T, Delaware State, Radford) during that span. She also worked at NCAA Division II institutions, including Valdosta State, Virginia Union and most recently Shaw.
Dawson’s contributions as assistant Coach at Shaw resulted in 42 victories for the Bears over a three-year stretch. After winning 10 games in her first season in Raleigh, N.C., including seven against CIAA opposition, the 2022-23 unit closed with an 18-14 overall mark and an 8-8 record in league contests. Four of those victories came from November 20-December 2, as the Bears downed Kentucky State, USC Aiken, Barton and Virginia-Lynchburg in succession. Shaw caught fire to close the season by winning seven of its final nine games, including three straight in the CIAA Tournament, resulting in triumphs over Claflin, Winston-Salem State, Lincoln (Pa.) before Elizabeth City State ended the run with a 55-40 victory in the CIAA Championship.
Her final season at Shaw resulted in a 14-15 record, which included eight wins in CIAA play, and an opening round victory in the league tournament versus Virginia Union (65-64). The best stretch for the Bears came in late November as they took down Mid-Atlantic Christian, Carolina University, Clinton and Morris in succession. The victory over Mid-Atlantic Christian came by a decisive 106-32 margin in Raleigh.
Prior to Shaw, Dawson spent one season at Virginia Union (2019-20) after spending one season each as the head coach for the Alabama Heat AAU program (2017-18), Team Loaded AAU Team (2016-17) and as the Woodside (Va.) High School boys’ basketball coach (2015-16).
Dawson also had a series of one-year stints coaching basketball with the Virgin Island Senior Women’s National Team (2014) and Radford (2012-13). While in the Virgin Islands, Dawson helped her team capture the Caribbean Basketball Confederation’s bronze medal and qualify for the 2015 FIBA America’s Championship.
Dawson’s coaching career began at Valdosta State, where she spent one year in the Blazers’ program (1999-00). She then moved to New Jersey, serving as an assistant coach at Monmouth (2000-02) before accepting the same role at N.C. A&T during the 2004-05 campaign.
For the next seven seasons, Dawson helped build the Delaware State basketball program as an assistant coach. Under her tutelage, the Hornets dominated the MEAC Conference with 111 victories in that span. 56 of those wins came in 2005-06 and 2006-07, when Delaware State was 24-5 and 32-12, respectively. The 2005-06 unit won 22 straight games from December 30-March 11, capturing a spot in the NCAA Tournament with a victory over Coppin State in the MEAC Championship game. The Hornets followed that by returning to the NCAA Tournament in 2007 after finishing 32-12 and capturing a second MEAC Championship.
Dawson also earned her Masters of Science degree in sports administration from Delaware State in 2009. She earned Bachelor of Science in communicative sciences and disorders from Hampton University in May 1999.
