HEYWARD DOTSON

(New York & Worcester 1970) (12 July 1948 - 1 May 2020)

Heyward Dotson, who went on to experience Hall of Fame hoops careers at both Stuyvesant HS and Columbia University before becoming the Island’s first Rhodes Scholar, died on Friday 1 May 2020. 

Following graduation from Columbia, Dotson was drafted by both the NBA (Phoenix Suns) and ABA (Indiana Pacers) in 1970, but he declined to join either franchises after becoming the first Islander to earn a Rhodes Scholarship.

He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1972, leading it to the All-England basketball championship in the process. 

In addition to being voted into Columbia’s Athletics Hall of Fame two years ago, other accolades included being named the Advance’s History Award winner (1996); becoming the first African-American voted into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame (1976) and being elected into the Harlem Sports Hall of Fame.