Gavin Dobbins finds new home with Sterling College

CLEVELAND, Ohio– Gavin Dobbins recently celebrated his 18th birthday on April 7. Two days later, he announced his commitment to Sterling College–an NAIA school located in Sterling, KS.

The decision to fully commit to a school felt right, Dobbins explained and now that he’s set on a school, there is no time to waste.

“I had a lot of offers but Sterling just felt like the best fit and the place I should be,” Dobbins said. “Me and my dad went down there to take a visit and we fell in love with the campus and the atmosphere around the place. It was just really fun to be out there with them and no place really kind of compared to that.”

From helping lead Open Door Christian to a district final appearance as a sophomore to becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer this past season, Dobbins has left a mark at his high school.

In fact, as a senior, Dobbins was named second-team All-Ohio in Division IV after averaging  27.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. He went on to average more than 20 points per game the last two years as a Patriot, something that came after settling in and hitting a learning curve during his first two years at the school. 

“It was really fun, a lot of learning my first couple of years,” he said looking back on his four-year career. “It was just really fun, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Dobbins first got introduced to Adam Hooker and Sterling College through The Kenny Anderson Showcase. Last summer, Hooker–the head coach at Sterling College–first got a chance to see Dobbins along with 51 other high school and junior college players June 27 in Twinsburg.

There, student-athletes from more than four states were presented an opportunity to compete for a scholarship in front of NAIA, Division III and NJCAA coaches.

After getting in contact with  Ian Cunningham– the co-founder and coordinator of The Kenny Anderson Showcase– it was the perfect opportunity for Hooker and his staff to take advantage of.

“I’m always in the market looking for showcases and an opportunity to find new talent,” Hooker explained. “As I looked into it deeper and saw what Ian’s vision was to create a big showcase like that geared towards smaller colleges speaks to a specific passion of mine. I’m very much a die-hard NAIA, small college basketball fan.

“After talking with Ian and what his vision was we kind of inspired one another a little bit with what we do and what our mission statement is and it was a no-brainer to go out there and be a part of it,” he continued. 

There were a few standouts for Hooker, but nobody garnered his attention more than Dobbins— the 6-foot-2 sharpshooter who wasn’t afraid to display his 3-point range. After watching more of his highlights, there was no secret Dobbins was a target for Hooker.

“It was a good showcase with a lot of talent there. Gavin can really shoot the ball and impacts the game in so many different ways and is sneaky athletic,” Hooker said.

“You have a guy that’s a modest 6’2” frame that can bring in double-digit rebounds every night and average a double-double his junior and senior year and that’s just a rare commodity regardless of what class you’re playing in,” he added about Dobbins. “That was just one of those things that caught your eye pretty fast the more we read on him and looked into him.”

Dobbins plans to study criminal justice in college and knows that preparation and attention to detail are two things he’s got to get a better understanding of to adjust to the level of play at the next level.

“The preparation it takes to be in college, always watching film because everybody tries to amp up the film watching when playoffs start but in college, you need that at all times,” Dobbins learned after the season-ending loss early in the playoffs. “You need to know what’s going to happen before it happens. Those are kind of the big takeaways from the playoffs over my four years.”

It’s been a unique, yet rewarding recruiting process. In the end, Dobbins is satisfied with the opportunity presented at the next level.

“It’s kind of a relief because Covid kind of messed with the recruiting, people couldn’t get out and players getting a year back,” he said after committing on April 9. “It’s just nice to finally get it done and know which place I’m really supposed to be at.”