Aug. 2, 2014
By Jon Cooper
The Good Word
– For Dawnn Maye no distance was ever too far to make her her dreams come true. Of course, as a point guard, that also meant unselfishly doing things to help others attain their goals.
Maye chose to come to Georgia Tech from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., as much for academic reasons as for basketball. She be a superb distributor and the ultimate teammate for four years.
She was part of the 2011-12 team that made much shorter — although more frequent and, admittedly, rather inconvenient — trips back and forth to The Arena at Gwinnett for HOME GAMES as McCamish Pavilion was being built. But it was for the long-term good of the program, so she, like the rest of the team, bit the bullet and proceeded to have an historic season — a program-best 26-9 season and the first ever trip to the Sweet 16.
She learned to appreciate the present and future value of every journey upon which she embarks — including the squad’s August 2013 European trip that stopped in Barcelona, Paris and London. That one may bear fruit this summer as she seeks to play professionally.
Maye, who graduated in May 2014, continues to call Atlanta home and can still occasionally be found around campus, She showed up at a recent WNBA game at McCamish Pavilion between the Atlanta Dream and Chicago Sky, for whom former Yellow Jackets teammate Sasha Goodlett plays. Maye was there as much as a friend to support Goodlett as to draw personal inspiration from the game she loves.
Always dreaming big is one thing that will never change for the 5-6 point guard/would-be music producer.
Maye, who created the music video “This I Believe,” which has become a part of the Georgia Tech freshman English curriculum, recently spoke with The Good Word about the past, including the trips to Gwinnett, the present road ahead in hopes of continuing her playing career and the future inroads she’s trying to make it in the music world.
THE GOOD WORD: What brings you to McCamish Pavilion tonight?
Dawnn Maye: Just watching Sasha play here, playing for the Chicago Sky. Watching her actually getting to play in McCamish. I wanted to come and support her, and I knew this would be a good game with them playing against the Dream. It’s pretty intense. I like the crowd and I like the energy that they’re playing with. It’s great energy. Watching these older girls play basketball. It’s something to keep you motivated, keep you going because you see people who are playing at another level. It just provides you with a spark and energy that you want to keep playing and keep going.
TGW: Have you had a chance to talk with Sasha?
MAYE: I talked to her earlier, seconds before the game. We just met and I told her good luck and play hard. Hopefully I’ll get to see her after the game. I’m excited for her to get to play in McCamish because she didn’t get to play as a player. Her senior year we were playing at Gwinnett. So now she actually gets the chance, get the feel of the new arena as a WNBA player.
TGW: Do you still remember those trips to Gwinnett?
MAYE: Oh man, [it was] so far away. We went up there and did what we had to do. We got it done.
TGW: What are you getting done right now?
MAYE: I’m finishing up a few summer classes, and I might head over to Italy or Spain for overseas basketball in late August, early September. So I’m working out and finishing up a few classes. I have an agent. I’m looking around, shopping myself around. We’re trying to figure out what teams I can get placed on. I would love to do that. We got the experience. Coach Jo gave us that experience when we did our foreign tour my senior year. I liked the environment and I would love to go back and just enjoy myself and also play basketball over there. That would be awesome.
TGW: What’s ahead beyond basketball?
MAYE: I do a lot of music. You know I love music, so now I sort of focus on my music stuff. I do a lot of time in the studio and things like that. I’m working on some singles. I don’t know when they’re going to drop but I’m still working on some singles, things like that. A lot of production for other artists.
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