#MizzouMadeMonday: Keyon Dooling
3/28/2019 3:08:00 PM | General
Dooling's past has helped him become an advocate for mental health awareness
**Disclaimer: This article contains sensitive topics that some might find upsetting**
Every time Mizzou and Kansas hooked up on the hardwood, it was must-see television. On March 5, 2000, it was no different as Mizzou headed to Allen Fieldhouse with a pair of young superstars from the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area – sharpshooter, Clarence Gilbert, and high-flyer, Keyon Dooling. KU was nationally ranked while Mizzou was an upstart program en-route to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Midway though the first half, Dooling made one of the most unforgettable plays in Mizzou Basketball history. He took a transition pass coast-to-coast and threw down one of the most impressive dunks of his basketball career, posterizing KU F Ashante Johnson and silencing the Allen Fieldhouse crowd. Unfortunately, Dooling was called for an offensive foul and his reaction to the foul call said it all (judge for yourself). The game, after all, was being played at Allen Fieldhouse. The foul call did not diminish what anyone had witnessed.
"We all saw him fly," then-KU head coach Roy Williams said following the game. "All of us."
That single play gave basketball fans, and NBA scouts a glimpse into the potential and athleticism that the high-flyer from Florida possessed. Drafted 10th overall the following spring in the NBA Draft, Dooling was primed for what would be a 13-year career playing in basketball's toughest league.
But despite the glitz, glamor and fame that comes with a professional sports career, Dooling wasn't always flying high like he was that unforgettable day in Lawrence. In fact, he was dealing with a pain that he thought no one would ever understand.
"We embrace our mental health and our emotional health as macho as we can be," Dooling said. "I think that can trickle down in society. When you go through something in your head, you really don't understand what you are grappling with and what you are experiencing."
On May 1, 2018, Dooling released his story in The Players' Tribune, a harrowing tale of sexual abuse and his 25-year battle with the emotional ramifications that so often follow victims for the rest of their lives. His story details a painful incident of sexual abuse at just seven years old, one that followed him his entire life until the weight of the experience finally forced him into a mental institution in Boston during the summer of 2012, just weeks after signing a new $1.4 million contract.
"We were a month away from training camp. I was in amazing shape, on the outside at least. Inside, I was falling apart," Dooling said in The Players' Tribune article.
Dooling walked into Danny Ainge's office – the Boston Celtics General Manager – and told him he was done with basketball. He also told him "really paranoid, off-the-wall things" that day. It was that day, with the support of his teammates Avery Bradley, Rajon Rondo, coach Doc Rivers and Dooling's wife Natosha, that Dooling decided to face the demons that had been chasing him his entire life.
"A lot of times when we go through something, in our emotions, in our hearts and in our heads, we'll mask our pain," Dooling said. "Right before the season, I was doing some charity work with Avery Bradley out in Seattle. I went to use the restroom and as I'm in the restroom, a guy grabs me on my backside and I got triggered. I started having these flashbacks of being sexually abused as a child."
The unfortunate chance encounter with a drunk, belligerent man in a restroom triggered all of the emotions to come flooding back for Dooling, and ultimately led him to the conversation in Ainge's office. Dooling knew it was time to get help, even if asking for help may have been the hardest thing to do.
"Everybody has gone through something in their lives. Everybody has experienced something. The first thing I am going to tell you is that it's okay," Dooling said.
"I immediately went into therapy. Therapy. In three weeks of therapy, I was able to drop off 25 years of baggage that I had been carrying my whole life. I had to learn how to forgive myself. I blamed myself for being abused as a child. I had to work that out in therapy. A lot of times we blame ourselves for things we shouldn't be blaming ourselves for. We need to get free of that."
Through the entire process dropping that baggage, Dooling had a revelation. During the years of running from the pain, he thought no one would understand. He thought no one would listen. What he learned that fateful day in Ainge's office was a life lesson that would stick with him forever.
"And you know what's so interesting? You know what most people don't realize?" Dooling said in The Players' Tribune. "They all had my back."
Ainge. Doc Rivers. Avery Bradley. Rajon Rondo. Natosha. All of the people he was closest to had his back and supported him when he needed it the most.
"Danny looked at me with kindness. Rajon and Avery looked at me with kindness. The whole Celtics organization looked at me with kindness."
Ainge and Rivers connected Dooling with Dr. Timothy Benson at Harvard, a man that Dooling credits with changing his life. Through his sessions with Dr. Benson, Dooling could begin to heal from the post-traumatic stress he was dealing with. He finally felt that he could move on.
Dooling played one more season in the NBA, his 13th in a career that saw him average 19.4 minutes per game and 7.0 points. But at that point in his life, basketball became secondary. He had another mission, another purpose for his life. He was going to be an advocate for people struggling through mental health issues.
"It's okay to get help," Dooling said. "Sometimes form your worst pain, you can find your purpose. It doesn't happen overnight, but I guarantee you, healing is possible. The healing process is possible."
Last fall, Dooling came back to Mizzou, months after publishing his story on The Players' Tribune. He wanted to share his message with Mizzou's current student-athletes and let them know that mental health is a serious issue, and that it's okay to ask for help. He gave a powerful presentation to Mizzou's entire student-athlete population, and later gave the same talk to entire staff at Mizzou Athletics. His message was simple:
"I think it's very important to encourage athletes to talk about mental health because athletes are influencers. We can impact community and society."
Dooling will forever be revered as one of Mizzou's finest basketball players. His legacy at Mizzou is still celebrated today. He has similar feelings about Mizzou and where the program is headed.
"The fact that we all contributed to the program, and that our fans still love us and respect us, really feels good." Dooling said. "I think Coach Martin is the guy to take the program to the next level. I'm hopeful we can keep him around forever. I believe in his talent and him as a person and as a man."
His talk last fall was his way of saying thank you to Mizzou. As a young talented kid from Fort Lauderdale, Mizzou helped launch his career. Now, that career has given him a platform for a much larger cause, advocating for those struggling with mental health issues.
For his basketball career here at Mizzou and his advocacy, we're so glad he's Mizzou Made.
We'll leave you with a quote from Dooling's The Players' Tribune article:
"I can say it now, after years of therapy and self-reflection and work: I was sexually assaulted as a child. It did not define me as a person. It did not hold me back from reaching my dreams or from raising four amazing children.
If you are hurting, get some help.
I'll say it again.
If you are hurting, get some help.
You can call out to God. But your second call should be the doctor."
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#MIZZOUMADE MONDAY
What does it mean to be #MizzouMade? That moniker has been a staple for Mizzou student-athletes for years. It is often associated with athletes who have excelled at the highest levels of their respective sports, but the true meaning runs much deeper.
While there are certainly examples of former Tigers excelling in professional athletics, there is a much larger contingent of Mizzou student-athletes thriving in today's fast-paced, competitive work environment. What each of those student-athletes learned at Mizzou has prepared them for life beyond sports.
The mission of Mizzou Athletics remains to prepare champions for life through a personal enhancement model that emphasizes academic and athletic excellence, social responsibility, career development and leadership in order to help each student athlete become a prepared professional in any field upon earning their degree.
#MizzouMade Monday aims to tell those stories of student athletes who are bringing those values and ideals of Mizzou into the real world every day.
