Darryl Dawkins was “Coach Thunder” in Cedar Rapids

Darryl Dawkins died Thursday, at 58.

Dawkins nickname was 'Chocolate Thunder,” and he said he came from Planet Lovetron. Do you not love the former NBA center even if you knew nothing else about him but those two things?

Here's a third: On his Twitter profile he said he was 'bringing funkiness to all over the world.”

He was the first basketball player drafted directly into the NBA from high school, and the Philadelphia 76ers knew what they were doing in 1975 when they made that pick. He wasn't a superstar, but he averaged over 11 points a game for nine straight seasons, and was a defensive presence.

In 2004, there was a United States Basketball League in Cedar Rapids for three months. One of the teams that rolled through town was the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs. Its coach was Dawkins. I found him to be delightful and gracious, and I'm saddened that he died so young. Here is the column I wrote about him:

Amid the mascots, acrobats and pro wrestlers who drift through Cedar Rapids River Raiders games, know that Darryl Dawkins isn't coming in tonight as a sideshow.

Dawkins was one of the NBA's all-time most-colorful figures from 1975 to 1989 as a scorer, shot-blocker and smasher of backboards. He said he was from Planet Lovetron. He had names for his slam-dunks, including 'In Your Face Disgrace” and 'Cover Yo' Damn Head.”

'Chocolate Thunder” was a fun-loving and physical 6-foot-11 showman. But a future coach? Someone willing to work in the minor leagues for several years? Who'd have guessed it.

Yet, Dawkins will lead the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs against Cedar Rapids tonight in a 7:15 United States Basketball League game at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'I never thought I'd enjoy it this much,” Dawkins said this week from a Holiday Inn in St. Louis. His Dawgs took a 14-7 record into their game at St. Louis last night.

Dawkins, 47, is in his sixth season as Pennsylvania's coach. He spent two winters coaching the Winnipeg Cyclones of the now-defunct International Basketball Association. He has been Coach of the Year in the USBL and IBA. His USBL regular-season record was 107-61 going into last night's game. Pennsylvania won the 2001 USBL title and was runner-up last year.

'He's a really good coach,” ValleyDawgs co-owner Sam Unera said. 'He will not stay with us.”

'One day I want to get to the NBA or move up to the CBA or the NBA's developmental league,” Dawkins said. 'I didn't come to the USBL to stay forever. But I'm with a first-class organization.”

Not many players who made a lot of money and played in more than 100 NBA playoff games would start a new basketball life in the minors.

'You find most guys who coach in the NBA just have it given to them,” Dawkins said. 'Then they can't hold it once they're given the wheel. If you learn the ropes, take your time and compile a good record, you'll wind up on somebody's bench.”

Dawkins had no coaching ambitions once his NBA career ended in 1989. 'Like most players who retire,” he said, 'I wanted to go home and stay home for a while, maybe get into broadcasting.”

But several years later, he volunteered to coach a junior varsity girls' high school basketball team in New Jersey. He found he liked coaching and had a knack for it. It was on to Winnipeg, and then the USBL team not far from his Allentown, Pa., home.

'Coaching is a rewarding feeling,” Dawkins said. 'I've got a bunch of letters from players saying `Thank you, Coach.' That feels better than a check.

'This isn't about being the world's greatest coach. A lot of guys can coach. This is about helping guys get to the next level.”

That next level is on a far different plane. When was the last time an NBA team bused five hours anywhere, like the ValleyDawgs did after playing in St. Louis last night?

'I've done the 16-hour bus-rides and flown in crop-duster planes,” Dawkins said. 'I've stayed in a couple of hotels you wouldn't particularly want to stay in, and I've spent the night sleeping in an airport.”

But Dawkins saw former CBA coach Phil Jackson going against former CBA coach Flip Saunders when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in this year's NBA Western Conference finals.

'It definitely gives you hope,” he said.

He is a coach, but he's still Darryl Dawkins. In the off-season, he appears weekly on ESPN2's morning show, 'Cold Pizza.” And he spends lots of time in schools.

'I say stay strong and don't do drugs, and stay in school,” Lovetron's most famous native said. 'In the Lehigh Valley I'm chairman of `Hands Are Not For Hitting' to stop the violence in schools. I like to be a positive role model in the community. I love it.”

And Dawkins is a daddy.

'I'm raising a 1-year-old, a 2-year-old, an 8-year-old, and a 23-year-old,” he said.

Who needs the most raising?

'Me!” he said with a laugh. 'I need the most, I'm telling you.”