College Remembers Raymond Dunn
Raymond M. Dunn of Henderson, a 20-year-old sophomore at Vance-Granville Community College and a leading member of the VGCC Vanguards basketball team, collapsed Saturday afternoon (Feb. 20) during a home game against Guilford Tech at the Aycock Recreation Complex in Henderson. He was transported to Maria Parham Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
A Criminal Justice major, Dunn was a rising star at the college, having great success both on and off the basketball court. With a perfect 4.0 GPA for both the fall and summer semesters, Dunn had just been named to the VGCC Dean’s List for the fall semester that ended in December 2009.
He was loved and respected by his fellow students, teachers and teammates. Criminal Justice Program Head Angela Gardner-Ragland said Dunn was very active in the Criminal Justice Club, working on food drives for the community and a Service Learning project that collected items for children in foster care.
“Raymond always went above and beyond. He had a bubbly personality and never knew a stranger,” said Gardner-Ragland. “Any time that I asked him to help with a project, he was right there ready to assist in any way he could.”
Dunn played basketball at Northern Vance High School before transferring to Norlina Christian School. Success at the prep level paved the way for Dunn to make the first official VGCC men’s basketball squad in 2008. The 6’4″ forward led the Vanguards in both scoring and rebounds that first season. With 516 points during the 2008-2009 season (an average of 21.5 points per game), Dunn was ranked 13th among all players in the nation in National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II. He was also named second team All-Region. Dunn continued to excel in the 2009-2010 season, his second and final year of junior-college eligibility. According to statistics from the NJCAA web site, Dunn had already scored 512 points on the season prior to his final game, which again made him the Vanguards’ leading scorer and ranked him in the top 10 nationally.
In January 2010, he was named NJCAA Division II Player of the Week after a series of performances that included scoring 52 points and 30 rebounds in a single game. Dunn was the first player in the conference (Region X, Division II) to receive such an honor this season, and the first Vanguard ever named Player of the Week. Dunn’s status as one of the country’s outstanding junior-college players put him in prime position to be recruited by any number of four-year colleges and universities in NCAA Division I. VGCC head coach Avery Wilson was not shy about praising Dunn’s ability, confidently telling one sportswriter that he was coaching “the best junior-college player in the nation.”
“If you asked Raymond about the future, he’d tell you that he wanted to play basketball. He wanted to go all the way. He wanted to play pro. Basketball was his passion,” said Gardner-Ragland.
“The sudden loss of Raymond Dunn is a tragedy,” VGCC President Randy Parker said. “We were all shocked and saddened by the news. Our thoughts go out to Raymond’s family and friends. He was a bright student, a talented basketball player and a very special young man. We will all miss him.”
See also: “ VGCC establishes memorial fund for Dunn “
Official Biographical Information for Basketball Team:
#24 RAYMOND M. DUNN
Class: Sophomore
Major: Criminal Justice Technology
Hometown: Henderson, NC
High School: Norlina Christian
Height: 6’4″
Position: Forward
