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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

The NC Rise Dawkins 14U basketball team has gone from punch line to powerhouse.
“I’ve been with them since they were in fifth grade,” said coach Cory Dawkins, who lives in Greensboro and has been working at RISE Indoor Sports for four years. “Opponents were laughing at us (in 2021), and to see them ranked No. 1 is outstanding.”
The Dawkins 14U team is ranked No. 1 in Phenom and Big Shots, and it stands No. 3 nationally in Big Shots. Sawing through the competition, it has captured nine of 11 tournaments and carved out a 24-4 record in 2025. The season began in February and will run into September.
“Working with these kids for three or four years has been tremendous,” Dawkins said. “I have been lucky to come to this area and work with great parents and great kids. It is a great environment at Davie.”
Davie High coach Josh Pittman has reason to be excited about the team’s success. About half the squad will wear the black and orange starting in 2025-26.
“It’s a really good team,” Pittman said. “They play well together. (Dawkins is) a real good coach. He’s done a wonderful job with that group, keeping them together and keeping them playing at a high level.”
Four of the team’s players are rising freshmen at Davie, and another is a rising eighth grader. Point guard Mason Driver looks like the real thing.
“Mason is one of the top players in Phenom right now,” Dawkins said. “He was voted MVP twice and most outstanding player in Big Shots. I could see him being the best point guard out there. He is great at football and basketball. If it were not for Mason, we would not have won a lot of our games and we would not be ranked No. 1. He’s such a leader. He brings so much toughness, and he’s just scratching the surface.”
Pittman added: “Mason is a dog. He’s a true point guard, and he plays with poise and pace. It is hard to speed him up. I think he’s gonna be a heck of a player, and in multiple sports, too.”
Tannyr Carrier, Peyton Fishel, Graham Wood and Graham Weaver have shared significant roles in the team’s thrill ride.
Weaver has excellent size.
“He is my workhorse (in the paint),” Dawkins said. “He is tough and he will bang inside, and now he is developing a jump shot and he’s developing more confidence in his skills. Now he can shoot 3-pointers and he can dribble. I think he’s going to be an outstanding player. And he is a player you never have to tell him to work hard; he is already going to do that.”
“He’s got a nice touch,” Pittman said. “He’s working his way into good shape. I think he is going to be one of the bigger kids we have had at Davie in a long time, and I think he has a world of potential.”
How about the 6-foot-3 Fishel?
“Peyton is one of the funniest and best kids I’ve ever coached in my life,” Dawkins said. “When I first met Peyton, I had to work a lot with his fundamentals. Once he started getting confidence in himself, he became one of the best big men out there. He has so much confidence in his shooting ability, and now he can shoot 3-pointers, he’s blocking shots, he’s getting rebounds. Peyton has played against some of the best big men out there, and he has really carried himself in a great way. In the next two or three years, I see him being one of the best players in this area.”
Carrier is a dangerous shooter.
“He’s a very good shooter,” Dawkins said. “He’s getting better at understanding his game. He’s getting better at his defense. He’s learning in so many ways by playing with a national team. His shooting and his IQ have really helped the team out a lot.”
Wood is the only player who is not a rising freshman; he will be an eighth grader at Ellis.
“He is actually playing up a grade level,” Dawkins said. “Once he gets his dribbling together and his shooting, he’s going to be a stud. He works probably harder than anybody I’ve ever coached. He plays basketball and football, and he never stops working. You never have to worry about telling Graham to go hard. And he’s always smiling. He brings so much energy to the court. I can’t wait to see what he does in football and basketball. I think he is going to be tremendous.”
Don’t forget Nolan Allen. He doesn’t play for Dawkins 14U, but he’s a rising freshman from North Davie who led the county in scoring during 2024-25 middle school season.
“Nolan plays for the CP3 team,” Pittman said. “He’s a really good guard.”
Add it all up and Davie’s future seems gotta-wear-shades bright.
“It’s been a blast to watch them grow since the fifth and sixth grade,” Dawkins said. “I can’t wait to see how they grow in the next couple of years. I mean, it is going to be outstanding. I can not wait to see how they flourish at the high school.”
“Once we get them on campus, go through workouts, they start getting acclimated with the high school, the speed of the game, I think they are going to be really good,” Pittman said.