MBB HOKIES 17-18 | MEDIA GUIDE

2 0 1 7 H A L L O F F AM E I N D U C T E E ZAB I AN DOWDE L L Zabian Dowdell led a resurgence of Virginia Tech men’s basketball from 2003-07 and established himself as one of the best Tech basketball players of the modern era. The Pahokee, Florida native averaged 14.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game during a career in which he started 118 of the 122 games that he played. He was one of those rare players who averaged in double figures in scoring during all four seasons at Tech. As a senior, he led the Hokies to the 2007 NCAA Tournament, ending the program’s 11-year hiatus from the tournament. Dowdell started 28 games as a freshman and averaged 10.8 points, 3.2 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game. He improved those numbers as a sophomore, averaging a team-best 14.4 points per game, while also averaging 3.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. He shot 44.9 percent from the floor that season, including 42.3 percent from behind the 3-point arc. As a junior, Dowdell averaged a team-leading 15.3 points per game, while also registering more than 100 assists for the first time. He averaged 3.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game, and he led the team with 70 steals. His senior season turned out to be his best one, as he led the Hokies in scoring (17.4 ppg) for the third straight season, and he also averaged 3.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He shot a career-best 46.2 percent from the floor and 80.6 percent from the free-throw line. Dowdell’smost memorablemoment as aHokie arguably came as a sophomore when he hit the game-winning 3-pointer in a home win over then-No. 7 Duke at Cassell Coliseum. As a senior, he scored 20 points in Tech’s overtime win over then-No. 5 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium—the program’s first win in that arena—and he had a career-high 33 points in the Hokies’ 81- 80 overtime win over North Carolina at the Dean Smith Center, giving the program the Tobacco Road sweep. In 2007, Dowdell became Tech’s first ever first-team All-ACC selection, and he also garnered honorable mention All-America honors that year. He still ranks among the top 10 in several career categories at Tech, including scoring (eighth, 1,785 points), assists (sixth, 380) and steals (third, 241). Dowdell has played basketball mostly overseas since graduating from Virginia Tech in 2007, with stops in Spain, Russia, Belgium and Italy. He broke into the NBA ranks in 2011 when he spent much of the season with the Phoenix Suns. During the 2016-17 season, he played with a team in Italy, and in the offseason, he lives in Plantation, Florida. @VT_MBBall @vthokiembb VTMBBALL 152