Jarell Dawson is a native of New Jersey and 11 year Charlotte resident. The son of a former high school basketball referee who also coached middle school basketball for 20 years, Jarell has been around the game of basketball since his early childhood years when he grew up cheering for Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks. Upon moving to Charlotte, Jarell found another passion, football. Jarell played football at both Olympic and E.E. Waddell High School in Charlotte,NC. Under legendary South Carolina coach Bennie McMurray, he started at Offensive Tackle for the Waddell Raiders as they won the 2002 Conference Championship and advanced to the State Semifinals of the NCHSAA football playoffs.

Majoring in communications, Jarell has written for the collegiate award-winning Campus Echo Newspaper of North Carolina Central University and has also broadcasted several major Division II college football and basketball games including games at Duke University, East Carolina University, as well as the 2006 CIAA Championship Football game. Along with CarolinaVarsity.com, Jarell also currently works with the Charlotte Bobcats as a Media Relations Assistant where he has worked since 2009 under the management of Media Relations and PR Directors BJ Evans and Josh Rosen. Jarell’s primary duty with the Bobcats includes asking post-game questions to players from all visiting NBA teams.