What was rumor on Sunday became fact early Monday afternoon.
The word started circulating that Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was seriously considering becoming TCU’s next basketball coach. A courtship quicker than a Steph Curry 3-pointer ended with the announcement that Dixon, who played at TCU in the 1980s, would accept the offer.
“It’s a great hire,” ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla told Today’s U. “It marries one of the best coaches in the country to a program with unlimited potential. It’s a perfect fit and given the proper amount of time there’s no reason why he can’t built a winning program.”
For the Horned Frogs, this was a perfect outcome. Dixon, 50, brings a great reputation to a program that this year moved into a renovated basketball facility. That was a symbolic change, showing that the Horned Frogs were serious about competing in basketball. The fact that TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte had the assets to convince Dixon to leave a school in the Atlantic Coast Conference also speaks of the school’s commitment.
Just talked to Jamie Dixon "I love Pitt, I love Pittsburgh and I always will. The fans loved me and my family." (1/2)
— Paul Zeise (@PaulZeise) March 21, 2016
"I was 17 years at Pitt, that is a long, long time in today's game. TCU was a great opportunity for me to get a fresh start."
— Paul Zeise (@PaulZeise) March 21, 2016
Dixon has been Pitt’s coach for 13 years and during that time the Panthers were 328-123 and made 11 NCAA Tournaments. TCU has gone 50-79 overall and 8-64 in league play in four seasons since joining the Big 12. The school hasn’t made the NCAA tourney since 1998 and the school’s record over the last 13 seasons is 178-241 with just three seasons over .500.
TCU hiring Dixon plus the impressive roster of coaches already in the Big 12 means the price of poker has been raised. And Oklahoma State anted up Monday night with the news it had hired Stephen F. Austin coach Brad Underwood.
The Lumberjacks won their NCAA first-round game by dominating West Virginia – a former Big 12 foe – and was denied a Sweet 16 berth on Notre Dame’s last-second tip-in. The type of defensive pressure and poise that Underwood’s teams have displayed over the past few years are reminiscent of the legacies built by Oklahoma State coaching legends Hank Iba and Eddie Sutton.
For an example of how a basketball program can spin a move, TCU can look 40 miles to the east and envision what they hope will happen. Veteran Larry Brown was hired as SMU’s coach in 2012 and Moody Coliseum – a true basketball gymnasium – was renovated and modernized.
Those two changes have created a hoops version of Mustangs Mania.
SMU has gone 94-39 in four seasons under Brown, made an NIT final and won an NCAA Tournament first-round game last season. (The only part that the Horned Frogs don’t want to copy is the NCAA probation that kept the Mustangs out of this year’s March Madness).
Pitt basketball in 1998 was in a similar situation to what TCU has found itself after joining the Big 12. Pitt wasn’t competitive in the Big East, but it built a new basketball facility. That commitment plus coach Ben Howland turned the Panthers into an NCAA Tournament team. When Howland left for UCLA, Dixon kept the beat alive for 13 seasons. He was an assistant for four years before replacing Howland.
Making 11 NCAA Tournaments in those 13 seasons shows the consistency of Pitt’s program, but after losing in the first round to Wisconsin there were grumbles from Pitt fans who want more. The old saying in coaching is that after about five years at one school, you lose about 10 percent of your support each season.
(Photograph by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire)
Dixon, who considered the USC job in 2013 and received a 10-year contract extension then, faced working for a new athletic director in Scott Barnes plus a new president. A regime change always brings uncertainty. Dixon for most of his career as a head coach has had complete control. And that’s what he’ll have – plus the budget commitment for staff and recruiting – in Fort Worth.
When Pitt was in the Big East, it was able to recruit in that conference’s foot print and in particular the New York City area. When the school moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference, there was talk that Dixon wasn’t happy because that recruiting base would be lessened. Instead of being a “Northeast” school it had become a “Southern” school – without leaving Pennsylvania.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area, aka the Metroplex, is regarded as one of the hotbeds for high school basketball with dozens of quality players produced each year. Five of the 24 McDonald’s All-Americans this year are from the state of Texas.
“Jamie will have instant credibility with the coaches and the players in the Metroplex and in the state of Texas,” Fraschilla said.
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