Pitt Coach Dixon Extended Through 2015-16

Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Jamie Dixon recently accepted an offer from the university to stay as the head coach through the 2015-16 season. Mostly this is an unsurprising move. Dixon has been wildly successful as Pitt’s head coach, and it’s a large school with a great basketball program in the Big East Conference, so there’s very little room for vertical growth in the coaching world.

What makes the story more interesting is that Dixon was almost not going to be hired as the coach after Ben Howland (who now coaches at UCLA) left the school. He was only 37 years old, and only had assistant experience. However, the AD took a slight gamble on Dixon and it appears to have paid off greatly. The Panthers are regular NCAA Tournament contenders and have been to the Sweet Sixteen two times in the past five seasons. Garry Parrish of CBS Sports seems to think that there should be more young guns getting a chance at head coaching. Would tend to agree- young coaches mean fresher ideas, and they often pan out.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on September 29, 2008 - Post a comment