Pitt coach making TCU proud

Jamie Dixon is making TCU proud.

While the Frogs search for another basketball coach, Dixon, the former All-Southwest Conference guard of the late 1980s, has coached Pittsburgh to another successful season.

The Panthers are considered a dark horse for a Final Four run. Considering the team overcame injuries and a mid-season slump that might have resulted in a bid to the NIT instead of the NCAA Tournament, Pitt is a remarkable story.

Dixon is 131-39. Only three coaches in Division I history have won more games in their first five seasons.

What Pitt has been lacking under Dixon is a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers have made it to the second weekend just once under Dixon.

If the Big East Conference tournament is any indication, this year might be different. The Panthers won four games in four days and defeated top-seeded Georgetown in the title game Saturday night.

“Four games in four days? We've been through a lot more than that this year,’’ Dixon said. “We lost four guys in two weeks for the year.’’

Good news: Pitt beat Duke on Dec. 20 when Levance Fields nailed a step-back 3-pointer.

Bad news: In that game, senior forward Mike Cook was lost for the season to an ACL injury.

Worse news: Nine days later, Fields broke his foot.

Coupled with injuries to two other players, the Panthers had trouble finding 10 healthy bodies for practice.

During a 16-game mid-season stretch, Pitt was a .500 team. There was a time when it didn’t appear the Panthers would finish in the top 12 and qualify for the 16-team Big East’s tournament.

“A lot of people said we were done," Sam Young, Pitt’s 6-6 junior forward, said after the defeat of Georgetown. said. “I always like a challenge but at the same time, there were some times we didn't think we could overcome this. A lot of teams wouldn't. “I think it's the character of our players, our coaches and the tradition. As a player, I came to a tradition that Pitt is a winning team and I'm going to leave it that way.’’

Pitt’s relentless defense and rebounding was a big reason the Panthers won the Big East tourney. After that grueling triumph, Pitt faces another challenge: The team has to gather itself for a quick turnaround and travel to Denver for its first-round game Thursday against Oral Roberts.

“This team will be ready," said senior guard Ronald Ramon, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sunday. “We’ve got to come out and play hard, and play with the same focus we had at the Big East tournament. We need to just keep playing good basketball.’’