Is Jamie Dixon out the door and headed for UCLA? Dixon has been ‘tight lipped’ so far

Jamie Dixon and UCLA representatives have engaged in contract negotiations for Dixon to become the school’s next coach, according to ESPN, but a final agreement has not been reached.

Dixon flew home with TCU’s basketball team today after they were eliminated in the NIT semifinals on Tuesday night. He did not arrive with the team back on campus and instead drove he and his family home, which is not unusual.

Dixon also did not address possibly leaving TCU with the team on the flight home, according to sources. He has been “keeping pretty tight lipped,” about the UCLA possibility, a source said, even to his coaching staff.

Players, coaches and staffer are all wondering if Dixon is leaving.

Sources said Dixon wants the UCLA job; at least some TCU administrators are preparing for Dixon to leave.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Dixon is trying to negotiate an $8 million buyout down to $1 million to leave TCU. Dixon’s contract at TCU runs through 2023-’24.

No one at TCU has confirmed that buyout figure, which feels unusually high after three years. If Dixon wants to leave, TCU is going to accommodate him and will eventually find a number with UCLA to complete the move. TCU does not want to retain a coach who wants to be elsewhere.

ESPN reported that UCLA is also targeting Virginia coach Tony Bennett, whose team is in the Final Four this weekend. Bennett is not talking about any jobs until after his season ends, which could potentially delay this until Tuesday of next week, at least.

TCU recruit P.J. Fuller posted on Twitter, “WHATS GOING ON” to which junior guard Desmond Bane responded with a rolling eyes emoji.

Dixon’s potential departure could have a lingering effect on the incoming recruiting class that features three Top 100 players, including Fuller.

It could also impact decisions facing underclassmen with pro prospects such as Bane and sophomore forward Kouat Noi.

Bane told the Star-Telegram he intended to return for his senior season on Monday, while Noi is expected to take a few days to contemplate his future. If Dixon leaves, it’s a safe bet that Noi likely would leave too.

Dixon was mum on the UCLA job following Tuesday’s game, but it is understandable why he would leave his alma mater to coach one of basketball’s blue blood programs.

UCLA has won more national championships (11) than any program in college basketball history, and Dixon has said that Bruins basketball is where his love for the game started.

UCLA has fallen on hard times in recent years, and Dixon wasn’t the school’s top choice. But, if UCLA lands him, it will hire a proven winner who has shown a knack for turning programs around in his career.

He is a native son of L.A., growing up in North Hollywood. His parents and sister, Julie, still live in the Southern California area.

Dixon has turned TCU into an NCAA Tournament contender in three seasons. That’s quite a feat considering this program was winless in conference play just five seasons ago.

Dixon is 68-41 in three seasons at TCU, leading the program to the NIT championship in his first season. Dixon and the Frogs snapped a 20-year NCAA Tournament drought last season, and were among the top “snubs” from the Big Dance this season. It reached the NIT semifinals this season.

Dixon would follow, indirectly, the same path that the man who hired him to be his assistant at Pitt; Ben Howland left Pitt in 2003 to become the UCLA head coach. Dixon replaced Howland at Pitt.

Howland lasted 10 years at UCLA, and reached one national title game and three Final Fours. Howland was fired in 2013, and he is currently the head coach at Mississippi State.

UCLA fired Howland’s successor, Steve Alford, in December and was rejected by Kentucky’s John Calipari this week to be its next coach.

Once the most formidable and feared name in the sport, UCLA is a damaged brand. It has won one national title since John Wooden retired in 1975, and every coach has been held to that same Wooden standard since he left.

Since Wooden left, UCLA has hired 10 head coaches; only Jim Harrick has led the Bruins to a title, in 1995.

The Bruins, however, are in a better position than virtually every other program, other than Arizona, in the Pac 12 to own that league. UCLA has a tradition, and it is a basketball-first school. It has access to one of the best recruiting regions in the country.

There is no reason UCLA should not be a top 10 program, which is why Jamie Dixon wants that job.

This story was originally published April 3, 2019 at 12:46 PM.