He started out wanting to coach JUCO. Now TCU’s Jamie Dixon is nearing milestone
TCU basketball coach Jamie Dixon never dreamed of coaching Division I basketball.
Instead, once his playing days were over, his sights were set on coaching Los Angeles Valley College, a junior college located 16 miles northwest of downtown LA.
“I never thought I’d be doing this,” Dixon said. “I wanted to be a junior college coach in California. That’s what I was planning on doing. LA Valley College, that was my goal.”
But Dixon found his way into a graduate assistant position at UC Santa Barbara and started climbing the assistant ranks. Eventually, he took over for his longtime mentor Ben Howland at Pittsburgh in 2003-04 before returning to his alma mater TCU in 2016-17.
Now Dixon is on the cusp of career win No. 400. His first opportunity to reach that milestone is Thursday when TCU hosts UC Irvine. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Schollmaier Arena.
TCU’s players are aware of the record and are hoping to help Dixon do it in front of the home crowd. TCU plays its next two games in Las Vegas as part of the MGM Resorts Main Event.
“It’s been a pleasure being able to play for coach Dixon,” senior guard Desmond Bane said. “I was following him before I even got to TCU while he was at Pitt and got to see some of the great teams he had there.
“I’ve been able to be a part of some of the great teams he’s had here at TCU and what he’s been able to build. No. 400 is just the beginning for him. He’s one of the greatest coaches doing it, and hopefully he’ll be in the Hall of Fame one day.”
Dixon has never had a losing record in his 16-plus seasons, reaching the NCAA Tournament 12 times. He had a career record of 328-123 in 13 seasons at Pitt, and is now 71-41 in three-plus seasons at TCU.
Dixon learned how close he was to the 400-win club during a conversation with his dad following Monday night’s victory over Air Force.
“My dad said, ‘399.’ I’m like, ‘What?’” Dixon said. “They said it on TV, 399. I didn’t know about it until my dad told me the other night when I was driving home.”
For Dixon, it’ll become an impressive achievement whenever it happens. He’ll be just the 11th head coach in history to reach 400 career wins in 17 seasons.
The last coach to do so was Gonzaga’s Mark Few in 2016.
“I’ve been doing it for a long time,” Dixon said, smiling. “I’ve become the old guy now. I was the young guy. I don’t know when that transformation takes place, but I guess 400 makes you the old guy.”
Dixon remembers career win No. 1 well. It came in the 2003-04 opener when Pitt faced Alabama at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Panthers won 71-62 in what Dixon described as an “ugly game.” For Dixon, though, the real memory is how it came about.
As he put together the schedule, Dixon recalled a conversation he had with his former assistant Barry Rohrssen.
“I said, ‘Hey, we can play in The Garden.’ He said, ‘That’s great. What date?’” Dixon said. “I said the first game of the year. He’s like, ‘You want to do your first game against Alabama in The Garden?’ Alabama was coming off an NCAA Tournament run.
“But I remember that being my first game. We snuck it out, it was an ugly game, but I do remember the conversation before too. The Garden, that’s where we started. I decided that we wanted to make that our place.”
Of his 399 wins, 28 have come at The Garden for Dixon.
As far as No. 400 is concerned, UC Irvine won’t be a given. The Anteaters were an NCAA Tournament team a season ago, knocking off Kansas State in the opening round.
“They’re good. They’re experienced,” said Dixon, who is 21-1 in November since coming to TCU.
“We try to find the best teams we can get. Air Force is one of those teams. Irvine is one of those teams. They can really pound the ball inside and are well coached. It’ll be a challenge.”
