TCU’s Jamie Dixon talks presidency of coaches’ group, recruiting, coronavirus and more
TCU coach Jamie Dixon officially became the president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) last week. He had to take the reins virtually amid the coronavirus pandemic, as the usual changing of the guard happens at the Final Four.
Dixon’s first “public” showing as the organization’s president happens on Wednesday. He’s part of the NABC Championship Webinar Series and will give a free Zoom presentation on “Offense, Defense and NABC Membership” at 4 p.m. Wednesday. More information is available on the NABC’s website (www.nabc.com).
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram caught up with Dixon this week about life as a college basketball coach amid the coronavirus pandemic and more.
What’s been the biggest adjustment for you? “We’re still doing a lot of the same stuff, doing staff calls and talking with the players two or three times a week. I’ve been doing a lot of NABC stuff, too. We had an hour-long head coach’s meeting the other day.
“But the biggest change has just been in-person interaction with our players. Whether it’s on the floor or in the offices or in the weight room, you don’t realize how much of that you do until now. The day-to-day interaction with our players is the biggest loss, on the floor and off the floor.”
The Big 12 has said no in-person activities until at least May 31. What have you told your players about a possible timeline for the summer? “Safety is first and foremost and I’m not going to be making any of these decisions as to when we start. That would be my message to our players and our fans. This is not our level of expertise as coaches. We will let the professionals, the medical personnel, they’ll make the decisions as to when we can start. When that’s OK, then we will start that day. We will only start then, once we are given the OK by the medical people.”
How has this pandemic affected recruiting? (April 9-22 was supposed to be a recruiting period): “As coaches, we’re discussing how we’re going to adjust and what we’re going to do on that going forward. Really we’re just talking about possibilities, not really specifics but philosophies of what we’re looking to do. We know what we’ve missed, but not what we’re going to miss out on in the future.
“This is the time I’d do international recruiting. This time last year I went down to Argentina [to visit Francisco Farabello].”
TCU has all 13 scholarships accounted for next season. Is it odd not to be in the transfer market right now? “We’re in a unique situation compared to others around the country. We’re in a whole new time in the sport.”
