Basketball Preview: Coaching builds culture of success

The Pitt men’s basketball team has been one of the most successful programs in the country… The Pitt men’s basketball team has been one of the most successful programs in the country over the past decade.

While the Panthers haven’t won a national championship or advanced to the Final Four, they hold the nation’s fifth highest winning percentage (.794) over the 10-year period while winning six Big East titles, four regular-season and two tournament championships.

Much of this success came after current Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon arrived at Pitt with former head coach Ben Howland in 1999. In 2003, after Howland left for UCLA, the University promoted Dixon to head coach.

Since then, he’s won several national and Big East coaching awards. Most recently, he was named the 2011 Sporting News Coach of the Year.

Many of the athletes point to the Panthers’ coaching as a reason for the the team’s consistent success. Dixon focuses on developing Pitt’s athletes from the day they arrive on campus to their last game.

“We are all about where they are going to be and where they can be,” Dixon said. “With time must come progress.”

The progress shows. The Panthers produced six Big East Most Improved Players over the past 10 years: Ricardo Greer (2000), Brandin Knight (2002), Carl Krauser (2004), Aaron Gray (2006), Sam Young (2008) and current guard Ashton Gibbs (2010).

Freshmean Khem Birch is one of the next players ready to develop in Dixon’s system. A McDonald’s All-American, Birch found himself recruited by major programs across the country. But he chose Pitt — largely because of his love for the coaching staff.

Birch doesn’t want the hype surrounding his recruitment to take anything away from the team. He said that Gibbs, a senior, took on the leadership role for the Panthers.

Birch said he just wants to “be a freshman,” fill whatever role might be asked of him and not “try to do everything that a senior can do.” He said his goal this year is simply to gain confidence.

He’s gained more than confidence since he came to Pitt. Through tough conditioning and weightlifting programs, Birch — who appears lanky at 6-foot-9 and 200 pounds — has already put on 10 pounds since arriving at Pitt.

“That’s just another reflection of our program and things that we’ve seen over the years,” Dixon said of Birch’s hard work in the weight room. “When guys get here, they get better.”

Redshirt freshman Cameron Wright is well aware of the intensity Dixon brings to the court, but he also sees another reason for Pitt’s continued success.

“There are always high expectations [at Pitt],” Wright said. “That is why recruits want to come here.”

He added that Dixon brings the team together, building a close bond throughout the season.

“We are expected to work hard with togetherness,” Wright said. “We are to be as one unit. We all have the same mentality.”

Along with togetherness, discipline remains one of Dixon’s most important lessons. Redshirt sophomore Lamar Patterson — now in his third season with the team — has been through conditioning and felt the expectations.

This year, he sees the discipline.

“You want to make sure you stay to the program that Coach Dixon wants us to do,” Patterson said. “Run the plays, and when you do, we will be good.”