Dixon earns coaching honors

You can add another accolade to the Pitt men’s basketball team’s collection as coach Jamie… You can add another accolade to the Pitt men’s basketball team’s collection as coach Jamie Dixon was selected as the Naismith men’s coach of the year award Tuesday.

Dixon led Pitt to one of its most successful seasons in school history, winning 31 games and earning the school’s first ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, as well as its first No. 1 national ranking.

Although given the prestigious award, Dixon quickly redirected the credit to his players.

‘That’s really a reflection of the seniors and DeJuan [Blair] and having great players,’ said Dixon.

In his first six full seasons as the head coach at Pitt, Dixon is already in elite company in the coaching ranks.

His 163 career wins is an NCAA Division 1 record for most victories in a coach’s first six seasons, and he’s the Big East’s all-time winningest coach by percentage in league games (.698).

Dixon beat out candidates from other top programs, such as Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel, Louisiana State’s Trent Johnson and Kansas’ Bill Self.

‘It’s a surprise,’ said Dixon.

While he was happy to receive the award, Dixon stressed that it’s most important that it helps Pitt and allows it to continue to grow.

‘It’s a good thing for our program. To me that’s the best thing about it,’ said Dixon. ‘It means a lot to our program and to our players.’

The award is voted on by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s board of selectors, a group of basketball writers, coaches and administrators.

‘Pittsburgh had a tremendous season and much of that success goes to Jamie and the wonderful coaching job he did with that team,’ said Gary Stokan, Atlanta Tipoff Club president. ‘During his six seasons he has built a solid program that continues to produce wonderful results, both on and off the court.’

Dixon is not the first Pitt coach to win the award, as his mentor and friend Ben Howland (now at UCLA) won the award after the 2001-02 season, leading the Panthers to a 29-6 record and a berth in the Sweet 16.

John Calipari won the award last season while he was at the University of Memphis.