Jamie Dixon

James Patrick Dixon II (born November 10, 1965) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach of the TCU Horned Frogs men's team, where he played college ball.

Dixon played college basketball at Texas Christian University, was selected by the Washington Bullets in the 1987 NBA draft, and played professionally with the Continental Basketball Association's Lacrosse Catbirds and for Hawke's Bay Hawks of the New Zealand National Basketball League.

Dixon was born in Los Angeles County in Burbank, California, to Marge and Jim Dixon.

His father was an actor, screenwriter and producer.

Dixon played basketball at Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles.

As a freshman point guard, he was only 5 ft and was among the smallest in his class, but he grew 11 in and graduated as the tallest.

Dixon wanted to play college basketball at the University of California, Santa Barbara, but the UCSB Gauchos' top recruiter, assistant coach Ben Howland, decided not to sign him.

He landed at Texas Christian University (TCU) instead.

With the TCU Horned Frogs, Dixon led the Southwest Conference in assists as a senior, when he earned all-conference honors and led the team to the 1987 NCAA tournament.

Dixon was selected in the seventh round of the 1987 NBA draft by the Washington Bullets (known now as the Washington Wizards).

He was cut early by the team.

He considered using his finance degree for a job earning $20,000 annually, but instead played with the La Crosse Catbirds in the Continental Basketball Association for $400 per week.

In 1989, he moved to New Zealand and played for the Hawke's Bay Hawks in the National Basketball League.

He played two seasons, earning All-Star Five honors in 1989 and 1990.

Dixon began his coaching career in 1989 as the head coach at Te Aute College, a secondary school in New Zealand, before serving as an assistant at Los Angeles Valley College from 1989–1991.

After his playing career ended, he got a graduate assistant position at UCSB with the help of Howland, and later became an assistant coach at the University of Hawaii.

Dixon then served as an assistant at Northern Arizona University under Howland, who had become a head coach.

His career ended in 1990 after he was injured playing in the Netherlands.

He was accidentally kneed in the midsection while diving for a loose ball, and suffered a ruptured pancreas, a rare basketball injury.

He spent 90 days in the hospital, unable to eat for weeks, and saw his weight drop by a quarter from 200 lb to 150 lb.

After a brief stint as an assistant at Hawaii under Riley Wallace, Dixon was reunited with Howland at Pitt in 1999.

He was promoted as Pittsburgh's head coach when Howland left for UCLA following the 2002–03 season.

In 13 years at Pitt, Dixon had a record of 328–123.

He won 188 games in his first seven seasons, tying the NCAA Division I record for most wins in the first seven seasons of a head coaching career.

He previously served as the head coach of the University of Pittsburgh men's basketball team from 2003 through 2016.

Dixon was named Big East Coach of the Year in 2004, Naismith College Coach of the Year in 2009, Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year in 2010, and the Sporting News National Coach of the Year award in 2011.

Dixon won Big East Coach of the Year honors in 2004 for leading Pitt to a school-record 31 wins and the Big East regular season championship.

He took Pitt to the final game of the Big East men's basketball tournament in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008, winning the 2008 Big East tournament Championship against No.1 seed Georgetown.

He is Pitt's first and only head coach to guide the Panthers to seven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and seven consecutive seasons of at least 20 overall wins and 10 league wins.

In the NCAA tournament, Dixon led Pitt to the Sweet Sixteen in 2004 and 2007 and to the Elite Eight in 2009, a year that saw his Panthers earn their first-ever No.1 rankings in the AP poll and Coaches' Poll, their first-ever victories over a No.1 ranked team (UConn, twice), and their first ever No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament (East Region).

He was awarded the Naismith College Coach of the Year honors following the 2008–09 season.

In 2009, he was the head coach for the FIBA Under-19 2009 gold-medal winning United States national basketball team for which he was named the 2009 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year.

Previously, Dixon's 162nd win, which came in the 2009 NCAA tournament over Oklahoma State, broke the NCAA Division I record for most victories in the first six seasons as a head coach formerly held by former North Carolina State coach Everett Case.

His success at Pitt continued through the 2010 season, perhaps his best coaching performance to date.

The Panthers tied for second place in the Big East and earned a No.2 seed in the Big East tournament, despite being picked to finish 9th in the conference preseason poll.

Dixon guided Pitt to yet another NCAA Tournament appearance, their seventh in his first seven years as head coach, and was awarded both the Big East Coach of the Year and Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Awards by CollegeInsider.com.

He is the first and only head coach in Pitt's history to lead his team to seven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

At the end of the 2010 season, Dixon is the winningest coach in Big East history with a current .721 winning percentage in eight seasons of league games (98–38).

He also stands second on Pitt's all-time wins list, behind only the legendary Doc Carlson.

On March 31, 2010, Pitt extended Dixon's contract by two years, through the 2017–18 season.