Yesterday’s quick coaching conversation.
I was speaking with a friend last night and we were trying to save the Wolfpack world. We actually came up with a lot of great ideas…but, I will spare you the details for now.
This particular friend is very connected at NC State and within the world of college basketball. It makes for great “scoop” because he hears/knows things from all sides — not just the one-sided spin that comes out of the antiquated NC State athletic offices where the internet is still treated as an evil fad that will just go away.
Between the two of us, we could of comprise a legion of coaches that we know have been contacted by Lee Fowler and NC State’s search. Sadly, many of the coaches who have been called make so little common sense that it is embarassing to know that the call was ever made.
But, one name that neither of us had reason to believe had ever been contacted about the job was Jamie Dixon at Pitt. Click here for biography.
I don’t have an inside track on Dixon or his potential interest. But to me, a name like Dixon represents a tier of candidate that seems to have been overlooked in this process. We know of many of the very big names that
But, I do know that Pitt does not have a lot of money and Dixon has recently considered much lesser jobs, like Arizona State. I also know that Dixon just got a raise that brought him up to a paltry $900,000 (just north of what Herb Sendek was making at State).
As opposed to spouting off a lot of statistics that you can get from the biography that I have already referenced, I will direct you to this more personal look at Dixon.
Jamie Dixon, the man in the background who became the front man for a basketball program that moved rapidly into the upper echelon of college programs in America.
Dixon’s combination of a likable personality with an analytical mind helped him become a successful, humble assistant coach
I’m not saying Jamie Dixon is “the guy”. I’m not even saying that I want him as the Pack’s coach. Honestly, I don’t know that much about him. But, I’m not sure that Lee Fowler knows much about him, either. That is the problem.
In the same bucket as Dixon would be names like Dennis Felton at Georgia, maybe Dana Altman at Creighton and even Jon Pelphrey at South Alabama. Why did we not move more on Mark Turgeon before he signed his new contract at Wichita State?
The absence of some obvious potential targets like Dixon from NC State’s coaching search is as puzzling as Lee Fowler’s obvious decision to place Steve Lavin ahead of current NCAA basketball coaches likes of Frank Haith, Billy Gillispie, Gregg Marshall, and others.
Once Fowler/NC State moved to “Plan B” targets, it seems the focus remained on style (name) over substance. Is that what is best for NC State…or what is best for Lee Fowler?
