Friday, December 18, 1998

Dixon back for
seconds as
Rainbow assistant

He's happy to be back with
the UH basketball team after
spending three years on the
Northern Arizona staff

By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin

They are the first to get into the office and the last to leave.

They have seen more film than the voters for the Academy Awards.

They are a dime a dozen yet they are priceless.

They are assistant basketball coaches.

And Jamie Dixon is one of the best.

Dixon, a Rainbow assistant from 1992-94, has returned for a second stint with the Hawaii men's basketball team. For the past three years, he has been on Ben Howland's staff at Northern Arizona, where the Lumberjacks had consecutive 21-win seasons and two postseason appearances.

When Rainbow assistant Jeff Law took the head coaching job at Hawaii-Hilo last summer, Riley Wallace's first call to fill the puka was to Dixon. The captain of the 1987 Texas Christian basketball squad couldn't wait to come home.

"It's been great being back," Dixon said. "It's everything I thought it would be. Of course, the best part of it is living in Hawaii and the people here.

"The first time, the attraction was the job. The program wasn't anywhere near where it is now. It was hard for me to leave. We had just gone to the NCAA Tournament (1994)."

Hawaii has not been back since. But things have changed dramatically for both Dixon and the Rainbows in the past four years.

The program has been nationally ranked. There have been the big wins over Indiana and Kansas. Anthony Carter was named an honorable mention All-American. The Stan Sheriff Center and its crowds has raised the bar for men's basketball here.

And Dixon is no longer a restricted-earnings coach, unable to go recruiting.

"One of the reasons I left was I felt I was losing my contacts in the business because I couldn't recruit," Dixon said. "Then it was hard to leave NAU because things were looking good at NAU (four returning starters off Big Sky championship team). And I knew Hawaii was going to be in a rebuilding year.

"But I had to look at it down the line. Opportunities like this don't come along often. If I was going to make a move, I wanted to go somewhere I was comfortable living and comfortable working."

Wallace and his staff welcomed the prodigal son with open arms. Dixon was the perfect replacement for Law, especially on such short notice: he knew the program and its needs, knew Hawaii and knew Wallace's system.

"We're glad to have him back, he was my first choice," Wallace said. "I went after him. He works well with young players and gets the job done.

"What I like best probably is his work ethic. In this business, you have to have the ethic and be able to work within it. He's good at both. I liked him then and I like him now."

Wallace feels Dixon is head coach material and tried to get him the top job when the Centennary position opened up. The Wallace connection didn't work then -- Wallace both played and coached for the Gents -- but things have worked out for the Rainbows.

Coaching wasn't in Dixon's plans after graduating from TCU with all-SWC and all-academic honors. Drafted by the Washington Bullets, he played professionally in the CBA, Holland and New Zealand.

It was in New Zealand where his love for the game turned to passion. He began coaching youth teams, then high school, before returning to his native California for assistant jobs at Los Angeles Valley College and UC Santa Barbara.

"You can't be doing it for the money or the vacations or the hours off," Dixon said. "It's difficult to break into college coaching. Some of your best coaches never do."

Dixon is creating his own style, borrowing from Rick Majerus (attention to detail), Howland (value of hard work) and Wallace (intensity for the game and commitment to a system).

Dixon has mixed feelings about the potential meeting with NAU tomorrow night.

"This senior class is mine, I recruited most of them," Dixon said. "It would be very strange to play them. But I'm more worried about beating Eastern Illinois."

And you know Dixon was up late last night looking at film of the Panthers.

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