STAR-BULLETIN / 1998 Former Hawaii assistant coach Jamie Dixon coached under Riley Wallace for a few seasons in the late '90s.

Pitt names former
UH assistant
as head coach

The hiring of Jamie Dixon will
be officially announced today

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Star-Bulletin staff

Former University of Hawaii assistant Jamie Dixon will be named head coach at Pittsburgh today, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and ESPN.com.

Dixon, who coached at UH from 1992 to '94 and again from 1998 to '99, served as Pittsburgh's associate head coach, and became the top candidate for the job when Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser pulled out of the running.

Dixon, 37, was passed over for head coaching jobs at Wright State and Illinois State, but succeeds Ben Howland, who went on to UCLA, thanks in part to strong player support.

Two of Pitt's four-man recruiting class said they would consider de-committing if Dixon were not named coach.

"When he was here," UH head coach Riley Wallace said, "the players loved him."

If he didn't get the Pitt post, Dixon had a job as an assistant waiting for him with Howland at UCLA.

"Either way I feel like it'll be a great opportunity," Dixon told the Star-Bulletin last week. "People have asked me if I'm anxious and I'm not really. Either way it's going be great."

Dixon helped Pitt to a 57-11 record over the past two seasons, including two consecutive runs into the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.

"I'm very happy for him, obviously," Wallace said. "He's worked hard to get there, and he's had to make moves to get there."

When he was Dixon's boss, Wallace said last night, he "knew he was going to be head-coaching material very shortly."

Dixon's latest boss, Howland, said, "there's not a better evaluator of talent in the country," according to the Tribune-Review.

Wallace said Howland doubled Dixon's UH salary to get him to come to Pittsburgh.

Dixon had been a Division I assistant for 12 years. This is his first head coaching position.

"I feel really, really good for him," Wallace said.