Rob Evans at Arizona State has his office packed into boxes. Now the school has to wait before it can really try to get Dixon.
[ASU AD Lisa] Love said a search for Evans’ successor would begin immediately.
There has been widespread talk about candidates, with Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon at the head of the speculation list. Dixon grew up in Los Angeles and worked as an assistant to UCLA’s Ben Howland when both were at Northern Arizona University and Pittsburgh.
Love did not identify any candidates. But, she said, “There is a starting point, yes.”
She also said she has not spoken to anybody who might have interest in the job.
“Not yet,” she said.
Timing is critical and turns the search process into a bit of a gamble. There are questions about how long ASU will wait on a candidate. If Pitt goes deep into the NCAA Tournament, it might be awhile before ASU gets an answer from Dixon.
Of course, they do have an intermediary they can go through. Dixon finally hired an agent.
Pitt coach Jamie Dixon has hired Boston-based lawyer Dennis Coleman to represent him, and Coleman met Pitt athletic director Jeff Long at the Big East tournament.
Dixon did not have representation in his first two seasons as head coach. Coleman represents 35 college basketball coaches, including Arizona coach Lute Olson, Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser and West Virginia coach John Beilein.
Dixon has quickly become a hot coaching commodity. He has emerged as the leading candidate at Arizona State according to a newspaper in Arizona and is being prominently mentioned for the opening at Missouri.
Dixon could command at high price tag, which is why he decided to hire an agent for the first time. He is currently making around $600,000 a year at Pitt and is expected to get a healthy raise whether he decides to stay at Pitt or accept another coaching position.
Coleman attended the Big East tournament the past few days and had a chance to watch four clients Thursday. Coleman represented the four coaches who played against each other in the two evening quarterfinal games — Beilein, Dixon, Seton Hall coach Louis Orr and Rutgers coach Gary Waters.
Coleman’s meeting with Long did not get much past the introductory stages and no significant progress was made toward a new pact.
Long issued a statement through a Pitt spokesman earlier in the week saying that he would not negotiate or discuss Dixon’s contract situation until after the season. Dixon has four years remaining on his current pact.
I’m assuming AD Long was posturing about no negotiations until after the post-season. He may have meant it when Dixon had no representation, but not now. Now he has to get out in front and work on the deal. There is no reason not to, and plenty of reasons to. A shiny new extension with a significant buyout seems to be the thing to do. Don’t let it become the thing hanging over Pitt’s run so that things come to resemble in anyway the 2003 NCAA Tournament with UCLA and Howland just waiting to happen.
