So is everyone getting frustrated with refreshing this site, checking the Pitt site, the Sun Devils, trawling the message boards for some, any verifiable shred of information?
It sure reads like it.
Now take a deep breath. Hold it. Release.
Okay, now think about this. It may be a no-brainer to us that Dixon should stay at Pitt. It may be maddening to us that he is even considering leaving and making all of us have to wait.
This is, however, a momentous decision for Jamie Dixon and his family. I wouldn’t want to rush the decision.
The fact is, he isn’t exactly harming the program by taking his time.
He isn’t leaving in the middle of recruiting or at an absolute vital stage. Pitt already has 2 of 3 available scholarship spots locked in because of early signing. The program is in excellent condition.
We also don’t know everything that has been happening with the negotiations. There are the leaks giving the rough info, but that doesn’t necessarily tell us everything to compare the two deals.
Remember when it came time to fill the job 3 years ago, and Prosser was agonizing over staying at Wake or coming to Pitt? At the 11th hour they finally offered the job to Dixon. Just about when he had given up hope of being hired. He had been ready to get on a plane to head for LA to join Howland after being forced to twist in the wind for a while.
I remember the criticism that Pitt took for that botched search job.
That’s a painful contrast to Pittsburgh, which spent most of the season in the top 10 and all of it in denial. Administrators expected the team’s deep roster, its beautiful new home court and a boatload of cash to disguise the absence of a productive talent base and enduring tradition.
Chancellor Mark Nordenberg failed to recognize the need to hire a full-time athletic director — be it interim A.D. Mark Boehm or someone else — when it became obvious during the winter that coach Ben Howland could leave for UCLA.
Without someone empowered to determine the athletic department’s course, there was no one to conduct a proper search. No one had the juice to guide Nordenberg through the vitriolic gossip that follows Memphis’ John Calipari and help determine if he would advance Pitt’s future. The Panthers overreached for Skip Prosser, counting on the allure of his hometown to convince him to accept a backward move. He wound up, instead, with a lucrative extension at Wake Forest.
Two weeks after Howland left, there was no indication that able and accessible candidates such as Xavier’s Thad Matta, Manhattan’s Bobby Gonzalez, former Bulls coach Tim Floyd and Creighton’s Dana Altman had been considered. Incoming recruits such as Brooklyn’s 6-10 Chris Taft grew anxious as the search persisted.Speed in these situations is not as important as accuracy — making the right hire — but Dayton accomplished both by being realistic about its station and fully prepared.
We’ve been hearing all winter how Arizona State would take a run at Dixon.
Despite that, and the fact that this Pitt team overachieved this season, there wasn’t much sign from the Pitt athletic department that they would be proactive in extending Dixon and keeping him from even entertaining offers.
Additional consideration that you may or not want to take seriously. What Dixon saw happen with Walt Harris. He saw a coach that did a fine job rebuilding the program then get shown the door when the program didn’t continue advancing fast enough. Not only that, but once Harris was booted the talk was all about how they needed a “Pitt” guy. A guy with Pittsburgh connections.
Dixon knows Sean Miller is out there getting experience and was a Pitt guy. What would happen in a few years if Pitt basketball isn’t considered to be winning enough? Why shouldn’t he consider cashing in big, now. Is it better to leave a little soon or too late?
I just think this is not as easy a decision as we think it should be.
