The meme grows. There was the extended praise from Andy Katz at ESPN.com for Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan and Coach Dixon.
A memo to the Big Ten and the Big East from this point forward: Do not pick a Bo Ryan or Jamie Dixon-coached team ninth again.
Resist the temptation. Forget about what has occurred on the roster. Finishing in the lower level of a conference for these two coaches from two different generations is not an option.
…
But what you can’t teach is the toughness that both teams play with throughout the season. Pitt showed no issues in going to Syracuse, Cincinnati and Connecticut to win three-straight road games for a 4-0 Big East start heading into a game against Louisville on Saturday.
The Badgers aren’t the most talented team in the Big Ten. Pitt doesn’t have that honor in the Big East. Yet, by mid-January, they are both virtual locks for the NCAA tournament, barring a collapse and serious threats to win their respective conferences.
Coincidentally, both coaches were the head coaches last summer for USA Basketball’s junior national teams. Ryan coached the World University Games team that won bronze in Serbia. Dixon coached the gold-medal winning U.S. team at the Under-19 World Championships in New Zealand — the first time the U.S. won gold in the event since 1991.
Their successes in coaching this summer shouldn’t be tossed aside as a coincidence. Players coached by them are also having significant seasons. Ryan coached Clemson’s Trevor Booker, Mississippi State’s Jarvis Varnado, West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler and Purdue’s Robbie Hummel on the older squad, while Dixon coached Pitt point guard Ashton Gibbs, Butler’s Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack, Ole Miss’ Terrico White and Kansas’ Tyshawn Taylor. I’m not handing the successful seasons of these players to the coaching staffs. But I’m just simply adding that Ryan and Dixon have been on a good run of late.
Both coaches have shown poise, patience and the ability to tinker with their respective teams to accommodate injuries or attrition. Dixon had to find ways for his team to score without Brown and Jermaine Dixon, and it showed at times in close, agonizing wins over New Hampshire and Duquesne. But the Panthers still won the games as Dixon’s controlled intensity rubbed off on his crew.
Tom Lucci at the New Jersy Star Ledger.
Q. Isn’t it about time that Pitt’s Jamie Dixon was recognized as one of the country’s best coaches?
The Panthers lost four starters who combined for 4,714 points from a team that was a Scottie Reynolds buzzer-beater away from making the Final Four a year ago. Picked ninth in the coaches’ pre-season poll, you can make the case that Pitt — 15-2 overall, 5-0 Big East — is the league’s best team right now. Since guard Jermaine Dixon (foot) and swingman Gilbert Brown (academic suspension) returned, the Panthers are 6-0 — with wins at Syracuse, at Cincinnati and at UConn.
And the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
And how about those Pitt Panthers? Makes you realize why one of the first coaches called every spring for just about any major-conference coaching opening is to Jamie Dixon.
And the meme keeps rolling.
