Jamie Dixon won his 200th career game on Wednesday against American University and, as expected, took the accomplishment in stride:
“It wasn’t something I spent all night thinking about going into it,” Dixon said of No. 200. “It was very thoughtful of the players … that’s probably what means the most to me. They talked about the hard work and dedication but, of course, I corrected them and told them it was good players that was most important.”
Only Mark Few of Gonzaga and Roy Williams of Kansas also made it to 200 victories in their eighth season — reflecting, in part, the number of games schools now play. Pitt has won fewer than 25 games only once since Dixon replaced Ben Howland as coach in 2003.
“We’re going to stick with the formula, and that’s good players,” Dixon said. “Anyone that’s relying on coaching is not going to be successful.”
Dixon’s never one for milestones and achievements. He’s made no bones about the fact that for Pitt to get to the next level, they need to start reaching some Final Fours and win a National Championship.
American coach Jeff Jones had some nice words for Dixon as well, despite losing a game only shortly beforehand:
“Look at the consistency — that says a lot about the job he’s done,” Jones said. “It’s not as if Pitt has the tradition of a Kansas or a Duke, but the last 8-9 seasons, they’re right there.”
There’s no question that Dixon has given much more to the university than the school could have ever hoped for. 200 wins in itself isn’t a huge accomplishment. But the speed in which he’s done it along with the classy way he’s run a program certainly is.