Big East Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jun 11, 2020

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 16: Collin Gillespie #2 and Phil Booth #5 of the Villanova Wildcats celebrate with head coach Jay Wright after the Wildcats defeated the Seton Hall Pirates to win their third consecutive Big East Tournament championship at Madison Square Garden, on March 16, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Porter Binks/Getty Images) /

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GREENSBORO, NC – MARCH 11: Head Coach Jamie Dixon of the Pittsburgh Panthers (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /

5. Big East Basketball power rankings – Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh, 2003-2013)

While jokes continue to be made following Pittsburgh’s winless run through ACC play in 2018, many forget that this was a real Big East power under Dixon earlier in the century. He served on staff as an assistant under Ben Howland, taking over the program in 2003 as Howland moved on to UCLA. He would spend ten years in the Big East before the Panthers left for the ACC.

Compared to the current state of the program, those Pittsburgh teams seemed legendary. They made the NCAA Tournament in nine of Dixon’s ten years, winning the CBI championship in the other. The 2009 team made the Elite Eight while two others enjoyed trips into the Sweet Sixteen. The Panthers finished in the top 5 of the conference in eight of those seasons and won 30+ games twice as well.

Consider that Dixon was 262-86 during those ten years in the Big East and you’ll see how successful he really was. What’s even more impressive is that he left the Panthers for TCU in 2016 and not only did the Panthers program fall apart, but he led his alma mater to the NCAA Tournament and Big 12 prominence. Between the Panthers and Horned Frogs, Dixon’s accomplished quite a fair bit, taking a talented Pittsburgh team and continuing their success.

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