WASHINGTON — For local basketball fans, the mention of Juan Dixon’s name evokes an almost universally positive response.
The Baltimore native starred at Calvert Hall, scoring more than 1,500 points as a prep player. As a junior at the University of Maryland, he led the Terrapins to the Final Four, then all the way to the 2002 national title as a senior, a zenith to which the program has not since returned. He was selected by the Wizards in the first round of the NBA Draft, spent two professional stints in D.C., then moved on in retirement to a special assistant position back in the men’s basketball program at Maryland.
But as that opportunity dried up, the 38-year-old Dixon found himself at a crossroads when an intriguing opportunity presented itself, one he had never really considered. That’s how he finds himself standing, arms crossed, whistle around his neck surveying a floor of just over a dozen young women as they go through their penultimate preseason practice in a gym in Northwest D.C.
“It’s funny, this is something that just happened,” he said of his new title, head basketball coach for the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds women’s basketball team.
Dixon was attending an event when he ran into the daughter of Patricia Thomas, the UDC athletic director, who mentioned they had an opening. Dixon says he took about a month to think it over, but that the combination of the ability to run a program and stay in the area, where he is raising his sons, was too good to pass up.
“Oh, it was a big part of the decision,” Dixon said of the opportunity to coach in D.C. “Before she offered me the job, I was already thinking about how it was a perfect situation. It’s a great opportunity to be a head coach. I was born and raised in this area. I’m home.”
Dixon also wholeheartedly believes what defending national champion head coach Jay Wright of Villanova said at the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation “College Season Tip-Off” event, when he called the Baltimore-Washington region “probably the hotbed of basketball right now in our country.” Even though Dixon was not tasked with recruiting duties during his time at Maryland, he believes he’s in the perfect place to do so at UDC, despite competition from the likes of Georgetown and his alma mater.
“I don’t have to go anywhere,” he said of looking for talent. “Our job here at UDC is to put a fence around the DMV. If we can do that, and get the high caliber Division II, mid-major to low Division I, we’re going to be fine.”
While women’s basketball has its differences from the men’s game, there are far more similarities. Dixon is confident his knowledge of and experience with the fundamentals will translate.
“It is different, it’s a different game, but it’s still basketball,” he said. “You still have the same principles. On the men’s side, yeah, they play above the rim a little bit more, but it’s the same game. What I’m teaching these young ladies is the same thing I would teach if I was on the other side.”
The Firebirds enjoyed a great run under former head coach DeWayne Burroughs, who moved up to Division I Coppin State this season. Coming off a 21-9 season and four 20-plus win campaigns in the past five years, they have solidified themselves as a solid Division II mid-major program. But Dixon has inherited a young team, featuring three times as many freshmen (six) as seniors (two) and returns none — zero — of its top eight scorers.
If the challenge wasn’t clear, it was laid bare in an exhibition game last Saturday. Taking on a Division I Temple team picked to finish second in the AAC, the Firebirds were beaten 107-22.
In all, Dixon will have to find a way to replace 94 percent of the points of a year ago. He’s also had just four weeks to get his team ready to play, having officially started Oct. 14.
“We’ve only been together for, what, a month?” he asks his players at the end of practice.
He tells them to play together at both ends of the floor, to trust in their approach. Most of all, he tells them to have fun. The journey will be long, and while the first step begins Saturday with a trip to Hookset, New Hampshire for the season opener, it will extend far beyond the final game this spring.
“I’m coaching, and I’m teaching, and I’m mentoring, and I’m preparing these young ladies for life,” Dixon said.
“I’m living out my purpose.”
