Margaret Mary Dixon (May 9, 1977 – April 6, 2006) was an American collegiate women's basketball coach.

Life

Dixon was born in

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

, and played basketball at Notre Dame High School. Dixon graduated in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in history from the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

, where she played for the women's basketball team. She served as team captain her senior year, and was voted as the "Most Improved Player". After an unsuccessful tryout for the WNBA

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

, she took up coaching, at the urging of her older brother. After one season as director of operations, Dixon was an assistant coach at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

from 2001 to 2005 under

Doug Bruno Richard Douglas Bruno (born November 7, 1950) is the Special Assistant to the Vice President/Director of Athletics for Women’s Basketball and the former head coach of the DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball team. In 2016, he completed his 30t ...

. In 2005, just 11 days before the 2005–2006 season, Dixon was hired as the women's basketball coach of the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. In her first year, they surprised the college basketball world by going 20–11 and winning the

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference comprising primarily leading Private university, private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United ...

conference tournament; she took them to

2006 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2006 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was held from March 18 to April 4, 2006, at several sites, with the championship game held in Boston. The Maryland Terrapins, coached by Brenda Frese, won their first National Championship, ...

as a 15 seed, where they lost to the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, 102–54. It was the first NCAA tournament appearance for any Army basketball team. Her brother is

Jamie Dixon James Patrick Dixon II (born November 10, 1965) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach of the TCU Horned Frogs men's team, where he played college ball. He previously served as the head coach of the University of Pittsburg ...

, the head men's basketball coach at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

. In 2006, the Dixons became the first brother-sister pair to take teams to the NCAA basketball tournaments the same year, as Jamie's

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

also made the

2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2006 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2005–06 basketball seaso ...

. Her brother lost in the second round to

Bradley Bradley may refer to: People * Bradley (given name) * Bradley (surname) Places In the United Kingdom In England: * Bradley, Cheshire * Bradley, Derbyshire * Bradley (house), a manor in Kingsteignton, Devon * Bradley, Gloucestershire * ...

Death

After her team lost their first round game, Dixon attended the men's Final Four in Indianapolis, then flew to the women's Final Four in Boston. She attended a Nike party in Boston on Monday, April 3 with a number of other coaches, including

Geno Auriemma Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team. He holds the NCAA basketball records for wins and winning percentage with a mi ...

, and WBCA president

. The following day, Dixon returned to West Point, where she watched the women's final game with her brother. The following day, she collapsed and was rushed to the base hospital. She was next airlifted to

Westchester Medical Center Westchester Medical Center University Hospital (WMC), formerly Grasslands Hospital, is an 895-bed Regional Trauma Center providing health services to residents of the Hudson Valley, northern New Jersey, and southern Connecticut. It is known for h ...

in nearby Valhalla, New York. Doug Bruno changed his flight plans to fly to New York to see his former assistant. She was still alive when Bruno arrived, but she died the following day from what her brother described as an "arrhythmic episode to her heart." Dixon died a little over a month shy of her 29th birthday. An autopsy revealed that Dixon had an enlarged heart and had a problem with a heart valve.

Tributes

Dixon was buried at the

West Point Cemetery West Point Cemetery is a historic cemetery on the grounds of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, West Point, New York (state), New York. It overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Continental Army s ...

, an honor usually reserved only for high-ranking officials.

Maggie Dixon Classic

On November 12, 2006, West Point held the 1st Annual Maggie Dixon Classic, a basketball mini-tournament in Dixon's honor. It featured two games, a men's and women's game. In the men's game Jamie Dixon's Pitt Panthers defeated

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

and in the women's game the Army women's team lost to

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

. The games were televised by

ESPNU ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remain ...

. The Maggie Dixon Classic also incorporates fundraising for heart arrhythmia research and a Health Fair featuring information booths and free screenings. In the 2007–2008 season the Classic moved to

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

and featured the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

women's team against

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

and Army against the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus. In sports, Rutgers is famously known for being the "Birthplace of College Football", hosting the first ever intercollegiate football ...

. The third Maggie Dixon Classic was again played at MSG and featured the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of ...

and

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

along with an RU/Army Rematch. The presence of UConn helped draw upwards of 10,000 fans. The 2009 Maggie Dixon Classic featured games between Baylor and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

and between perennial women's basketball powerhouses

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. The 2010 Maggie Dixon Classic pitted the Rutgers Scarlet Knights against the

Texas A&M Aggies The Texas A&M Aggies are the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "wikt:aggie#Etymology 2, Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also simply referr ...

, and the Connecticut Huskies against the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Maggie Dixon Surf 'N Slam Classic is played at Dixon's alma mater, University of San Diego, and has featured such schools as Boston College, DePaul, University of Texas, and University of California in recent years. The University of San Diego Toreros won the tournament in 2008 and 2009. Jamie Dixon and family accepting a check

Jamie Dixon and family accepting a check

Maggie Dixon Award

In tribute to Maggie's amazing rookie turnaround at Army before her death the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced the creation of the Maggie Dixon Award for the 2006–2007 season. The award is a "rookie of the year" award for the best coach in their first year as a Division 1 head coach. The inaugural award was given to Krista Kilburn-Steveskey of

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

and the 2007–2008 award was given to

Jeff Walz Jeffrey Jacob Walz (born October 27, 1971) is the head coach of the women's basketball team at the University of Louisville. In his second year as a head coach, he guided his team to a national championship appearance at the 2009 NCAA Division I w ...

of the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

. The 2008–2009 recipient was Kelly Packard of

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

. The 2009–2010 season clarified the award by excluding former professional coaches moving to D1 (two early candidates were Men's coaching great and WNBA champion

Paul Westhead Paul William Westhead (born February 21, 1939) is an American former basketball coach. He was the head coach for three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an assistant for four others, and also coached in the National Collegiate Ath ...

at Oregon and 2 time WNBA champion

Michael Cooper Michael Jerome Cooper (born April 15, 1956), nicknamed "Coop", is an American basketball coach and former player. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers during his entire career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning five NBA champ ...

at USC). The award went to playing great

Teresa Weatherspoon Teresa Gaye Weatherspoon (born December 8, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for Vinyl BC of the Unrivaled basketball league. She was previously the head coach of the Chicago Sky of the Wo ...

despite her coaching several games for

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – Hig ...

in 2009 as an interim head coach. She won the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

tournament returning the Lady Techsters to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five seasons.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;" , 1995–96 , style="text-align:left;" ,

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, 28, , -, , -, , 37.0, , 0.0, , 61.9, , 1.4, , 0.8, , 0.4, , 0.2, , -, , 2.4 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1996–97 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 26, , -, , -, , 36.6, , 0.0, , 51.7, , 2.7, , 0.9, , 0.6, , 0.3, , -, , 3.4 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1997–98 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 27, , -, , -, , 44.8, , 25.0, , 66.7, , 4.6, , 0.7, , 0.3, , 0.1, , -, , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;" , 1998–99 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 22, , -, , -, , 52.0, , 36.4, , 75.0, , 4.2, , 1.4, , 0.7, , 0.2, , -, , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 , Career , 103, , -, , -, , 43.1, , 25.0, , 65.4, , 3.2, , 0.9, , 0.5, , 0.2, , -, , 4.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="14", Statistics retrieved from

Sports-Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey Ref ...

Head coaching record

Notes

External links

Associated Press, ESPN.com – Autopsy shows Dixon had enlarged heartAdrian Wojnarowski, ESPN.com – Army coach is just like her team: tough when it countsAdrian Wojnarowski, ESPN.com – Dixon's death cuts short a championship-caliber life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Maggie 1977 births 2006 deaths American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Army Black Knights women's basketball coaches DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball coaches San Diego Toreros women's basketball players Notre Dame High School (Sherman Oaks, California) alumni People from North Hollywood, Los Angeles Basketball players from Los Angeles Burials at West Point Cemetery Forwards (basketball) Guards (basketball) 20th-century American sportswomen