Andy Katz of ESPN.com has made no secret in the past that he is on good terms with Coach Jamie Dixon. That sure helps in doing a story like this that has been on the front page of ESPN.com’s college basketball page all weekend.

The coaching carousel tried to scoop up Dixon yet again this spring. And, for the third year in a row, Dixon turned down all the suitors. Stanford, Cal, Oklahoma State, LSU, Arizona State, Indiana and Arkansas have all tried to get Dixon interested when they’ve had recent openings. But he won’t bite.

“He is so loyal to us and if there are three to five suitors every year, that would not surprise me at all,” Nordenberg said. “He doesn’t dangle that in front of us and doesn’t advertise it or try to take advantage of it.”

“Every time his name circulates with a job, Jamie shuts things down fast,” said athletic director Steve Pederson, back for his second stint as AD.

The Arizona State job was the only one that reached anxiety levels. I’d say there were a couple reasons for that. First, it was the first time he had been so actively pursued by another school. The year before the Pitt team really faded in the back end and there was a lot of sniping about Dixon’s performance. Finally, the difference in salaries at that point was a big difference that had to make anyone listen.

After that, it has been quiet or quickly rejected without much dancing. As a fan I appreciate that. As a blogger looking for material to write in the off-season, it’s damn frustrating. Mindless speculation of will he-won’t he and possible replacements can fill weeks of blogging if drawn out correctly. But no, that keeps being denied to me.

And still Dixon is doing it at a place where elite players in the area are virtually nonexistent. So with the help of his assistants from former aide Barry Rohrssen (now the head coach at Manhattan) to current assistant Orlando Antigua, he continues to make Pitt a familiar name in New York City. The Panthers can call Madison Square Garden their home away from home, too, going 23-8 in the building since 2000, which is better than what UConn, Syracuse and St. John’s can boast.

“He put Pittsburgh in a position where it’s an upper division team in the Big East,” said Florida associate head coach Larry Shyatt, a former assistant in the Big East at Providence under Rick Barnes and a former head coach at Wyoming and Clemson. “That’s the way it’s thought of outside and in the Big East. That’s the best compliment I can give.”

And now, Pitt has made inroads into Maryland and Philly.

I know that feelings are mixed on Dixon. I do understand that. I am one of those in his corner.

A big reason why is that I feel he has done a lot to build Pitt’s program overall. Not just the winning — which is huge. It’s the effort in helping to support the summer league in Pittsburgh. Something that never existed. Giving the players a chance to stay in the ‘Burgh over the summer to play together and against each other. To be able to keep improving, hit the weight room with direct supervision and guidance, and to take classes to stay up on the academics.

All of that is vital to making Pitt a basketball program a growing and strengthening entity. And it pays off in that the former players in recent vintage are still eager to be around the city and the program. We also see more connection with past players renewing ties to the school. Re-connecting and supporting.

The summer program also gives the more talented high school kids other options on playing and connecting with present Pitt players. Western PA will never become a hotbead of basketball talent, but the more connections made into the area can only encourage and make sure that kids feel some local ties and desire to play there one day. It’s something that Pitt has still fought to overcome.

All of that has happened with Dixon here.

This was on the front page of ESPN.com’s basketball page today.

Seems the ridiculous to the extreme “bracketology” puts Pitt as a #1 seed for the 2009 NCAA Tournament. That’s really useless. On the positive side, Coach Dixon continues to say the right things about the goals.

“People are always going to expect more. We deal with it every year,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “I look at it as a good thing. It’s part of our program — both in the visibility of it and the success of it.”

…

“We’re going to continue to do things that have put us in a position to be successful in the tournament,” he said. “Obviously, the health of our players is very important.”

The key phrasing, in the second part was “in a position to be successful.” There is still the issue of what Pitt does once in that position.
Apparently the Oklahoma AD made contact with Coach Jamie Dixon, but that was about it (ESPN Insider).

Oklahoma State’s call to Pitt’s Jamie Dixon wasn’t even long enough to warrant a serious discussion. Dixon wasn’t going to Oklahoma State.

The popular rumor is that Dixon — along with plenty of other coaches — is not going anywhere for at least a year.

He would be great, as he has been at Pitt. But there’s no reason for Dixon to walk away from a preseason top 10 team, particularly when he’d probably be the leading candidate at Arizona if Lute Olson was to really retire after next season.

I’m not going to stress on the Arizona thing. I think Olson has already shown he will be pulling a Paterno, so he’s going to hang around for some time.

I do expect that Pitt will announce a new extension for Dixon anytime in the next couple of weeks. On a somewhat related note, I recommend this article about Kansas and their AD dealing with the “costs” of winning. It’s something Pitt, in its history has struggled to handle.

The team banquet was on Sunday night (and yet another year passes without an invite coming my way). 12 players managed to take home awards including Mike Cook. It is easier to list the players who came away with nothing — Austin Wallace, Cassin Diggs and Tim Frye.

Lamar Patterson is Pitt’s first verbal for the class of 2009. It looks increasingly likely that Pitt snagged him early and before he really started showing what he can do.

Pittsburgh quietly landed Lamar Patterson during the high school season and the commitment probably didn’t generate the kind of buzz that it deserved. Patterson is the real deal. He has been the most consistent player for Team Final this weekend and showed off all the facets of his game. His passing ability was on showcase on Saturday.

Amusing complaint from some minor Philly paper about Pitt recruiting talented players from Philly these days.

But it bothers me that Pitt was able to land Nasir Robinson from Chester and Lamar Patterson from the Lancaster area. Add them to current Panthers Bradley Wanamaker and Mike Cook and you have a veritable Philadelphia pipeline heading to the other side of the state. There’s nothing that Pitt has that Villanova doesn’t, and the Cats should take it personally that schools like Pittsburgh and Virginia have multiple Philadelphia players on their roster.

Ah, provincialism. It’s everywhere.

The Stanford job is open, but seriously, that’s not a job Dixon would take at this point. Aside from, at best being a lateral move, Stanford AD Bowlsby was an idiot. He put off Trent Johnson’s contract talk all season — then wasted two weeks after the season without making an offer (Johnson was in the last year of his contract). What? He thought no one would be interested in a classy, clean coach who won at Nevada and Stanford?

Besides, how eager would Stanford be to hire a Pitt coach after what happened with Walt Harris?

That said, expect rumors and reports that Jamie Dixon is in California. Because he is.

Pittsburgh basketball Coach Jamie Dixon is returning to the Southland Saturday to be honored by his alma mater, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, at the school’s annual Knights of Honor dinner-auction gala at the Universal Sheraton.

…

UCLA Coach Ben Howland, a close family friend, will introduce Dixon. Jimmy Kimmel is the master of ceremonies at the event.

Yes, Jimmy Kimmel is the MC of a HS alumni event.

Bob Smizik puts himself into an interesting little corner in his chat.

SDWC: Hi Bob, I noticed in your column this morning a line stating “It’s nice to see a coach with his eye on the real target “. Was that meant to be a quiet dig at Jamie Dixon and the Pitt BB philosophy?

Bob Smizik: Yes, it was a reflection on how Pitt proceeds in the post-season. It was refreshing to see Therrien have his eye on the big prize and not the conference title.

There’s a few other Pitt basketball questions after that, and then this.

Baxter: Who has had the more successful basketball program over the past several years? WVU with two sweet 16 appearances and one elite 8 appearance with an NIT title in between or Pitt and its early exits from the NCAA tourney.

Bob Smizik: Pitt, with its Big East TOURNAMENT championship, probably feels it has been more successful. I also think it has the better record, although I don’t have those numbers in front of me. But based on NCAA play, the big prize, I’d say West Virginia has the more successful program.

By recent years, that is then limited to just the past 4 because WVU hadn’t been in the NCAA Tournament since 1998, prior to 2005. Then by that logic, John Brady and LSU is a more successful program in recent years. A lot of good that did the new coach at Arkansas -Little Rock State.

Sorry, I can’t buy into that. There’s no question that the NCAA Tournament matters. That it is the big prize. But to be outright dismissive of the regular season and the Big East regular season and the Big East Tournament is beyond moronic. No, I take that back. It speaks of someone who just doesn’t care about college basketball beyond the NCAA Tournament at best. Arguably, it is one of the worst things about being a college team in a pro town. The mindset.

It’s that reasoning which allows the BCS to survive, as proponents point to the claim that at least with the BCS, the regular season matters. That every game counts and it isn’t just to get to the playoffs.

Hopefully this will take care of anymore “Dixon will leave for Cal” rumors.

Multiple sources told ESPN.com that Cal made an attempt to hire Dixon within 24 hours of firing Ben Braun. Dixon told the Bears he wanted to stay at Pitt.

Arizona State also tried to hire Dixon before Herb Sendek took the job in the spring of 2006.

There is a perception that Dixon wants to move back to the West Coast because he is from Santa Barbara and his wife is from Hawaii. In truth, he is not looking to get back there as his family thoroughly enjoys living in Pittsburgh.

That’s not to say he won’t still get a new extension and raise from Pitt.

UPDATE (11:29): Oh, and not that it was really an issue but TCU (Dixon’s alma mater) has apparently hired Jim Christian from Kent State.

The season just ended and I’m already looking forward to next year. Here’s some things that we might want to think and worry about during the next few months and into the 2008-09 season.

1. Will Gilbert Brown continue to show the improvement he demonstrated this year? When he started to see meaningful playing time after Cook and Fields went down, it’s safe to say we all agree that he struggled. He just couldn’t get it going on both ends of the floor. As the season went on though, he showed a great deal of maturation and improvement. Chances are he’ll be in the starting lineup next year – is he going to keep improving enough to show he belongs and deserves to be in the starting five?

2. Will Sam Young go pro? A topic that really didn’t gain legs until his great week during the Big East Tournament, but his decision could change the shape of this entire team for next year. As quickly as he rose to prominence in NYC, he blew it (like everyone else did) in the tourney loss to Michigan State. Had he led the team to an Elite Eight/Final Four and played amazingly on said mythical run, he might have been more inclined to leave early. For his own good and the good of the team, it’s best that he stay at Pitt.

3. Which freshmen will see a lot of playing time next year? The newcomers next year are Ashton Gibbs, Nasir Robinson, Travon Woodall, and Dwight Miller. The guy most likely to see the most action is Robinson, rated as one of the Rivals 150, who could challenge Brad Wanamaker for a bulk of the minutes. An excerpt from what Chas said a few months ago:

Nasir Robinson fits Pitt. A lot of reports have been saying that for a while, that the Pitt commit plays tough gritty defense. That he scraps for balls and will be a perfect fit in the way Pitt plays the game, and the Big East play. What also has become clear is that Pitt found a player who was under the radar a bit and got him before he was fully appreciated by other coaches.

4. Will Jamie Dixon get an extension? Dixon is not going to Indiana, TCU, Cal, or anywhere in the next year or two. That said, young coaches that have success get plenty of offers with plenty of cash. It might be time for Steve Pedersen to look into extending Dixon and keeping him here for hopefully the rest of his career. Pitt doesn’t need to be a stepping stone for coaches (Howland), but instead could be a place where a coach wants to spend his entire career.

5. Will there be anyone to shoot the three? No one could shoot the three pointers this year. During Ronald Ramon’s time here he was generally considered our “sharpshooter” who could make the three pointer consistently. That’s largely debatable, especially with declining numbers in his senior season. He was the guy though, because who else was there? And now that he’s graduated, who’s going to shoot all those treys? Fields’ biggest flaw has been that he isn’t a consistent jump shooter. Sam Young, if he’s around, took more threes in ‘07-‘08 but isn’t a pure shooter. After those two it’s hard to see anyone else taking a bulk of the threes.

6. Will Mike Cook get a 6^th year of eligibility? Wishful thinking…

‘Tis the season. The coaching carousel is in motion and it is time for speculation, wishlists and rumors. In a sign of both the job Jamie Dixon has done at Pitt and the increased reputation of the program, there are only a couple places where Dixon’s name is being bandied about.

West Coast roots issue seem to be the driving thing for any Cal rumors.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, who’s from Southern California and might feel like he has taken the Panthers as far as they can go (which is the Sweet 16 — that’s be OK with Old Blues).

Telling is that there is not even a hint that the whole West Coast thing would be enough to even pretend that would be enough to get him to look at Oregon State. Really, the Cal thing seems very unlikely since it wouldn’t even be a lateral move. I don’t take that one very seriously. And really, Randy Bennett at St. Mary’s seems like the best choice there.
The one that has to be watched, though, is Indiana.

But the best job available is still Indiana, where the names most regularly mentioned as potential replacements are Washington State’s Tony Bennett, Xavier’s Sean Miller and Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl.

Two other names making the rounds here at the East Regional: Pitt’s Jamie Dixon and Texas’ Rick Barnes.

Tony Bennett seems like the best fit, but I could also see Miller being their guy. Rick Barnes has no incentive to leave Texas. Fertile recruiting, lots of money and not as much pressure. I don’t see Dixon as their pick, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they sought him out to talk.
Understand, though, that while Indiana fans are more polite and not nearly as outwardly insane, they have similar delusions like Kentucky. IU fans are setting their fantasies on getting Billy Donovan from Florida.

This will be going on for a while — unfortunately.

UPDATE (3:15): For what it’s worth, Andy Katz at ESPN.com (Insider subs) doubts Dixon would leave.

Pitt’s Jamie Dixon will be mentioned for jobs at Cal and Indiana, but all indications are that Dixon enjoys living in Pittsburgh and has a strong fondness for the school and all that it has done for him. I don’t expect him to leave.

So, there’s that.

I hate to waste time on this sort of thing, but Bob Smizik’s usual column about how unimportant the Big East Tournament is, has come out. Honestly, I have a hard time getting worked up about most of what Smizik writes. Recycling the same columns, themes and just changing names has been his M.O. for years at this point.

Let’s give Smizik props for sticking with the position he has advocated before. At least he isn’t always a weather vane. He may have not said a damn word if Pitt had gone further, but that’s just human nature. Apparently playing well in the Big East Tournament is only bad for Pitt. G-town went to the Final Four last year after winning the BET. UConn won national champs in two of the three times it won the BET.

For Pitt, though, it is overemphasized because they had nothing left for the NCAA Tournament. Really, if Smizik was going to recycle a column, I would have expected his 2006 complaint about Pitt not being a good shooting team. You know, because they were too focused on defense and rebounding. He couldn’t complain about it in 2005, because Pitt lost in the first round of the BET. Don’t worry, he doubled it up in 2004, with focus on the unimportance of the BET and the regular season title, but then complained about how flawed Pitt was after losing the BET.

His theme this time, was that Pitt should have not played the 7-man rotation so much in the BET, even if it meant losing.

Gary McGhee, for example, did not get on the floor in the Big East tournament. That’s ridiculous. McGhee, a 6 foot 10 freshman, should have been part of the rotation, giving a rest to either Sam Young or DeJuan Blair so those two valuable players would be at their best for NCAA play and not possibly fatigued. Not only does it help Young and Blair, it gives McGhee valuable playing experience.

Brad Wanamaker, a player who might be starting next season, played a total of 16 minutes in the Big East tournament and did not get on the floor in the final two games. Wanamaker should have been used to spell Ronald Ramon and Levance Fields to keep them fresh for the more important games ahead.

As it was, Ramon and Young averaged 38 minutes and Fields 36 in the four Big East tournament games. Allocating those kind of minutes to a secondary tournament is poor coaching.

No one can be certain fatigue was the reason Ramon and Fields shot a combined 1 for 9 from 3-point range against Michigan State or that Young was 4 for 12 from the field. But it might have been, and that possibility should have been enough for Dixon to keep his players fresh instead of overextending them.

So, let’s say McGhee and Wanamaker got 10 minutes in each of those two games. Here’s the problem with that idea — I mean beyond the minimal actual impact on minutes.

It assumes the substitution is an individual occurrence. That the team doesn’t make adjustments to the rotation on hand. Like, having to help more inside with McGhee who is a step slow and not as sure inside. Or the other players having to work harder on offense because there is more pressure on the other 4 while McGhee is out there. The same can be argued for Wanamaker. He’s a solid defender, but his offense has been a non-factor and turnover risk in his freshman year.

I have high hopes for both. I think both will show marked improvement next season. That doesn’t mean you put them out there in these situations, and put these games at risk. To say nothing of the possibility of damaging their confidence if they make big mistakes in these situations.

I knew it was good for me to write about Pitt’s season having already been enough. Win or lose against Michigan State, it was enough. I’ve already reread that post five times – I’m positive it’s kept me from saying something I’ll regret later. I’ve had about 40 hours to digest it – I think it’s time to move on.

Having said that…ouch. That’s a tough one to lose. I can’t wait to hear the people saying Dixon still can’t win the big ones – I don’t think any coach can win when your team shoots like that. He wasn’t the one shooting 2 of freaking 17 on three pointers. Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin both played like crap and there’s no denying that. I’ve been pretty tough on both all year (especially Ramon) and this game didn’t help their cause. Still, thanks to them for giving so much to this program over the years and I hope them both the best in whatever their life takes them to next. It’s not like the seniors were the only ones to drop the ball though – everyone except for Fields played like #%@&. I’m not even mad anymore because, well, it’s over.

But hey, when Drew Neitzel is going to hit every shot he takes then you’re already fighting a losing battle. As Chas mentioned, Neitzel frustrated the hell out of everyone by both his crazy shots and his attitude. Someone I watched the game with, not a Pitt fan, commented on how much of a jerk he was and somebody from Pitt needed to foul him hard at the end of the game. I responded with some harsher words (one f-word followed by a different f-word) but whatever. Just add him to the list with Gerry McNamara and Chris Quinn – certified Panther killers.

Please don’t bring up the argument that they were worn down by the Big East Tournament. I’m not buying that excuse at all. These are 18-22 year old kids in the best shape of their lives. Sure four games in four days was tough but it was a whole week ago. The game against Oral Roberts was so easy and boring that it was like a day off anyways.

It also would have been nice for them to win for the simple fact it would have given us something to write about for another week. Blogging the offseason sucks.

Billy Donovan is a graduate of Providence and a legend there. Of course, even if Providence could somehow match the money he makes as coach at Florida, he’s not taking their vacant coaching job.

Just as Ohio State coach Thad Matta left his alma mater, Butler for the Xavier job, alumni ties only matter when the gig is better than the one you have. If the jobs are equal, then then money has to be better.

I mention this because the TCU job is now open. It’s not a particularly good job to take. It’s in the Mountain West. It’s behind everyone in the Big 12 and the school doesn’t put a lot into the program.

That doesn’t stop the silly talk.

He needs to go June Jones on Pitt coach Jamie Dixon.

Full-court press him. Money-whip him. Beg him. Make him an offer he finds himself unable to refuse because he has never seen that big of a number in front of that many zeroes. You know and I know you can afford it, Danny.

Of course, you are probably thinking: Why would Dixon leave Pitt, currently a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, for TCU, even with a truckload of cash for an incentive?

He is an alum, for starters. And he’s a beloved alum at that, responsible for “The Shot Heard Around The Southwest Conference.”

Dixon also wanted this job back when former AD Eric Hyman hired Dougherty. Oops. Yes, even from South Carolina, Hyman has to want a mulligan on what ultimately has to be chalked up as a monumental screw up.

The other thing is there is something a bit fishy about the whole Pitt situation because word always seems to be leaking about how unhappy this coach or that coach is there.

This is not to say Dixon is unhappy or eagerly awaiting a call from his former school. To get him to listen, to get him to consider jumping from a Big East power into an obvious rebuilding situation is going to take a lot of selling. And a lot of money.

I always love that. The presumption that a program that hasn’t really cared in quite some time, and has never spent the money will just change it’s mind and it happens.

Beyond that silliness is a simple reality of contingency planning from Dixon’s side of things. As the columnist points out, Dixon is a “beloved alum.” Dixon has also established himself as a top coach. To go completely cynical, if things were to suddenly go completely wrong and downhill over the next several years and Dixon found himself unemployed. Don’t you think TCU would still be happy to get him? A proven coach with a trackrecord of success and an alum from one of their best teams in the past 30 years?
Even if TCU found themselves with a successful coach in the intervening years, the nature of the business means that one would be moving on anyways. TCU is merely vital fallback/insurance for Dixon.

I have been writing all day. Sadly, this bit of joy has been last on the list.

Ron Cook says this BET Championship is better than in 2003.

The 2003 championship was something special because of the way coach Ben Howland and guard Brandin Knight willed the Panthers to the title. But that Pitt team was much better during the season than this one. It was a No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and had to win three games — against Providence, Boston College and Connecticut — to cut down the nets.

Respectfully, this championship trumps that one.

The Pitt players showed so much toughness here that one New York columnist suggested they change the team name to Gritt. I like that. It fits.

“For whatever reason, I don’t think we were playing as aggressive as we needed to, say, 10 games ago,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “We were able to get back into it and do the things we do. We have just been more physical, more aggressive. We’re more like we normally are. More like Pitt.”

I’m not going that far, because they were such different animals.

I wish they had shown more of the celebration on ESPN. They damn well better on the Pitt weekly propaganda show.

Pitt raised the Big East trophy at center court for the second time and ended years of frustration in this game. The Panthers had lost the past two Big East championship games and had won only once (2003) in six previous appearances.

The players brought the trophy over to Pitt fans that had made their way near the court, and the Panthers passed the trophy around like the Stanley Cup, each one of them getting to enjoy a moment with the hardware in their hands.

The rapid turnaround of Pitt is also a big theme.

ust 13 days ago, Pitt players were ripping themselves after an embarrassing loss at West Virginia, talking about how they couldn’t guard anyone.

Last night, they were ripping down the nets at Madison Square Garden, under the prideful watch of coach Jamie Dixon.

“I could have sat there all day and just watched them,” Dixon said.

Thirteen days ago, the Panthers looked like a team that had lost its identity, a team that couldn’t rebound or stop opponents from scoring easy baskets.

Last night, they completed a stunning four-game run that saw them topple Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and Georgetown on successive nights.

The revival/reversal/turnaround was oft-repeated in the stories. NY papers loved to play the local angle.

“Levance Fields is a huge Giants fan and he came out and told the team, follow the Giants’ model,” said Pittsburgh guard Ronald Ramon of the Bronx, referring to the Panther point guard, who is a Brooklyn native. “They came out and played hard and came to win.”

The Panthers outworked and outhustled Georgetown, outrebounding the Hoyas by 41-29 and beating them in dives on the floor, loose balls corralled and the typical blue-collar nuances that have come to define Pittsburgh basketball.

The Giants’ comparison runs deep. The Panthers (26-9) had a solid but unspectacular regular season, just as the Giants did. Because Pittsburgh was only a No. 7 seed, it did not receive a bye and needed to win four games in four days. The Giants were a wild-card team and needed to win four games to win the Super Bowl. Georgetown (27-5) was not undefeated, as the Patriots were, but the Hoyas did enter the game a perfect 14-0 as a No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament.

Fields and New Jersey’s Brandin Knight, a former Pittsburgh star and now an assistant, hatched the analogy at the team hotel Friday night. Knight and Fields are the team’s resident Giants fans and got a laugh at recalling the similarities.

And the local players.

Fields is one of four local kids — along with forward Tyrell Biggs and guards Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin — who play major roles on this team, which may have earned a top-4 seed with this emotional victory.

Dick Weiss may have captured things in his local NY column.

“Without question, we’re New York’s team,” Fields said as he climbed down the ladder after helping cut down the net. “Nothing against St.John’s, but we have a lot of New York City kids and we win a lot, especially in New York.”

There are five players from the metropolitan area - Fields, Ramon, senior forward Tyrell Biggs, junior guard Keith Benjamin and freshman center Austin Wallace - on Pitt, and they acted as if they couldn’t care less that Georgetown was considered by many a favorite to win the national championship. This was for bragging rights in the neighborhood and the Panthers were not about to give the Hoyas the keys to the city.

Maybe that is what makes the Big East so special. It is tough, old-fashioned basketball, the way it is played on the playgrounds here, where winners stay on and losers go home. Seventh-seeded Pitt refused to leave, becoming only the second team to win four straight games in this tournament.

Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe was at the game, no doubt to see the Hoyas take the BET and be a potential #1 seed. Instead, he gave glowing press to Pitt.

The Panthers simply shrugged their shoulders and went to work, dispatching Cincinnati, Louisville, and Marquette to get their shot at top-seeded Georgetown, which had looked so good in its own march to the championship game that many of us were thinking they had an outside chance for a No. 1 seed, assuming the Hoyas could get by Pitt.

Well, they couldn’t. Georgetown is good and Georgetown is tough, but last night Pitt was better, and there is no doubt Pitt was tougher.

In beating Georgetown, another theme was that Pitt broke through after coming close.

In recent years, Pittsburgh had often reached this point of the conference tournament before faltering. They had won but one championship in six previous Big East title games this decade. Now that the Panthers have raised that record to 2-5, they can look to larger horizons.

First under the coaching of Ben Howland and now with Jamie Dixon for the last five seasons, they have often entered the N.C.A.A. tournament as a highly rated team, only to disappoint. They have made the Round of 16 four times in the past six seasons, but have not advanced beyond that.

And Pitt does seek to break that barrier as well.

“National championship teams haven’t done what we’ve done over seven years,” Dixon said. “But at the same time, that is our ultimate goal — and we don’t have problems discussing that — but it doesn’t take away from what we’ve done.”

Much attention goes to Coach Dixon for what this team has accomplished this season.

Since everybody’s talking about voting do-overs these days, would a re-vote for Big East coach of the year yield the same results?

Probably not.

It wouldn’t be Notre Dame’s Mike Brey. Not after what Jamie Dixon pulled off Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Really, what he’s pulled off after a bleak, injury-filled start.

…

Dixon’s a star now. He should be the Big East coach of the year.<

Pittsburgh fans, you really should believe this team is going places.

Whether it really does dismiss the doubters is a different issue.

If any doubt of Jamie Dixon’s coaching ability existed, it disappeared this week. If any part of his success was still being attributed to Ben Howland, it vanished Saturday.

Dixon’s fifth season as the Pitt Panthers’ coach has been his best. Better than the 31 wins of his first season. Better than the Sweet 16 of last season.

The Pitt Panthers are the Big East champions after Saturday’s 74-65 victory over No. 9 Georgetown. That’s a statement few could have imagined a few weeks ago.

For the better part of two months while dealing with injuries, Dixon kept the team together though its common thread was hanging by one. And now that the Panthers are primarily healthy, Dixon has the group believing and rolling heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Yet, Dixon does try to downplay and deflect getting through this season.

Drake coach Keno Davis is a natural for coach of the year consideration, what with his out-of-nowhere rise to prominence, but Dixon may have done something even more unprecedented. He used band-aids, gumption and stubborn conviction to win what is easily the most difficult league in the country.

“I think people try to make it more dramatic than it is,” Dixon said. “There’s all this talk. I was who I was and I wasn’t going to change. Any change the players would have been able to figure out and realized I wasn’t real. I tried to not make it as big a transition to me and to others and I’ll continue to downplay it.”

But if this team possesses anything, it is Dixon’s personality. Even the unassuming Young is a closet Dixon. He doesn’t say much about being irked by naysayers, but privately he collects press clippings in his locker and warehouses negative comments, building a private Rolodex of motivation.

A little longer to savor this, before stressing on the NCAA Tournament.