RALEIGH – NC State men’s basketball head coach Kevin Keatts announced Wednesday that Larry Dixon has joined his staff as an assistant coach.
Dixon comes to NC State after spending the last five seasons as an assistant coach at South Florida.
The NCAA Division I Board of Directors voted in January to allow two more assistant coaches on men’s basketball staffs. Dixon, will serve as one of the Pack’s two new assistant coaches that can engage in coaching activities but may not recruit off campus.
“I think Larry is a great addition to our staff,” Keatts said. “He’s a North Carolina native that has dedicated himself to a coaching career since graduating from college. He started at the high school level in North Carolina and eventually moved up to college and now has been a Division I assistant coach for almost 20 years. I think his experience is going to be a great asset for me and our coaching staff, as well as the young men in our program as we develop them on and off the court.”
Larry Dixon joined the USF coaching staff as assistant coach on May 12, 2018.
In just his second season with the team in 2018-19, Dixon helped USF to the top win turnaround in the NCAA during the 2018-19 season, as the Bulls won 14 more games than the previous season. In addition, USF turned in a 24-14 overall record to set a new single-season school record for wins. The Bulls would go on to win the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) championship and claim the program’s first postseason title since 1990.
Dixon also played an instrumental role in the development of 2019 American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year Laquincy Rideau and 2019 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year Alexis Yetna.
Dixon helped USF become one of the top defensive teams in the NCAA during the 2019-20 season, finishing the year ranked 20th in scoring defense by allowing only 62.7 points per game. The Bulls limited eight teams to fewer than 60 points during the season and held 27 of their 31 opponents under their scoring average at the time of play. The Bulls also ranked 44th in the nation in turnovers forced with 15.6 per game, and stood 65th in the NCAA in steals with 7.5 thefts per game.
In 2021-22, Dixon helped develop Russel Tchewa and Corey Walker Jr. into one of the best frontcourt tandems in the league. The Bulls were again among the top defensive teams in the country, ranking 45th in the NCAA in scoring defense (64.9 ppg).
Dixon came to Tampa after five seasons as an assistant at Georgia Southern under head coach Mark Byington. Prior to his stint with the Eagles, Dixon had collegiate assistant coaching jobs at Winthrop (2007-12), East Carolina (2005-07), South Carolina State (2003-05) and St. Andrews College (2002-03).
In his final season at Georgia Southern, Dixon helped lead the Eagles to a 21-12 record, including an 11-7 mark in the Sun Belt. In 2016-17, he helped Georgia Southern reach the postseason for the first time since 2006, playing in the College Basketball Invitational.
Prior to arriving at Georgia Southern, Dixon spent the 2012-13 season as head coach at York Comprehensive High School in York, S.C.
During his five seasons (2007-12) on the coaching staff at Winthrop under head coach Randy Peele, Dixon was recognized as the top assistant coach in the Big South by Fox Sports.
Before entering the college game, Dixon served as the head coach at Garinger High School in Charlotte, N.C. for three seasons. In 2001, he led Garinger to a North Carolina High School sectional championship and earned Mecklenburg County Coach of the Year honors from the Charlotte Observer. Dixon also spent one season as an assistant at Carver High School in Winston-Salem, N.C. and one season at South Rowan High School in his hometown of Salisbury, N.C.
Dixon graduated from Johnson C. Smith University (Charlotte, N.C) in 1996, where he was a four-year letterman as a player. He was named the team’s most improved player following his junior season and the top defensive player after his senior season. He helped the Golden Bulls to a pair of CIAA Southern Division titles and a championship game appearance as a sophomore.
A native of Salisbury, N.C., Dixon has two children, Devin and Leah.
“Gottfried will never be a defensive coach. He never has been and he never was supposed to be”
If this is true then we got half a coach. We should pay him half his salary. If he does like defense, then why did he not hire an assistant that did? There has always been two parts to the game. We got suckered.
Sorry, doesn’t like defense.
Well said. Good write up. I only hope Gott and leadership above him is thinking the same thing because this year feels like a broken record.
Time to get a new coach.
too little too late. this discussion should have happened after Creighton, or Illinois not 5 games into conference play.
And definitely after UNC….
Disagree on timing. Creighton is a top 10 team. We already had a hunch on that when we played. First real competition for a young team and they held their own for a majority of that game.
Illinois was first true road game. First time in hostile territory. That loss hurt, but shouldn’t have set off any alarms.
You’d hope those two losses would make the team aware of their defensive deficiencies…but 6 wins in a row after that covered up that need to change.
The loss to Miami was bad, and should have had the team back to reevaluating their approach. But then they came out and smoked VT.
The 51 pt loss to UNC was the first real wake-up call…
This loss should had them convinced they need to hunker down & get serious. about their flaws and work to fix them. BC was when panic should have set in, but you could argue it was that they were rebuilding their confidence and just came up short on the road..
Now the loss to GT is the final straw. This is now where you change course 100% and be real about your weaknesses. I guess we’ll see
Yes. I mentioned in a post, my inability as fan to see the world around me and make “decisions” based on everything in all directions, not just what’s in front. It’s hard, in season, not to become myopic a feel a sense of doom after a loss or or several. But it’s nice to see level headed responses to our situation. Like you said, “I guess we’ll see.”