Maryland basketball legend Juan Dixon will return to College Park as a head coach for the first time when the Coppin State men’s basketball team faces Maryland at 4 p.m. on Nov. 25, one day after Thanksgiving.
It will mark Coppin’s first game at Maryland since the Eagles defeated the Terps, 70-63, at Cole Field House on Dec. 12, 1989, still the only game the two programs have played. That was part of a 19-14 season for the Terps in Gary Williams’ first year at the helm. The Eagles went 26-7 overall (15-1 in the MEAC) and earned an NCAA Tournament appearance under the leadership of head coach Fang Mitchell and stars Phil Booth, Reggie Isaac and Larry Stewart.
Dixon played at Maryland from 1998-2002 and worked as a special assistant to Mark Turgeon from 2013-2016. Dixon led the program to its lone national championship in 2002, earning Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors following Maryland’s six-game run through the NCAA Tournament. He is also the leading scorer in Terps history (2,269 points).
After Turgeon and Maryland parted ways last December, Dixon was mentioned as a possible candidate to lead the Terps. But the job went to Kevin Willard, who reached out to Dixon and other former players after settling in.
“Coach Willard has done an unbelievable job reaching out to alumni, building relationships with the alumni, he and his staff,” Dixon said on Glenn Clark Radio Oct. 31. “When he got the job, they presented an opportunity for us to come back to College Park. I’m not going to lie to you guys, I had dreams of walking up and down those sidelines. I get an opportunity to do that.”
Scheduling Coppin State was a no-brainer for Willard, who sensed how important it was to Dixon to coach at Xfinity Center.
“The former players are what made this program. We’ve had unbelievable coaches … but the players are what sustain this program, all the great players that have come through here, and Juan is one of the best,” Willard said on GCR Nov. 4. “For him to have an opportunity to come and coach against his alma mater I thought was something that was very important to kind of show the former players that we’re here for them.”
Coppin is coming off a 9-23 season, though the Eagles’ overall records are often deceiving because of the nonconference schedules they’re forced to play to help fund the athletic department. Coppin went 6-8 in the MEAC and made a run to the conference tournament title game, falling to Norfolk State.
The Eagles should have one of the top backcourts in the MEAC in returner Nendah Tarke and Penn State transfer Sam Sessoms. Tarke averaged 13.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for Coppin last year, while Sessoms posted 11.6 points and 2.6 assists for Penn State. Sessoms scored 25 points in three games against Maryland during his two seasons with the Nittany Lions.
“I feel as though you have a point guard like Sam Sessoms that played in College Park for two straight years, had success there, he’s familiar,” Dixon said. “We have a leader that understands the approach he needs to take for us to be comfortable in that building. It’s not going to be easy. They have a very good ballclub. I’m sure Coach is going to have those guys ready to play at the start of the season.”
Coppin is in the midst of working through the early portion of its schedule before taking on Maryland, but make no mistake, Dixon is looking forward to coaching in College Park.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have that game circled, so I’m excited about that opportunity and I look forward to going back home,” Dixon said. “… I’m not looking past any opponent, but come the day after Thanksgiving, our team will be prepared to play a high-level basketball game. It’s that simple.”
See Also: Q&A With Coppin State Men’s Basketball’s Sam Sessoms
For more from Dixon, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Janelle Murphy/Coppin State Athletics