Coppin State betting on Baltimore legend Juan Dixon to rebuild program (1682 hits)
One of Baltimore's favorite basketball sons is coming home and he's going to coach an HBCU. Juan Dixon, a Maryland legend and former NBA player, has been hired to take over as the coach at Coppin State, according to the Baltimore Sun.
The 38-year-old just finished his first season as a head coach at another HBCU, as he led the University of the District of Columbia to 3-25 record while playing with just nine players.
Dixon, who hails from West Baltimore, will take over a Coppin State team that went 25-69 under Michael Grant in three seasons. Grant's contract was not renewed following the season. Once one of the top HBCU basketball programs, Coppin has had just one winning season in its last 13.
Two HBCU basketball programs hired former NBA players last season with varying results. Lincoln (PA) went 7-20 under former pro point guard Doug Overton while Clark Atlanta won the SIAC under Darrell Walker. Coppin will be hoping for results that mirror the former rather than the latter.
Coppin officials say they'll have an announcement regarding it's men's basketball coach at a time and a date to be determined.
