The Juan Dixon Era of Coppin State basketball appears to be over.
Coppin State has decided to part ways with Dixon, according to Stadium’s Jeff Goodman.
Dixon, a former All-American at Maryland and longtime NBA player, went 51-131 in six seasons at the helm of the Baltimore-based program. His team went 9-23 during the 2022-2023 season.
Juan Dixon took over the program in 2017-2018, winning five, eight and 11 games over his first three seasons at the helm. That 11 win mark during the 2019-2020 would represent the highest single season win total for Dixon at the program.
Ironically, the COVID-19 impacted 2020-2021 campaign was more successful despite the fact that Coppin State only one nine games. CSU went 8-4 in the MEAC and tied for the MEAC North Division title that season (the division model was only for one year) and advanced to the MEAC Tournament semifinals where it fell to crosstown rival Morgan State.
The following season Coppin State went 9-23, but managed to make it to the MEAC title game. It would fall short of a Cinderella NCAA Tournament bid, however, losing to Norfolk State.
Beyond his record, Dixon has faced scrutiny for his handling of a situation in which one of his former players accused a former member of his staff of sexually extorting him earlier in his tenure.
Now Coppin State will look to find a new head coach. Coppin State generates the lowest amount of revenue in all of Division I — $2.71 million in 2021 according to USA Today. Its last winning season came in 2010-2011 when it went 16-14 under legendary head coach Ronald “Fang” Mitchell.
There was a lot of hope when Dixon took over the program back in 2017, and there were a few moments which it looked like the program was ready to turn the corner. But it never happened and now Coppin State will have to see how to get the most bang for its precious dollars for its flagship program.
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