PSR Showdown
Who Would You Rather Have Coaching Your Basketball Program:
Jamie Dixon or Bob Huggins?
By Joe DeStio
ESPN Radio 1250

Jamie

You're asking me to choose between Jamie Dixon and Bob Huggins? Took me five seconds. Do I want a coach who has been on probation, has been sanctioned by the NCAA, and whose D.U.I arrest managed to get him forced out at a school where he won more than 70 percent of his games? That may have been Huggins' toughest accomplishment.

Dixon has had some tough accomplishments too. Like helping to turn a perennial loser into one of the winningest programs in the nation and keeping it that way. Like the style and grace with which he handled the tragic death of his sister Maggie and has constructed a basketball tournament in her name that honors all that's right with college athletics.

Now, Huggins and Dixon are both winners … I'm looking at HOW they win.

Dixon is the first Pitt coach to make four straight NCAA appearances - in each of his four seasons no less. Huggins, who has coached longer, has more Tournament games - one of which he was thrown out of.

I'm looking at how they recruit. Dixon finds diamonds in the rough and turns them into gems. A lot of Huggins' kids are just rough.

Huggins bailed on Kansas State after one season for the chance to coach at his alma mater. But if my team isn't West Virginia, how long can I count on him to stay? Dixon turned down offers from Arizona State and Missouri last year to remain at Pitt.

We all know Dixon has failed to make it past the Sweet 16. He fails to get enough four or five star recruits. But in 16 years at Cincinnati, Huggins made exactly one Final Four. And while he's one of the best recruiters in the country, he's also lost scholarships to sanctions. Dixon is still young, still learning; his best games are ahead of him. Huggins' last stand is at West Virginia, where we can only wish him and the administration well.

Joe DeStio is a sports anchor for ESPN Radio in Pittsburgh.