The confidence seems to ooze out of every pore. It is not cockiness or arrogance -- just the feeling that, regardless of the situation, he can take care of the job at hand. Juan Dixon has been like this as long as anyone can remember.
Even after spending his freshman season at Maryland backing up Steve Francis, Dixon's self-belief never wavered. Having averaged 14.9 minutes per game that season, Dixon felt he was missing one key thing: braces.
Juan Dixon leads top-seeded Maryland in this week's ACC tournament. Dixon needs 69 points to pass Len Bias as the school's career leading scorer.
(Phil Coale - AP)
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"Aunt Janice, I plan on doing well here," he retold the story. "I'm going to need a nice smile so I can smile in pictures and interviews."
Spending 1 1/2 years as a metal mouth ended up being a good investment. Now a three-time all-ACC player and first-team all-American, Dixon is the most sought-after Maryland player by fans seeking autographs and pictures. The line of fans sometimes seems to never end, parents asking Dixon to pose for a picture with a child followed by adults asking for Dixon's carefully scripted cursive signature, with the "#3" neatly tucked inside.
"It's crazy," said Dixon, who will lead top-seeded Maryland in this week's ACC tournament. "I haven't really had a chance to think about it. I never imagined it would be like this. This is what comes with fame, I guess.
"I must have touched a lot of people's lives. Hopefully I can continue to do that. [The attention] is what comes with the territory if you're a known athlete. You are going to have to pay your dues. I guess this is a part of paying your dues."
While he stands out in a crowd, in many respects Dixon is a typical college student. He often stays up until 1:30 or 2 a.m., watching television or movies or playing video games; his buddy Mel sometimes comes down from Baltimore to hang out.
Dixon likes nice clothes and, oh, does like shoes. He has a collection of red-and-white high-tops from over the years and, by his count, eight pairs of Kenneth Cole dress shoes.
"I like shoes," he said, smiling. "I love shoes."
He even has a pair of black basketball shoes that he finds most comfortable but cannot wear in games because Terrapins Coach Gary Williams won't let his players wear black shoes. "He says they make you look slow," Dixon said.
Dixon is anything but slow. He led the ACC in steals for the third consecutive season and ranks second in school history and 17th in NCAA history with 319 career steals.
Dixon is lightning quick, but patient enough to wait for his chances. No one associated with Maryland's program forgets the time this season when Dixon tailed Georgia Tech point guard Tony Akins nearly half the length of the court, waiting for Akins to switch dribbling hands so Dixon could make the steal.
Similarly, Williams will remember for a long time just what Dixon did next. With the Terrapins leading by two points, Dixon went for the kill. He took a few quick dribbles just across midcourt, then threw a long alley-oop pass to teammate Chris Wilcox, who slammed the ball through the rim. Game over.
Plays such as that -- and the knowledge of when to take risks -- have many Maryland observers wondering whether Dixon will be named ACC player of the year when the award is given out next week. Dixon is comparable to the other leading contender -- Duke guard Jason Williams -- in nearly every statistical category.
Among ACC players, Dixon is second in scoring (19.5 points per game), first in freethrow percentage (.908), 11th in fieldgoal percentage (.455), 13th in assists (2.8 per game), seventh in three-pointers (2.4 per game) and eighth in three-point percentage (.369). And, Gary Williams points out, Dixon led a team that won the conference regular season title by two games.
"We won the championship," Williams said yesterday when asked about the award, "so I think Juan deserves it."
Dixon started his postseason award collection this week, joining John Lucas as the only Maryland players named first-team all-ACC for three seasons. He was named first-team all-American by two organizations and likely will be a consensus pick. His accomplishments are impressive, especially for a player of whom little was expected.
Dixon arrived at Maryland having been raised by his brother and other family members after the deaths of his parents, who had contracted AIDS.
Dixon needs 69 points to pass Len Bias as the school's career leading scorer. His No. 3 hangs from the rafters of Cole Field House. He likely will be taken in the first round of the NBA draft in June.
"Every time someone thinks he can't do something, he goes out and does it," teammate Drew Nicholas said, shrugging his shoulders. "I didn't think he was that good when I first got here."
Huh?
"It was just that he never really had any reputation," Nicholas explained. "Especially his freshman year, because Steve [Francis] and all those guys were around. Coming in, even just looking at him, you're not going to think he's a finalist for national player of the year."
One of the keys, according to Williams, has been Dixon's resiliency.
"I haven't been able to scare Juan," Williams said. "You usually are able to scare some guys. You've got to yell at him sometimes. The thing with Juan is you never have to try to get him up, but every once in a while you have to try to get him down. Whatever I say, he doesn't take personally and he comes right back at you."
In that regard, Dixon is different from many players in that he seems to know just how to deal with his fiery coach. Dixon also is an unusual college student -- he does not sleep late. He almost never sleeps past 9 a.m. No matter how tired he is, he never takes naps. "I feel like I'm missing something," he said. And he is incredibly tidy, earning the nickname "neat freak" from his roommates.
Pledge, Windex and a variety of other cleaning supplies are in each of the apartment's three bathrooms and under the kitchen sink. Dixon's stock, though, is a little deeper, said guard Earl Badu, who shares the four-bedroom apartment with Dixon, Nicholas and one of the team's managers, Brian Cavanaugh.
"When something new comes on the market that you see on TV," Badu said, "two days later I go under the sink and that thing is under the sink."
Told of his reputation, Dixon did not deny it.
"This is me," Dixon said. "Neat and organized."
He also is mature enough to be able to make suggestions to Williams, such as putting the 6-foot-10 Wilcox on Duke's Mike Dunleavy in the team's most recent game. When Virginia was rallying to beat Duke last week and give Maryland the ACC regular season title, Williams and Dixon were talking on the phone, watching the game together.
"You don't get too many situations like that with a player," Williams said. "I've just respected Juan for Juan. He's handled the publicity. Nobody has gotten more attention than Juan. Every day to have to do the interview and TV thing, yeah, it's nice, but it gets very tiring for a player. And he's still [23] years old. He still wants to have fun."
Dixon hopes the fun continues in Atlanta, site of this season's Final Four. He also wants a chance to think about the memories of the past few seasons
"I just want to enjoy this last month of my college career," Dixon said. "Everything has happened so fast for me. I barely got a chance to sit back and just think about it and put everything in perspective. It's almost over already. I can remember the first day I got here."
