UCLA's Howland Is Mentor To His Pupil, Pitt Coach Dixon

(By Paul Sakuma -- Associated Press)

SAN JOSE, March 21 -- A few years ago, when Ben Howland was the coach at Pittsburgh, he traveled home to Santa Barbara, Calif., to be with his ailing father and left the coaching duties to assistant Jamie Dixon. Howland watched the Panthers play at then-No. 9 Syracuse on television from a restaurant. Despite being an entire continent away, when Howland reacted to the images on the screen, his assistant coach responded.

"Okay, Jamie, you've got to call timeout," Howland said. Within seconds, Dixon called timeout. "Okay, we've got to get so-and-so back in the game," Howland said. Within seconds, Dixon made the switch. "So-and-so is killing us on defense; you've got to get him out of there," Howland said. Within seconds, Dixon pulled the player.

"You would have thought they were wearing headphones, talking to one another like football coaches," former Pittsburgh athletic director Steve Pederson said. "That's how in sync they were with one another. And that's what makes this especially unique."

Howland and Dixon formed their bond over two decades as colleagues, then best friends. They cut their teeth in the coaching profession together, revived a moribund program at Northern Arizona and later did the same at Pittsburgh.

When Howland's second-seeded UCLA Bruins face Dixon's third-seeded Pittsburgh Panthers in the West Region semifinals Thursday night, the basketball soul mates will face off for the first time.

"I think it's inevitable it was going to happen," said Dixon, who took over three years ago, after Howland left for Westwood.

Dixon, whom Howland first saw as a player while recruiting as an assistant at UC-Santa Barbara, played professionally in Europe until a frightening collision with an opposing player nearly killed him and ruptured his spleen. Dixon was laid up for nearly three months, and he used the time to think about his future. He soon joined Howland on Jerry Pimm's staff at UC-Santa Barbara.

When Howland caught his first head coaching break at Northern Arizona in 1994, he persuaded Dixon to join the staff. The two immediately hit the road together with a shoestring budget, staying with Dixon's parents during Southern California recruiting trips. After two seasons in Flagstaff, Ariz., the Lumberjacks went from afterthoughts to winners of at least 20 games three seasons in a row.

Howland's work at Northern Arizona caught the attention of Pederson, who wanted to revive Pittsburgh's ailing basketball program.

Pederson hired Howland in 1999, and the ink was still drying on the new coach's contract when he submitted demand No. 1 -- luring Dixon, then on the staff at Hawaii, to Pittsburgh.

"That was one of the greatest recruiting jobs of all time," Howland said.

The relationship grew to another level in Pittsburgh. As the Panthers flourished on the court, Howland and Dixon grew even closer. Most importantly, their families became intertwined, a link that still exists today.

When Jamie's sister, Maggie Dixon, died suddenly 11 months ago, the Dixon family asked Howland to serve as a pallbearer.

"It really meant a lot," Howland said. "I was touched by that."

When Howland left Pittsburgh, his daughter Meredith remained at the university as a student. She babysat Dixon's two children and is still a frequent visitor to Dixon's home, where she uses the coach's satellite dish to catch UCLA games.

"It's obvious we're very close," Dixon said. "But our families are even closer. . . . It's about a friendship more so than a basketball business relationship. I think it's a family friendship, two guys that have been there through some difficult times in recent years between the both of us. We've both been there for each other."