David Hixon (born December 3, 1952) is a retired American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

head coach who spent 42 years coaching

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

. As head coach, he transformed the Amherst men's basketball program into one of the best in the nation. He was inducted into the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 and into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

in 2023.

Playing career

The

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

native was a member of the Amherst College men's basketball team while studying

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. He graduated in 1975. His father, Wil Hixon, was a basketball coach at the high school level, best known for his stint at Andover High School where he also coached his son. Father and son won a state championship in 1970. Both were inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Coaching career

Following his playing days, Hixon earned a master's degree from the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

and volunteered in coaching (basketball, track & field, football) at Amherst. Hixon was hired as Amherst head coach in 1977 at only 24 years of age. Until his retirement, he compiled a coaching record of 826-293, ranking him 15th in NCAA men's basketball when he retired in April 2020. He had a winning percentage of .738, good for a 10th place in NCAA Division III history, at the time of his retirement. He was named NABC NCAA Division III Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2013. Hixon's Amherst teams won national championships in 2006-07 and 2012-13. In 2008, he reached the national championship game with his squad, where they suffered defeat to Washington (MO). In 2004, 2006, 2014, 2016, he led Amherst to the national semifinals. Under his tutelage, Amherst participated in the NCAA national tournament 20 times and compiled a 43-20 postseason record. However, due to New England Small Conference Athletic Conference (NESCAC) rules, his Amherst team was ineligible for NCAA postseason play until 1994. He took on arch rival

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

21 times during his coaching career, winning 17. Hixon also coached soccer and track at Amherst. On May 7, 2022, the floor at Amherst's LeFrak Gymnasium was named Hixon Court.

Retirement

On September 16, 2019 it was announced that Hixon would be taking a leave of absence for the 2019-2020 season, and that assistant coach Aaron Toomey would be the interim head coach. On April 13, 2020 Hixon announced his retirement. In April 2023, it was published that he was elected into the

. Hixon was the first coach of an NCAA Division III institution to be inducted.

Legacy

Several of Hixon's players went on to play professionally, including players like: * Andrew Olson (played in Germany; All-American in 2007 and 2008) *

Willy Workman Willy Workman ( he, וילי וורקמן; born March 14, 1990) is an American-Israeli professional basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball at Amherst. Workman holds dual-Ame ...

(plays in Israel; All-American in 2013) * Kevin Hopkins (played in Germany) * Fletcher Walters (played in Germany and Luxemburg) * Pat Fitzsimmons (played in Germany and Ireland) * Brian Baskauskas (played in Denmark; All-American in 2009) Other standout players of his Amherst tenure include * Aaron Toomey (2014 D3hoops.com NCAA Division III Player of the Year, also All-American in 2012 and 2013) * John Bedford (2006 All-American) * Andrew Schiel (2005 All-American) * Steve Zieja (2003 All-American) * Jamal Wilson (1997 All-American) * Conor Meehan (2011 All-American) * Jordan Moss (2011 All-American) Throughout his coaching career, Hixon received interest from NCAA Division I schools, especially from the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

. In 2008, he was a candidate to become the new head coach of

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...

. Hixon declined the offer, but suggested

Dave Paulsen Dave Paulsen (born September 14, 1964) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach at College of the Holy Cross, Holy Cross. Previously, he was the head men's basketball coach at George Mason University in Fairfax, Vir ...

of Amherst's rival Williams College as a candidate. Paulsen eventually ended up getting the Bucknell job.

Family

His wife Mandy, a member of the United States International Diving Team from 1980 to 1984, served as diving coach at Amherst College, Williams College and the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

. She was also an assistant Professor of Physical Education, Coordinator of Aquatics, assistant Director of Intramurals and assistant coach of field hockey, lacrosse and tennis. The couple's first son Matthew is a

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, their younger son

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won silver medals at the

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and

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diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

References