Louisville Officially Announces Hiring of Associate Head Coach Sean Dixon

Press Release from the University of Louisville:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville men’s basketball head coach Pat Kelsey announced the hiring of associate head coach Sean Dixon on Friday.

“Sean is the total package as a coach,” said Kelsey on the hire. “He is an outstanding teacher, game tactician, recruiter and relationship builder with a magnetic presence. Early in Sean’s career, when I was at Winthrop and he was at UNC Asheville, we had epic battles as the two top teams in the conference and bitter rivals. Sean, as the top assistant, played a major part in changing the college basketball landscape as UNC Asheville was a tide-turning example of mid-major stars transferring to and thriving at the Power Four level.”

“With Sean as the lead recruiter, six players in a four-year span left Asheville and went on to thrive at the high major level,” Kelsey continued. “It seemed the flood gates opened everywhere shortly thereafter. Dwayne Sutton to Louisville, Andrew Rowsey to Marquette, Dylan Smith to Arizona, MaCio Teague to Baylor and Jonathan Baehre to Clemson. Each year, I would be relieved when they lost one and then they would replace them with someone better. Billy Donlon, long time college coach, former Clemson associate head coach and new head coach at Eastern Michigan told me Sean is one of the best he’s ever worked with. Early in his career at Asheville and MTSU, his focus was on the offensive side and at Clemson he was on the defensive side. We are extremely fortunate to have him.”

“I’m ecstatic to join Coach Kelsey and his staff, and I’m thrilled to be a Louisville Cardinal,” said Dixon. “Louisville’s rich basketball tradition speaks for itself, and I have firsthand knowledge of just how intimidating the KFC Yum! Center is for opponents. Coach Kelsey has won at every stop of his career, and I’m excited to join the staff and help him continue to build a championship program.”

Dixon joins Louisville’s staff after four seasons at Clemson as an assistant coach. In his time with the Tigers, Clemson won 98 games including 55 victories in the ACC.

In the past two seasons, Clemson’s defensive efficiency has ranked in the top 25 in the nation, according to KenPom. The Tigers also made three appearances in the NCAA Tournament in Dixon’s time on staff, including a run to the Elite 8 in 2023-24.

Prior to his stop at Clemson, Dixon spent four seasons at Middle Tennessee under Nick McDevitt and the five seasons prior to that also under McDevitt at UNC Asheville.

In his final season with the Blue Raiders, Dixon assisted a 26-11 MTSU team that went 13-5 in Conference USA play. Middle Tennessee also claimed the regular season CUSA championship that year.

Dixon helped UNC Asheville claim three Big South trophies including a 2016 tournament title and two regular season titles in 2017 and 2018. In 2017-18, he served the program as the associate head coach in addition to the program’s recruiting coordinator.

Before joining McDevitt’s staff in Asheville, Dixon spent four years on the coaching staff at Presbyterian College where he played and graduated from.

Dixon was a two-time team captain over his four years at Presbyterian, earning Second Team All-SAC honors as a sophomore and First Team honors in his junior and senior seasons. He scored 1,106 points in his career.

As a player, Dixon helped the Blue Hose to back-to-back 20-win seasons. He graduated in 2007 with a degree in business administration and spent two years away from Clinton, S.C. before returning to the program as an assistant coach.

Dixon is married to his wife Tara and they have two children: daughter Kinsley and son Kyler.

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