Nate Dixon joined the Utah State men’s basketball staff as an assistant coach in April, 2021, and enters his second season with the Aggies in 2022-23.
As the primary coach for Utah State’s bigs in 2021-22, Dixon helped mentor seniors Justin Bean and Brandon Horvath to all-Mountain West honors as Bean was a second-team selection, while Horvath was a third-team pick. Bean was also a two-time MW Player of the Week honoree and named the MVP of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
Dixon arrived in Logan after serving as Odom’s lead assistant coach for five years at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). With the Retrievers, Dixon helped the squad to the America East Conference regular season title in 2020-21 along with three-straight 20-plus win seasons at UMBC. Dixon was also a member of the coaching staff that mentored UMBC to an NCAA Tournament victory in 2018, upsetting top-seeded Virginia as a No. 16 seed, the first No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed in tournament history.
During his tenure with UMBC, Dixon helped coach four all-conference selections, including K.J. Maura, a two-time America East all-defensive team member and the 2018 America East Defensive Player of the Year. In July, Dixon was named one of the top five assistant coaches in the America East Conference by Stadium.
Dixon was also a member of Odom’s staff at Lenoir-Rhyne, serving as the associate head coach and helping the Bears to the NCAA Division II Regional Finals for the first time in school history. Lenoir-Rhyne finished the year 21-10, improving by 10.5 games from the previous campaign. Lenoir-Rhyne also led the nation in 3-point field goals made per game (12.4) and finished ninth in the country in scoring at 90.1 points per game.
Dixon first crossed paths with Odom at Charlotte, where he served as the teams’ technology and scouting assistant for four seasons.
Dixon’s resume also includes stops at Wyoming (2010-11), Louisiana-Lafayette (2009-10), New Orleans (2007-09), Louisiana-Monroe (2005-07), Florida (2003-05) and Stetson (2001-03), along with Division II schools Queens (1998-2000) and Belmont Abbey (1997-98).
Dixon has cultivated success at every stop as he has been a part of six conference championship teams - regular season and postseason combined - and helped lead four teams to the NCAA Tournament (two at Division I and two at Division II). Dixon has also been rated as one of the top mid-major assistants by both Basketball Times and HoopScoop Online and has also served on the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ (NABC) Board of Directors from 1998 to 2001 and again for a second stint from 2016 to the present day.
Dixon has been selected to participate in the prestigious 2020 TopConnect Virtual Seminar. TopConnect (formerly Villa 7) originated in 2003 by then VCU Athletic Director Dr. Richard Sander, identifies the top basketball assistant coaches in the country, and connects them with mid-major Athletic Directors providing tremendous networking opportunities for both parties. He also participated in 2018 and 2019.
The native of Sparta, North Carolina, played one year at LaGrange (Ga.) and two seasons at Gardner-Webb in addition to three summers with the Jersey Shore Pro-Am. He graduated from UNC Wilmington in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in communications.
Dixon and his wife, the former Kristin Fabrizio, have two sons, Walker and Hunter.