The Maggie Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year Award is an award given annually since 2007 to the head coach in women's college basketball in the NCAA Division I competition who achieves great success in their first year as a Division I head coach. Given by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, the award is named for former women's head coach Maggie Dixon, who coached at Army for the 2005–06 season before suddenly dying due to valve complications from an enlarged heart. Dixon had been named head coach just 11 days before the start of the season but led the Black Knights to a 20–11 record and won the Patriot League tournament championship. It was Army's first basketball team, men or women, to play in the NCAA Tournament. Although Army would lose in the first round to Tennessee, Dixon was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year and received much praise from the college basketball community for her coaching job in just her first season. On April 6, 2006, Dixon died at the age of 28 of what her brother Jamie Dixon, then head men's basketball coach at Pittsburgh, described as an "arrhythmic episode to her heart."
Definition of "rookie" The WBCA defines a "rookie" coach as being in the coach's first season as a Division I head coach. However, coaches at programs that have transitioned to Division I are not eligible for the award if they served as head coach at that school before the start of the transition. Coaches who move to Division I from any coaching position with a professional team are not eligible, and interim head coaches are also ineligible.
Winners Awarded the Naismith College Coach of the Year the same season YearCoachSchoolRecord Reference 2006–07 Hofstra 2007–08 Louisville 2008–09 Ball State 2009–10 Louisiana Tech 2010–11 Illinois State 2011–12 High Point 2012–13 Tennessee 2013–14 Iona 2014–15 Gonzaga 2015–16 Georgia 2016–17 Dayton 2017–18 Belmont 2018–19 Southern 2019–20 Missouri State 2020–21 Kentucky 2021–22 Florida 2022–23 Chattanooga 2023–24 Marshall 2024–25 Iowa 2025–26 Army
Winners by school SchoolWinnersYearsArmy1 2026Ball State 2009Belmont 2018 Chattanooga 2023Dayton 2017Florida 2022Georgia 2016Gonzaga 2015High Point 2012Hofstra 2007Illinois State 2011Iona 2014Iowa 2025Kentucky 2021Louisiana Tech 2010Louisville 2008Marshall 2024 Missouri State 2020 Southern 2019Tennessee 2013
Gallery
References
External links Maggie Dixon Award webpage. Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) official website