Basketball: Lee finalizes staff at UL

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • June 5, 2009

UL head men’s basketball coach Robert Lee finally found the right fit to complete his coaching staff for next season.

On Thursday, UL athletic director David Walker told theadvertiser.com that Lee has turned in letters of recommendation to hire former University of New Orleans assistant Nate Dixon and ex-Nicholls State forward and international coach James Williams.

That news came two weeks after theadvertiser.com reported that Dixon would join the Cajuns this summer, citing sources close to the program. Williams was one of Lee’s college teammates at Nicholls State.

"I’ve got a recommendation from Robert to appoint Nate Dixon and James Williams, and now I’ll forward the recommendation to (UL president) Dr. (Joseph) Savoie," Walker said. "If he approves it, the hires will be pending the University of Louisiana’s Board of Supervisor’s approval."

If approved, Dixon and Williams would officially start at UL on July 1, although they’re expected to be in Lafayette in two weeks. Both men were selected from a pool of more than 25 applicants for the openings, Lee said.

Dixon and Williams are set to replace assistants Byron Starks and Jai Steadman, both of whom turned in letters of resignation after the Cajuns went 10-20 last season. Both Starks and Steadman will remain on the staff until their 12-month appointments expire after June 30.

For the past two seasons Dixon has worked as an assistant and recruiting coordinator at UNO.

Before joining the Privateers, Dixon was an assistant for two years at UL Monroe. In 2006-07, the Warhawks won a share of the Sun Belt Conference West Division title. ULM signed 2007 All-Louisiana Newcomer of the Year Jonas Brown and all-conference guard Tony Hooper thanks to Dixon, a 1994 graduate of North Carolina-Wilmington who played three years at Gardner-Webb.

Dixon was once rated one of the top mid-major assistants in the country, according to Basketball Times and HoopScoop Online. Before going to ULM, Dixon was the assistant to University of Florida head coach Billy Donovan during the 2003-04 and ’04-05 seasons. The Gators later won national titles in 2006 and ’07.

"We definitely needed someone to head up our recruiting, and I felt that he had the ability to help us with that," Lee said of Dixon, a native of North Carolina. "Everybody I’ve talked to about Nate was impressed with his ability to relate with players throughout the recruiting process. I think he’s capable of doing a really good job for us."

Once the recruiting coordinator at Stetson, Dixon also served as an assistant at Queens (N.C.) College and Belmont Abbey College at the NCAA Division II level. At Stetson, he helped sign 2003 Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year E.J. Gordon, who left as the school’s No. 2 all-time leading scorer.

"Nate has a great basketball background, a tireless work ethic and is a major asset in our recruiting efforts," UNO coach Joe Pasternack said when Dixon was hired by the Privateers. "He was part of a great basketball staff at Louisiana-Monroe, and he has obviously learned from one of the best coaches in the country with Billy Donovan at Florida."

Williams played power forward for two years at Blinn (Texas) College before finishing his collegiate career at Nicholls State, where he was one of Lee’s teammates in 1987-88 and ’88-89.

After college, Williams played pro ball for six years in Portugal. The Texas native has coached in Austria since 2001 for the Basket Club of Vienna, including the past five years as the head coach.

"After going through the interview process, it came to me that we really needed someone that could better develop our inside players," Lee said. "Knowing James and being familiar with his personality, I felt that he would be the best guy for the job at this particular time to help with this upcoming season."