Courtesy: Columbia University Athletics/Gene Boyars
Paul Nixon
Basketball - W
Head Coach
Courtesy: Columbia University Athletics
Release: 06/30/2006
Paul Nixon will begin his fifth year at the helm of Columbia women’s basketball in 2009-10 after one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2008-09.
The Lions finished the year with their most victories in a NCAA Division I season, and also boasted the second national statistical category leader in three years. After Brittany Carfora ‘08CC led the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.519) in 2006-07, rising junior Judie Lomax ‘11BC was the country’s top rebounder at 14.3 per contest.
For her efforts, Lomax was named to the All-Ivy League first team, joining a pair of other players in garnering all-conference status. Sara Yee ‘10SEAS took home the inaugural Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year award, while Danielle Browne ‘10BC was named honorable mention All-Ivy League.
Columbia posted a 7-7 Ivy League mark during the 2007-08 season, the best Ivy record since the Lions joined the league in women’s basketball in 1986-87. History was set in a number of ways in Nixon’s third season. Columbia won four straight Ivy League games from February 2-15, 2008, its longest winning streak within the league in program history.
Within that streak was a road sweep of Penn and Princeton on February 8-9, the first time Columbia has a swept a pair of league opponents away from Levien Gym.
Two Lions – Michele Gage ‘08CC and Danielle Browne ‘10BC earned second team All-Ivy League honors while Lauren Dwyer ‘11CC, a four-time Ivy League rookie of the week, earned a unanimous selection to the Ivy League’s All-Rookie team. The duo of Gage and Browne were the first pair of Columbians to earn All-Ivy League honors in the same season in seven years.
The Lions continued the program’s upward trend from the 2006-07 campaign, when Columbia improved its overall win total by two games from the prior season. Among a number of late-season highlights was a home sweep of Penn and Princeton, the first for the Lions since 2004.
In his four three seasons as the Lions’ head coach, Nixon has revamped the way Columbia has played basketball. His style of transition basketball and pressure defense is appealing both to women’s basketball fans and the players in the program.
“I am confident we have players who are assertive,” Nixon said. “And they will be confident to step up offensively when they have the opportunities. At the same time, we’re also going to continue to work hard on the defensive end, apply pressure and force our opponents into some mistakes.”
Nixon came to Columbia from Indiana University, where he served as assistant coach for the Hoosiers from 2002-05. His responsibilities included recruiting, game/bench strategy, scouting and individual player development. The Hoosiers’ 2003 recruiting class was ranked in the national Top 25. He also was charged with managing the team’s academic progress and coordinating alumni relations.
Prior to his tenure at Indiana, Nixon spent three years as an assistant at the University of Southern Mississippi. On the court, Nixon worked primarily with the post players and helped Southern Miss to the 2000 Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). His recruiting class that year also earned national accolades, ranked in the nation’s top 40.
Nixon spent two years as an assistant at the University of Nevada-Reno and four years in a similar position at Marshall University. While at Nevada, he recruited Kate Smith, the 1999-2000 Big West Freshman of the Year, and the 1997-98 team posted the best record in the school’s history. During his four seasons at Marshall, he recruited two Southern Conference Freshmen of the Year; the 1996-97 team won the Southern Conference Championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
As a student at Vanderbilt, Nixon was a volunteer assistant with the women’s team from 1991-93 and a manager for the men’s basketball team all four seasons, eventually being named head manager. During his time with the Commodores, the men’s team won the NIT, reached the NCAA tournament twice, including the Sweet Sixteen in 1993, and was the Southeastern Conference Champion the same year under Eddie Fogler, the 1993 National Coach of the Year.
Nixon graduated from Vanderbilt in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies. He received a master of science in health, physical education and recreation from Marshall in 1996.
Nixon prepped at Tattnall Square Academy in Macon, Ga., where he was a three-year letterwinner in basketball and was his class valedictorian. During his senior season, he was named team captain and the team’s most valuable player. He earned GISA all-state honors in basketball. A three-sport athlete, Nixon also lettered in soccer and track. He helped his track team win the 1989 GISA AAA state championship.
Courtesy: Columbia University Athletics/Gene Boyars
