Army Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson sought one of the nation's top young coaches and a fabulous recruiter when he scoured the country in search of the next person to lead the Black Knights' basketball program. Anderson delivered exactly that type of person this past October as he named Maggie Dixon as Army's new head women's basketball mentor.

Dixon, who served as an assistant coach at DePaul University for the past five years, became the Black Knights' seventh head coach in the history of intercollegiate women's basketball history at the United State Military Academy.

"I am extremely honored to be given the opportunity to coach at West Point and to be able to work with the quality of individuals that are in our program," Dixon said at the time of her hiring. "I'm very excited about coming to a program that has a foundation for success already in place, and I look forward to the challenges of bringing that success to another level.

"Being at DePaul, I've worked under one of the best head coaches in the country in Doug Bruno. He's taught me so much about the coaching profession and prepared me well for this opportunity. I feel that I'm ready to take over the reins of a program, and to be given this opportunity at Army is amazing."

One of the nation's most highly regarded young coaches, Dixon most recently served as head coach Doug Bruno's top assistant and recruiting coordinator, playing a large role in the Blue Demons' recent string of successes. DePaul has posted three consecutive 20-win seasons and earned three consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, reaching the tourney's second round twice. In that time, the Blue Demons registered a combined record of 72-22, which translates into an impressive winning percentage of .766.

DePaul enjoyed one of the finest seasons in school history last winter, closing the year with an overall record of 26-5. The Blue Demons notched a 13-1 league record en route to capturing the Conference USA championship and led the nation in both scoring (82.7 ppg.) and assists (19.16). It marked the second straight year that DePaul has led the country in scoring. The squad featured three All-Conference USA selections, the league "Freshman of the Year" and two Conference USA All-Freshman choices. In addition to starring on the hardwood, the Blue Demons excelled in the classroom, claiming Conference USA's Team Academic Award in women's basketball, presented annually to the squad in each sport with the league's highest cumulative grade-point average.

"We couldn't be more excited that Maggie Dixon has agreed to become our new women's basketball head coach," said Anderson. "We feel very strongly that she is the perfect choice to bring our program to the next level. In addition to displaying a very impressive basketball resume, we feel Maggie possesses all the qualities and characteristics we are looking for in a role model for our cadets."

"Maggie is widely regarded as one of the top young basketball minds in the country," Anderson continued. "She has been a valuable member of coach Bruno's staff at DePaul and helped build that program into a national power. Maggie has proven her ability to recruit nationally by attracting high-character individuals and highly skilled ballplayers to DePaul's program the past several years. We feel very fortunate that she has agreed to lead our women's basketball program."

A 1999 graduate of the University of San Diego, Dixon earned four varsity letters for the Toreros' basketball team. She played in 103 games during her USD career and served as team captain as a senior. She was voted San Diego's "Most Improved Player" following her junior year.

After graduating from San Diego with a bachelor's degree in history, Dixon landed a spot on Bruno's staff in May 2000 as director of basketball operations. After serving in that capacity during the 2000-01 campaign, the Los Angeles, Calif., native moved into an assistant's role during the summer of 2001. She added the title of recruiting coordinator the following May and was elevated to the position of Bruno's top assistant a year ago. The Blue Demons enjoyed a great deal of success throughout her tenure, reaching postseason play each of the five years she was at DePaul. She was responsible for helping to attract one of the nation's Top 10 recruiting classes to DePaul in 2004.

Throughout her career at San Diego, Dixon worked for a number of San Diego volunteer organizations. With the USD Student Outreach program, she traveled to local elementary schools to speak to students. Other volunteer work included the Junior Seau Foundation, Race for the Cure and the San Diego YMCA Senior Olympics. She is currently completing work on a master's degree from DePaul in educational leadership.

Coaching runs in the Dixon family as her brother, Jamie, currently serves as the head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of Pittsburgh. After serving as an assistant at the NCAA Division I level for 12 seasons, he assumed the reins of the Panthers' program in 2003-04, succeeding his former boss Ben Howland, who accepted the head job at UCLA.