If everything works out as planned, Amherst coach David Hixon will climb down from the winner’s podium following the Division III championship game at Philips Arena, get into a rental car and he and his dad will drive to Augusta for Monday’s practice round at the Masters.
This will be Hixon’s third time competing for a national title, but it will be the first time he and his dad, Wil, make it to Augusta National.
It’s hard to tell which event Hixon is more excited about: a possible national title or giving the one and only thing he knows is on his 84-year-old father’s bucket list.
“It’s funny how everything is coming together,” he said. “Every once in a while, you get that.”
Amherst will play Mary Hardin-Baylor on Sunday in the first of three championship games in the city. Just like obtaining the Masters tickets, which Hixon said came from a friend of a friend of a friend after his dad mentioned last year that he wanted to go, things have worked out for Amherst this year.
The Lord Jeffs started 5-0 before losing two of their next three games. Hixon said the second loss, an eight-point defeat to Babson, was a disaster.
“We weren’t very good,” he said.
The seniors held a meeting where Hixon said they reflected on their freshmen season, when they went 14-11 and failed to make the NCAA tournament for the first time in 11 seasons.
The Lord Jeffs rebounded to win their next game over Brandeis and haven’t lost since, a stretch of 23 games that has tied a school record. Amherst has reached championship game for the third time in seven years.
“This has been a really interesting team,” Hixon said. “To watch our three seniors … (I) wasn’t sure if they made the connection with what captains need to do. It’s an amazing story with leadership and selflessness and what they’ve taught.”
Their story would reflect their coach, who has been at Amherst as a player, assistant or coach for 42 years.
Hixon grew up in Massachusetts and played for his father at Andover High School. At Amherst, where his classmates studied business, law or both, Hixon already knew wanted to coach. After graduation, he applied for a fellowship at nearby University of Massachusetts, while he served as a volunteer coach at Amherst.
When Amherst had a coaching change in 1977, Hixon was told he should apply. Seven candidates were interviewed and he said the others were more qualified. But he made the cut when the field was reduced to three and he began to really consider the opportunity.
Just 24 at the time, Hixon was not only named Amherst’s head basketball coach, but was also asked to help coach soccer, a sport he never played, as well as track and field. He set a goal of staying five years and would then figure out his next move.
“One year became the next …” he said.
He married — his wife Mandy is the diving coach at Massachusetts — and they had two boys, Matthew and Michael. It was coaching family, Hixon changing diapers while breaking down game film. The team bus rides would include the kids.
Now grown up, Michael is going to be a diver at Texas and Matthew studied film and theater at Wesleyan.
Hixon kept winning, his career record now 692-253 with 15 NCAA tournament appearances. He has had opportunities to leave Amherst, which has an enrollment of less than 2,000. One offer resulted in a conversation with his dad.
By the end of that one, Hixon had decided that he wanted to stay at Amherst, prompting his dad to ask, “So what’d you need my advice for?”
“So here we are,” David Hixon said. “I love the types of kids we get to work with here. The level of basketball is fun. It’s good, you can really coach.
“It’s been an interesting ride for me.”
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