“The ultimate reward.”
That’s how David Hixon ’75—who, in four decades as Amherst’s men’s basketball coach, won two national championships, notched 826 wins and was twice named national coach of the year—described the experience of becoming the first Division III men’s basketball coach enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Widely considered the game’s highest honor, induction is generally reserved for NBA, WNBA and college basketball’s greatest coaches and players—names like Jordan, Bird, and Abdul-Jabbar. But on Aug. 12, in front of a crowd of thousands at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Mass., and an international television audience, it was Hixon’s turn.
“I am extremely proud to represent Amherst College, our conference, and all of Division III,” Hixon said after receiving his ceremonial orange jacket. “For me to be inducted with this very special class is beyond incredible and very humbling.”
Joining him in this year’s class were NBA greats Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Dwayne Wade; five-time NBA champion Greg Popovich; the late Jim Valvano, legendary coach at North Carolina State; and the pathbreaking WNBA player and San Antonio Spurs coach Becky Hammon. Inductees are selected through a rigorous nomination process overseen by members of the Hall of Fame, team executives and the media.
As he took the stage, Hixon joked to the crowd that he was worried about the reception he would receive alongside some of the greatest stars in basketball history. “I said to my wife after being named a finalist that if I were to be inducted it would sound like we were at an owl convention with most folks saying, WHO, WHO?”
If the introductions by fellow Hall of Fame coaches John Calipari and Jim Calhoun or the rousing reception Hixon received were any indication, he belongs in this star-studded company.
“When I walked into UMass-Amherst in the late ‘80s, the first person I talked to was Dave Hixon. He couldn’t have been a better resource or better friend for a young coach taking over a struggling program,” said Calipari, the current head coach at the University of Kentucky and three-time national coach of the year. “Dave did everything the right way, from how he coached and ran camps to how he was in the community…I couldn’t be happier to stand with him.”
Dozens of Hixon’s former players and colleagues were on hand for the induction, representing an Amherst basketball community a half-century in the making. He told them that sharing the celebration with his basketball family was a true highlight.
“The friendships, bonds, lifelong relationships and family that we created over those years and the successes that we achieved were so much more than I could have imagined or even asked for,” he said.
What about that ultimate reward—enshrinement in the Hall of Fame? Even better.
“My story is a 50-year love affair that took place only 30 miles from here at a highly selective academic small college,” said Hixon. “To have that life work honored at the highest level, to be enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, to be among my heroes and the gods of the game, this is more than anyone could ever want from one’s chosen life endeavor.”