Coaches Clinic Has Star Power
By RICK THORP

Wheeling, WV, Sept. 27, 2009--- As an assistant men's basketball at UC-Santa Barbara in the early 1990s, Jamie Dixon remembers watching Jerry Tarkanian's powerful UNLV squads.

The Runnin' Rebels were a force like no other in the late 1980s and early 1990s, advancing to three Final Fours (1987, 90, 91) and capturing one championship (1990).

''They used to have a clinic out in Las Vegas that everyone went to,'' Dixon recalled. ''A lot of the principals he taught we used at Santa Barbara.''

Sunday, Dixon and the coach he admired from afar nearly 20 years ago crossed paths at the 8th annual Basketball Coaches Clinic at Wheeling Jesuit University presented by the OVAC and Wheeling Hospital's Urologic Research Institute and sponsored by Shirts 'N More.

Also on the faculty were retired Temple University coach and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer John Chaney, Davidson College mentor Bob McKillop, St. Frances Academy coach Mark Karcher and WJU's own Danny Sancomb.

"We were excited to have the quality of coaches, John Chaney, Jerry Tarkanian, Bob Mckillop, Jamie Dixon, and Mark Karcher, to attend the clinic and speak about the game of basketball," Sancomb said.

Generations of coaching greatness filled the McDonough Center and Dixon, who is entering his seventh season on the men's bench at Pitt, was honored to be on a program with coaching icons Chaney and Tarkanian.

''It's a privilege to be part of a clinic with two legendary guys like that,'' Dixon said prior to taking the floor. ''Some of the things I like to talk about defensively reflect Tark's principals. He was well-known for what his team's did on defense.''

Dixon stood in awe watching Chaney's talk. Even though he is one of the most successful young coaches in the country, Dixon doesn't shy away from learning new things.

''I continue to attend clinics,'' he said. ''I think as coaches we always need to have a willingness and desire to improve.''

Dixon tries to attend an NBA training camp each fall.

Next week, he'll fly to San Antonio to watch Gregg Popovich's Spurs open preseason workouts.

''Sometimes, you'll learn another term that maybe does a better job of explaining something to a player,'' Dixon said.

San Antonio, albeit short, was Tarkanian's lone NBA stop as a coach. ''Tark the Shark'' looked up to another coach as a mentor - the late Pete Newell.

''He was so far ahead of everyone else in the game,'' said Tarkanian, who also coached at Long Beach State and Fresno State. ''I loved the way his team played and his philosophy. I just thought he got the most out of his teams.''

Sunday's event was especially sweet for Karcher, who played for Chaney at Temple. A former second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia 76ers, Karcher credits the life he has today to Chaney.

''Coach means everything to me,'' he said. ''For me, being around him as a player, I learned so many life skills.

''Coaching now, I tell a lot of stories about my days with coach and how he mentally prepared me, not necessarily for basketball, but for life.

''It wasn't all about X's and O's.''

Karcher has no desire to coach at the collegiate or professional level. He's comfortable at the prep level. And that suits Chaney just fine.

''To see him come full circle and coach at the same high school he entered in ... that's a dream come true for most of us,'' Chaney said. ''I'm very proud of him.''

Chaney, too, started out at the prep level at Philadelphia's Simon-Gratz High School. He doesn't remember attending too many clinics as a young coach. He simply applied his teaching methods to the hardwood.

''Teaching comes out of the teaching field,'' he said. ''Repetition, making sure you develop a set of rules you follow.''

Chaney did have his coaching mentors. He travelled to hear UCLA coach John Wooden speak while he was coaching at NCAA Division II Cheyney State, along with Cheyney's women's coach at the time, C. Vivian Stringer.

Chaney and Stringer developed a strong friendship during their days at the Pennsylvania school. So much so that Stringer asked Chaney to present her for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this month.

Chaney was unable to present Stringer because his flight to metro Boston was delayed by weather, but was able to make the ceremony prior to its conclusion. He did whatever it took to honor his friend.

''She is a special person in so many ways,'' Chaney said of Stringer, who he would like to see at next year's clinic. ''She had to go through so many obstacles.''

It's that commitment to friends and the youth of the nation that Dr. Gregory Merrick, one of the organizers of Sunday's event, made Chaney a perfect presenter.

''When you're successful, you have a huge obligation to give back,'' Merrick said. ''Nobody's done that better than Coach Chaney.

''He always reaches out to come back here and help us and he was helping to raise money for a hospital (Saturday) before heading here.

''He's an American treasure. I love him and I'm glad he was here.''