She’s still No. 1 in his thoughts (Good piece)

She’s still No. 1 in his thoughts (Good piece)

From Pittsburgh — He still talks to her.
He touches his reddened eyes, smiles softly, shakes his head, of course he still talks to her.
Late at night, driving home from the gym, traveling from recruit to recruit, the coach of the nation’s top-ranked college basketball team still talks to his younger sister.
She was also a basketball coach, remember? She once took a team to the NCAA tournament in the same year he did, remember?
There’s a lot they can still share. There’s a lot he can still learn.
Almost three years after the sudden death of Army women’s coach Maggie Dixon, in the quiet of his thoughts, Pittsburgh men’s Coach Jamie Dixon still talks to her.
“I always thought she’d be the first one to win a national championship,” he said. “Maybe now we can win one together.”

latimes.com
1/11/09