Jack Grubbs - The Legacy of Maggie Dixon: A Leader on the Court and in Life

The Legacy of Maggie Dixon

The Legacy of Maggie Dixon

A Leader on the Court and in Life

Jack Grubbs

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Published by Rowman & Littlefield

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

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Copyright 2018 by John H. Grubbs

All rights reserved . No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Grubbs, John H., 1940- author.

Title: The legacy of Maggie Dixon : a leader on the court and in life / John H. Grubbs.

Description: Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018018754 (print) | LCCN 2018021364 (ebook) | ISBN 9781538114490 (electronic) | ISBN 9781538114483 (hardcover : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Dixon, Maggie, 1977-2006. | United States Military Academy.Basketball. | Basketball coachesUnited StatesBiography. | Women basketball coachesUnited StatesBiography.

Classification: LCC GV884.D59 (ebook) | LCC GV884.D59 G78 2018 (print) | DDC 796.323092 [B] dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018018754

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

To the women of the 20052006 West Point womens basketball team. You have grown into the exact women Maggie Dixon knew you could be.

To the Dixon familyJim, Marge, Jamie, and Juliefor nurturing and guiding a young woman to an inspirational life of leadership. I wish there were no need for this book.

Preface

O n a quiet New Orleans Wednesday night, March 8, 2006, while surfing the television channels, I landed on ESPN, where two basketball analysts were talking about the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament, both mens and womens. I hadnt been watching for more than a minute when one of them made the statement (paraphrased), If you want to see college basketball in its purest form, take a look at the womens Patriot League Tournament. They switched to the end of the Army (West Point)Holy Cross championship game. It was an extraordinary game, and the crowd reaction at the end of a one-point thriller almost defied imagination. Win or lose, both teams did themselves proud.

As a graduate of the United States Military Academy, I was intrigued by the Army coach. During 35 years of active duty, I had experienced both the fulfillment of inspirational leadership and the demoralizing effects of toxic leadership. I surmised this particular coach was a pretty positive person, regardless of profession. Margaret Mary Maggie Dixon was in her first season at the Military Academy, and I soon found out that not only the team, but also the entire West Point community had fallen in love with her. There was something different about Maggie Dixon. Fascinated by her leadership style, I wrote a short article about her tenure at the academy. In it, I tried to capture why, and how, a person could have such a positive influence on others. This book is a continuation of that original article. It is her West Point story.

Before proceeding, I would like to mention support given to me by the Office of the Chief of Public AffairsNortheast, Department of the Army, which gave me permission to approach the United States Military Academy for help finding documents, photographs, and interviews with people stationed there. I do not claim that this book is endorsed by or composed with permission of the United States Army. No one needs to worry about the book, as a thread of positive leadership weaves its way through most of the chapters.

I was honored to meet some marvelous people during the last three years. In particular, coach Dave Magarity has been very supportive of my efforts. Weve had sit-down sessions and hes invited me to the womens games, to include having access to the locker room prior to games, during halftime, and at games end. Others, including the players I interviewed, have been open and candid, even to the point of giving me the names of other people who could speak of their relationships with Maggie. Information related to game action, team statistics, and each players background came from the Office of the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics (ODIA). Team catalogs, photographs, and video media were provided to assist me in researching just how much Maggie Dixon accomplished in the crucible of athletics at a military institution.

On a personal note, I do have a close association with West Point. I entered the United States Military Academy in July 1960, graduating in 1964. I met my wife Judy while a plebe (freshman) at the academy. I later served a three-year tour as an instructor in the Department of Earth, Space, and Graphic Sciences (ES&GS). After returning to the field through battalion command, I was fortunate to be selected to the permanent faculty at the academy, eventually serving as professor and head of the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering (GEnE). Twenty-two years of my life were spent at West Point; for 16 of those years I served as an officer representative (OR) for either the mens soccer team or the mens basketball team. The duties of an OR are discussed later. During the last five years, I returned many times to speak on leadership topics with the Thayer Leader Development Group (TLDG), an organization that uses West Point as a model of inspirational leadership. Cadet life and the educational program have changed significantly since I first walked in the door, but I still have a firm understanding of the inner workings of the academy.

And now, a final comment on Maggie Dixon and the West Point womens basketball team of 20052006. Every player on the team understood what a great leader they had in Coach Dixon. To their way of thinking, Maggie Dixon was the real deal. As for Maggie, she probably didnt even think about itshe was having too much fun.

Welcome to the story of an inspirational leaderMaggie Dixon.

Foreword

P art of the human spirit includes the ability to eventually move through grief to a place where you are capable of bringing together varying degrees of sadness, softness, and fond memories of a loved one lost too soon. We are a family still on the journey.

On April 6, 2006, weJim and Marge Dixon, Jamie Dixon, and Julie Dixon Silvalost a daughter and younger sister, Margaret Mary Maggie Dixon. The suffering from losing Maggie will never end, but we have been able to replace a portion of our grief with the stories that continue to come our way. As a youngster, Maggie was a great kid. She loved many things, not just basketball. She enjoyed poetry, walks in the woods, and people. She turned out to be a beautiful woman, sure in herself and one who enjoyed time spent with others, regardless of age, position, or gender.

Maggie woke up on the morning of April 5, 2006, full of optimism and enthusiasm about her experience at West Point during the previous six months. One of the most upbeat stories in collegiate womens basketball was in full swing on that day. Maggie was absolutely the Cinderella of womens collegiate basketball in the United States. She achieved in five months what no other coach, man or woman, had accomplished in the history of mens or womens basketball at West Point. Everything seemed beautiful. And then we lost her.