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  Cathy Nixon

Cathy Nixon

Player Profile

Position:
Head Coach
Experience:
14th Season
Alma Mater:
BYU, 89

Ushering Utah Valley Into New Era

Entering her 14th season as head coach of Utah Valley women's basketball, Cathy Nixon teams have consistently displayed hard work and character, on and off the court. Nixon has spent the past five seasons of her coaching career ushering Utah Valley into NCAA Division I Athletics and leads the team into its final season as a provisional program in 2008-09.

Nixon has been at the helm for many landmark milestones at Utah Valley, as the school enjoys its new status as a university and also its first NCAA Division I conference as a member of the Great West Conference. The Great West will begin regular and post-season conference play in 2009-10, the first year the team will be eligible for NCAA post-season play.

Last year, the 2007-08 season, Nixon coached Utah Valley to its most successful record in five years at the NCAA level, finishing with a 16-12 mark and garnering her first Division I Independent Coach of the Year Award.

That season also saw the first time a Utah Valley program received a vote in any top 25 poll, in any sport, as the team received one 25th place vote in the Associated Press Poll for two consecutive weeks in December. A small feat for many but for Nixon an accomplishment that validates the successful progression from junior college to NCAA Division I in just a short five seasons.

The 07-08 campaign also saw Nixon's second consecutive season with an NCAA All-American in junior center Robyn Fairbanks. Fairbanks garnered Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America recognition a year after becoming the school's first All-American at the NCAA level, earning WBCA Honorable Mention All-America status in 2006-07.

Off of the court and inside the classroom, Nixon's teams have excelled tremendously. After the 2006-07 season, Utah Valley was ranked No. 24 in the country in the WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll. Just this past July, the Wolverines increased their team GPA to 3.419, good enough for a No. 9 ranking on the 2008 WBCA Honor Roll.

Six of Utah Valley's players were also named to the Division I Academic All-Independent Team, making up one-third of the 18 players selected from nine different schools. Fairbanks was also selected to the ESPN Academic All-District Second Team.

Nixon's career record stands at 247-149 record in 13 seasons, including two NJCAA National Championships appearances at the junior college level.

In 2005-06, she led the team to a 11 wins, including 10 against Division-I schools. All of it came with four freshmen in the starting lineup for the majority of the season.

During the inaugural NCAA season in 2003-04, the Wolverines finished with a respectable 11-13 record seeing its first action against Division-I competition.

The Junior College Days

During Utah Valley's days at the junior college level, Nixon coached three Academic All-Americans, four Kodak All-Americans and two NJCAA All-Americans, including Utah Valley Hall of Fame guard Tricia Ferrin (1995-96).

In her inaugural year (1995-96), Nixon guided Utah Valley to its best finish ever during the school's junior college era. After claiming the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC), Region 18, and District crowns, Nixon's squad went on to take fourth in the country at the NJCAA National Championships. The Wolverines finished 29-6 that year, earning Nixon Region 18 Coach of the Year honors.

Nixon also led Utah Valley to the SWAC title in her second year (1996-97) with a 15-3 league record and 25-7 overall mark.

She led the Wolverines back to the NJCAA National Championships in the 2000-01 season. The team finished the year 27-10 and in seventh place at the national tournament.

Her entire junior college coaching career saw her amass an impressive 190-73 record in eight total seasons.

Prior to taking over as head coach, Nixon served four years as an assistant to long-time coach Tom Perkins. During that time, the Wolverines had four Academic All-Americans, three Kodak All-Americans and two NJCAA All-Americans.

Before coming to Utah Valley, Nixon served as an assistant coach at Brigham Young University for three years; one year under Courtney Leishman and two years with Jeanie Wilson.

In May of 2000, Nixon served as an assistant coach at the R. William Jones Cup Team Trials at the US Olympic Trainning Facility in Colorado Springs.

There Nixon served under gold medal winning USA Women's Basketball Coach Nell Fortner, who is the current coach at Auburn, and coached gold medalist and WNBA All-Star Sue Bird.

One of the Top Prep Players in the Country in Texas

As a player Nixon earned All-State honors four times at Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas, and led her team to the state finals twice. She was named a high school All-American during both her junior and senior seasons.

She played at Duncanville for legendary coach Sandra Meadows, who led the school to four state titles during her tenure. Meadows is enshrined in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Duncanville Pantherettes now play in Sandra Meadows Memorial Arena, named after the late coach.

NCAA All-American in College

After graduation from Duncanville in 1984, Nixon, who was one of the most sought after prep recruits in the nation, went on to play college basketball for Brigham Young University, where she became a four-year starter for a Cougar club that finished no worse than second in the conference during her time there.

She is currently the fifth highest scorer in BYU women's basketball history with 1,771 career points. She is also fifth all-time in blocks at BYU with 79. On October 19, 2007, Nixon was enshrined into the Brigham Young University Athletics Hall of Fame.

In addition to receiving numerous conference, region, and tournament awards, she garnered All-Conference recognition all four years, and All-America status her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. Nixon final averages as a Cougar are 16.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. She shot 50 percent from the field and 73 percent from the free throw line.

Her career best in scoring came against Florida in 1987 when she netted 36 points. Her career high in rebounds came against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on December 4, 1985, when she pulled down 16 boards.

Nixon graduated from Brigham Young University in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. She later completed her master's degree in education, also from BYU.

She comes from a basketball family with four older brothers, who all played basketball throughout high school. Her brother Tom also played for BYU on the junior varsity squad.