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April 22, 2014
For the second-straight spring, the Vandebilt Catholic girls’ basketball team is looking for a new coach.
An anonymous source close to the Lady Terriers’ program confirmed this week that first-year coach Katrell Dixon has been informed by administration that he will not be with the team in the 2014-15 season.
Vandebilt Catholic administration has not been reached to publicly confirm Dixon’s dismissal. But the school has advertised the job as vacant on the LHSAA’s classifieds section, a sure sign that Dixon is no longer with the team.
Dixon’s career with the Lady Terriers will end after a 13-15 season and a first-round playoff exit.
“It’s final,” the source said. “He knows he’s not going to be back. The school is collecting applications to find its new coach.”
For Dixon, his 12 months at Vandebilt did not go as expected when he was hired by the school last spring.
The outgoing girls’ basketball coach replaced legendary Lady Terriers’ coach Kathy Luke last spring following a week-long court battle and eventual Vandebilt forfeiture from the Class 4A State Semifinals to cap the 2012-13 season.
But instead of jump-starting Vandebilt back to prominence, Dixon’s lone Lady Terriers’ team struggled to find firm footing amidst a very competitive Class 4A that fielded several of the best girls’ basketball programs in the state of Louisiana.
Vandebilt hovered around the .500 mark for most of the season, failing to win the district championship for the first time in several seasons.
The Lady Terriers were beaten by double digits a total of 10 times in the campaign – seven of those defeats coming by 20 points or more.
In the previous four or five seasons under Luke, the Lady Terriers were rarely beaten handily in any game.
The team’s first-round postseason exit also marked the school’s earliest playoff loss in several seasons. In each of Luke’s previous five seasons, Vandebilt had reached the LHSAA Class 4A State Semifinals, including the team’s State Championship season in 2010.
It is not yet known when the school aims to hire Dixon’s replacement, but on the LHSAA advertisement, it specifies that the candidate must be willing to coach a second sport.
The only other opening currently posted on the website by Vandebilt is for a football assistant coach.
But the Vandebilt coaching position will likely draw interest across the state, as the Lady Terriers are known across Louisiana as one of the top girls’ basketball programs in Louisiana.
When Dixon was hired, there were reportedly multiple applicants interested in the job. Now 12 months later, the post is open again.
