Women’s basketball Head Coach Dixie Jeffers reached her career 600th win this season by leading the Crusaders to a defeat of Ohio Wesleyan 67-56 in Delaware, Ohio. Jeffers has been a head coach for 29 seasons as the Division III level, 26 of these seasons at Capital. She is the 40th coach in all divisions to reach 600 wins, with an overall record of 600 wins to 177 losses. Among Division III coaches she is the fourth fastest to reach the 600 win mark; she is 14th fastest overall in all divisions.
Besides all the wins, Jeffers’ coaching career has sustained numerous other successes. Jeffers led Capital to the Final Four four times in five years in 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1997. The 1993 season had Capital finishing second and the 1997 season had Capital finishing third.
The 1994 and 1995 seasons featured back-to-back National Championship wins for Capital’s women’s basketball team.
Other accomplishments include winning the OAC regular season title 10 times, winning the OAC Postseason tournament 9 times, and receiving the OAC Coach of the Year award six times. Jeffers discussed her time at Capital as well as the beginning of her coaching career, which she began by coaching at Rio Grande University for three seasons. Then, Jeffers became Capital’s head coach during the 1986-1987 season.
“I wanted something different. I wanted to find the student athlete, which is one that excels in the classroom as well as on the court. Capital has that,” Jeffers said.
Jeffers explained how Capital as a university offers the atmosphere to create good student athletes.
“There is a lot of validity to the Cap Family. When I got here, I was amazed by the faculty support to athletics in general. I was amazed by the support from the administration. They wanted to see us succeed too. We break every day and we say “CU” and the kids say “Family!” It’s a big part of what we do,” Jeffers said.
A lot went into Jeffers’ decision to remain in her position at Capital, a Division III school for athletics, when colleagues would have moved to larger programs.
“It’s about relationships. That’s the beauty of division III, a lot of people always say why did you stay, why did you stay? Well it’s the relationships. The relationships to me are very important.
“They’re what’s going to effect people long after they leave Capital, that and the experience they’ve had here. We’ve had a lot of wins but the wins aren’t what makes the experience at Capital. What the professors do in the classroom, what I do on the basketball court, what my colleagues do off the court enhances every experience for our students and it’s a total package. That’s what makes it neat at this level. I’ve played Division I, I know what it’s about, but it’s experiencing the whole package that Capital offers that I love,” Jeffers said.
As a head coach for 26 years, Jeffers has faced challenges and problems and has had to make decisions that are not always the most popular. In her lone losing season, where the team went 9-16, Jeffers had to do housecleaning and reevaluate the team as well as herself.
“Our losing season was the most humbling yet driving season I have ever had. You need to be open to change when things aren’t going your way. You need to be open to try new things sometimes. The following year our team went 20-8 and won the OAC conference,” Jeffers said.
When it comes to making difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions, Jeffers explained that one has to know who they are and realize that they are the leader whose responsibility it is to make those tough decisions for the program as a whole.
“There are always going to be bumps in the road, but you need to look past them,” Jeffers said. “As much as one needs to be open to change, one must also be determined on staying the course. As long as you make decisions for the right reasons, the unpopularity and difficulties of the decisions will work themselves out.
“As long as a coach puts everything they are and does everything they can into helping the students and making sure they succeed as student athletes and in life, the wins will take care of themselves. It’s all about the students.”
