City of Basketball Love

Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2023-24 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 6. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season click here.)

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Despite being one of the most highly recruited players locally and nationally coming out of high school, Eric Dixon has always had to prove himself.

He was ranked the No. 75 overall prospect in the class of 2019, according to 247Sports, but when he arrived at Villanova, he was part of a frontcourt that included future first-round NBA Draft choice Saddiq Bey, fellow NBA Draft selection Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, current Houston Rockets forward Jermaine Samuels, and former national champion Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree. It was a loaded unit full of skill and experience, and Dixon, finding his way and getting up to speed with the college game, decided to redshirt that first season.

He learned a great deal from those bigs, particularly Robinson-Earl who he played behind as a redshirt freshman, on the Villanova way, what it takes to excel at one of the premier Big East programs, and how he can make an impact, even if it does not show up on a stat sheet.  

Even now as a redshirt senior - with an additional year of eligibility granted by the NCAA following the COVID-19 pandemic - coming off his best statistical season, Dixon is still playing with that chip on his shoulder and one of his many motivating factors in getting Villanova back to precipice of college basketball supremacy.

“There’s always something to prove,” Dixon said. “These guys are competitors and they’re coming at me every day. They’re not going to allow me to get hung up on doing well last year, so I need to come prepared every day. It keeps me getting better and I enjoy it.”

Dixon enters the 2023-24 season as a Second Team All-Big East selection after averaging career highs in points (15.4) and rebounds (6.6) while shooting 53.8% from the field. The 6-foot-8, 255-pound has worked on his body and conditioning immensely since settling on the Main Line, and it truly paid dividends last season, despite Villanova (17-17, 10-10 Big East) finishing with a record of .500 or worse for the first time since 2011-12.

The former Abington standout found himself playing with another first-round pick in Cam Whitmore, but instead of being taken under another player’s wing, he was excelling alongside one. 

Dixon scored in double figures in all but five games and poured in 20-or-more points in eight contests, including a career-high 31 against Creighton in February. He also added four double-doubles, displaying his improved durability and conditioning. Furthermore, he showcased terrific shooting numbers from the outside with 42 three-pointers made on 37.8% and knocked down multiple treys in 10 games. That 31-point performance versus the Blue Jays saw him sink a career-high six makes from deep.

That was a season ago and while Dixon is hoping for more of the same, it’s a new season with a reloaded roster. This year’s Wildcats may benefit more from other areas in his game than simply scoring the basketball.

“Winning is first and foremost, and if scoring is what it is, that’s great,” Dixon said. “I’ve been here for five years and scored enough. I’ll definitely take a hit in the scoring department for some wins.”

Wildcats head coach Kyle Neptune was an assistant under Jay Wright during Dixon’s recruitment and as a second-year head man, he is seeing the evolution of a player once heralded for his offensive skillset finally put it altogether.

“He had a phenomenal year last year and coming back, I think he’s going to get better at everything on the floor,” Neptune said. “He’s always been one of our most intelligent guys. He’s shooting the ball better this offseason and that was a strength of his last year. He can get better at every facet of the game, and he’s done that this offseason. We’re excited about where he is.”

Neptune also noted that “as a defender, he’s continuing to get better on his perimeter, and he has done that,” as he went up against some of the more versatile big men in the league last season in Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, UConn’s Adama Sanogo, and the reigning Big East Most Improved Player in St. John’s veteran Joel Soriano. Yet, the offensive prowess is what made Dixon such an attractive prospect coming into Villanova.

Dixon culminated his high school career by averaging 27.9 points and 11.6 rebounds on his way to a second consecutive Pa. All-State Class 6A Player of the Year, propelling Abington to its third straight PIAA District 1 title. He set a program single season record with 838 points as a senior and left as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,454 career points, setting the school’s record with a 50-point game against Springfield (Montco.).

His combination of size and ability hearkens back to recent Villanova standouts such as Eric Paschall, Omari Spellman, and Kris Jenkins. All three left the program with a national championship to their name; Jenkins immortalized himself by hitting the game-winning buzzer-beater to down North Carolina in 2016. Dixon’s best attribute throughout his career may be adaptability and it will be more paramount than ever as the Wildcats welcome a new host of players.

“We have a lot of new pieces and a lot of new talent,” Dixon said. “I believe I’m going to work on playmaking; that’s one area that I can improve in with my decision-making and not always looking to score. I need to learn to play with these talented guys around me.”

Villanova was one of the more successful programs in attracting talent from the transfer portal in TJ Bamba (Washington State), Hakim Hart (Maryland), Tyler Burton (Richmond) and Lance Ware (Kentucky). Add in Justin Moore, a fellow member of the 2019 class who is fully healthy and will be integral to Villanova’s success, and Dixon will have to find ways to be successful in a team robust with options. With those options, Neptune concurred that getting others involved will be an invaluable facet of Dixon’s production this season.

“We’ll see how teams play us, but I imagine he has a lot more targets with guys around him who can score,” Neptune said. “He can find them as he looks for his offense as well.”

Abington had a 95-19 record during Dixon’s career and Villanova has totaled 65 wins in the last three seasons with him in the rotation, including the 2022 Final Four appearance. Dixon has impacted winning in the same way Bey, Robinson-Earl and other versatile forwards did during their tenure, and now he will be tasked with sharing what he learned with Ware, a former Camden (N.J.) star, and 6-9 junior Nnanna Njoku. As Neptune expressed, “I think all those guys could play with or without Eric.”

If all goes well, Villanova will have options coming off the bench as well as an array of possibilities in creating different lineups to give opposing defenses fits. More importantly, this will allow Dixon to further push his improved conditioning as he points to a major positive with this current group of forwards.

“Being able to fully exhaust yourself,” Dixon said. “No one is thinking, ‘Oh I have to save myself for the last 10 minutes.’ Now it’s, ‘I’m going to go as hard as I can for as long as I can and when I’m tired, boom I’m coming out.’ Anyone of us can come in and there’s comfortability in that.”

Ware was another forward who found success in high school at perhaps the premier program in N.J. He averaged 11.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in leading Camden to a 29-1 record and the South Jersey, Group 2 championship before the season was cut short due to the pandemic. He went to Kentucky to play for John Calipari, where he transformed into a tough, defensive-minded big who helped the Wildcats make two NCAA Tournament appearances. Neptune feels “he’s another guy who can guard any player one through five. He can rebound and finish around the rim.”

Njoku enters year three with Villanova after injuries hampered his first two seasons. He only appeared in four games and logged 7:54 of playing time a year ago, after playing nine games as a freshman. Njoku was phenomenal at Sanford School (Del.) where he averaged 20.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks as a senior in leading the program to DIAA state championship. He had 24 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in that title victory and scored 1,178 career points in high school. So far, Njoku has yet to put together that kind of production, but this could be a big season for the rugged and talented forward.

Neptune is high on Njoku and what he brings to the table, especially in a frontcourt next to Dixon.

“He’s physically imposing and all of 6-9, 255 lbs. and a great athlete,” Neptune said. “The way he can move at that size is pretty impressive. He can protect the rim and rebound. He does a lot. With that body, that’s something in practice we haven’t really seen and we’re hoping that will translate into games. We want him to finish around the rim and rebound, but he’s also an underrated shooter.”

There will also be Burton, at 6-7 and 215 lbs., who will play a multitude of positions and present mismatches after accumulating 1,634 points and 819 rebounds at Richmond while being named a two-time Second Team All-Atlantic 10 selection. Dixon notes “we have the same skillset, so iron sharpens iron,” and “he’s a high-level guy and I definitely get better from guarding him. I hope he gets that back from guarding me.”

While depth is certainly seen as a strength, Dixon will be the centerpiece that brings it all together as new players find their roles around him and vice versa. He is ready for the challenge and excited for the prospect of being at the center of it all.

“We have a lot of guys but over the last couple years we’ve been thin in numbers,” Dixon said. “We’re deep in numbers and this year we’re playing harder. We feel we can sub to bring that next level up even higher. I think it’s helping us from a competitive level and being able to execute at all times.”