The University of the Southwest has introduced Cory Hitchcock as the new Head Men’s Basketball Coach. The hiring comes after Timm Dixon resigned from his position on Friday afternoon. Coach Hitchcock will be coming over from the Lady Mustang Women’s Basketball Program, which he took over in August of 2018.
“It came as a surprise to me when the job opened up and Athletic Director Sean Gillespie reached out to me. I am definitely up for the challenge and excited to coach these young men. I hope to help develop them not only on the court but off the court as well. This will be a change for the guys and it will take a little bit of time for everyone to get adjusted but my goal is to make this a smooth transition. I am thankful that Coach Gillespie and the leadership team believe in me and trust me to do a great job.” Said Cory Hitchcock on the opportunity to take over the Men’s Program.
The Lady Mustangs just completed an 8-17 season with a 5-13 record in conference. The win total matches the wins from the 2015-2016 season when they finished 8-19. The 5 conference victories tied the number from the 2011-2012 season when they finished 5-19 in conference. Coach Hitchcock was pivotal in starting the culture over from scratch and building it into a program that was poised for long-term success in the coming years.
“”First off, the ladies are amazing. I had a blast coaching them and building a relationship with them. It was hard to tell them I was taking the men’s job because I knew they would be upset. Even though I am switching to the men’s side, it doesn’t mean I still can’t have a relationship with them. I will continue to support and be there for them daily. They will just have a different voice leading them now. As for this past season, we accomplished things here that haven’t been accomplished in the last couple of years. I think we had a great year and showed a lot of improvement and promise going into the next year. More importantly, the ladies came in and worked hard daily to be better than they have been in the past. I am thankful the ladies trusted and believed in me to lead them.”
To go along with their improved play on the court, the ladies posted a Team GPA of 3.24 for the 2018 Fall Semester. The Lady Mustangs also saw themselves with 3 student-athletes on the 2019 Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete Team with Eliza Maciel, Tytilayo Green, and Desiree Garza earning the awards for maintaining a 3.5 GPA during the season.
“When the Men’s Head Coaching position opened up this past Friday, I didn’t have to look very far to find the right coach to take the reins of this program. Coach Hitchcock, formerly the USW Head Women’s Coach, did a great job with the women’s program in building a solid foundation to build upon moving forward. It has been a goal of his to coach men at the collegiate level. If it was the right time for him, I wanted to give him that opportunity. I am confident that he will do the same for the men’s program as he has for the women’s this past year. It was difficult to share with the women the transition that was taking place, but in the long-run both programs will be on good footing and we are excited to see them on the floor again competing next season,” stated Athletic Director, Sean Gillespie.
“Coaching women’s hoops taught me how to be more patient and more detailed while teaching the game. As far as mentoring, nothing changed. I always invest in building relationships with my players. This year it just felt like I had 21 daughters instead of sons. I enjoyed every minute I had with them and I will never forget all the memories we built over the course of the year. I am looking forward to the challenge and I am excited to build and develop a relationship with these guys. They are a great group of young men and I just want to continue to help them be successful on and off the court. The expectations for these young men are to be great student-athletes who will represent our institution and community in a positive manner. We also want to compete at a high-level during conference play and provide ourselves a chance to qualify for the national tournament.” Cory Hitchcock with his thoughts on coaching women for the 1sttime and the challenges coming
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