Warrior Magazine June 2019

Catching Up . . .

with Paul Nixon

Paul Nixon assumed his duties as East Central Community College’s Director of Athletics last June, taking over leadership of the college’s nine varsity sports teams upon the retirement of Dean of Personnel Services/Athletics Chris Harris. A native of Clinton, Nixon was a longtime women’s collegiate basketball coach, including eight years as head women’s coach at Columbia University of the Ivy League. With 12 months under his belt at helm of ECCC athletics, The Warrior sat down with Coach Nixon for his take on the state of the college’s varsity athletics program.

THE WARRIOR: How would you describe your first year as director of athletics at East Central Community College? PAUL NIXON: My first year has been very rewarding. I’ve met great people who support our athletics programs, many of whom graduated from East Central, and they are excited about the direction our teams are headed. The first year has allowed me to develop good working relationships with our coaching staff and many others on our campus who are also highly invested in the success of the Warrior athletics programs. THE WARRIOR: What do you see as some of the most important athletics program accomplishments over the past academic year? PAUL NIXON: The fall was exciting as our football team held its own against a very tough schedule, and then we were able to break ground on Warrior Hall. The winter and spring saw all six of our other varsity teams qualify for postseason play with women’s basketball, softball, and both tennis squads ending their seasons ranked nationally. The men’s tennis team qualified for the NJCAA Division I National Championship, and won several matches in its first trip to nationals as a team. THE WARRIOR: How do you gauge the success of ECCC athletics, and based on that how did the college’s teams perform this year? PAUL NIXON: We measure success on the performance of our student-athletes both within and outside of their playing venues. Many measure their success based solely on athletic performance, and by that standard, we had a good year as noted above. We look at success beyond the competitive arenas, and for this past year, we had an outstanding athletic season. Team grade-point averages were good across the board, and we had almost 100 percent of our sophomore student-athletes to graduate. Many of those sophomores signed to continue playing their respective sports at four-year schools, at all levels both in state and out of state. THE WARRIOR: East Central is one of the smaller schools in the MACJC, but continues to be competitive in all sports. What do you attribute that success to? PAUL NIXON: There are a number of factors that go into East Central remaining competitive in all our sports, but it starts at the top. Dr. [Billy] Stewart, our president, has been very supportive of our efforts to hire outstanding head coaches who believe in our approach to building

successful teams with high character student-athletes. The student-athletes who have chosen to become Warriors and Lady Warriors have bought into our

mission and this has led to their successes in the competitive arenas, in the classrooms, and throughout our campus. THE WARRIOR: While the Warriors and Lady Warriors remain competitive on the playing fields and courts, they are among the state and national leaders in the classroom. To what do you attribute that academic success? PAUL NIXON: The young women and men who choose East Central want a college experience in which they will be challenged in the classroom and held to a high standard, not a different standard just because they are athletes. The instructors here push the student-athletes in their classes in the same way that the coaches push them in their sports, to be the best they can be, and our Warriors and Lady Warriors rise to meet that challenge. THE WARRIOR: You traveled the state from Senatobia to Perkinston this year to support the Warriors and Lady Warriors. What is your early impression on the quality of athletics in the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges? PAUL NIXON: The competition in this league in all sports is at a very high level. There are little to no easy games for any of our teams, and many student-athletes throughout the state have understood the benefit of coming to a community college to hone their skills against great competition as opposed to going straight to a four year school and fighting for minimal playing time as a freshman or sophomore. I don’t know the exact figures, but there was a large number of student-athletes in the MACJC who signed to play at the next level following their sophomore seasons this year. That is reflective of the quality of play in this league. THE WARRIOR: As you begin your second year as director of athletics, what are some future short-term and long term initiatives Warrior fans might expect? PAUL NIXON: Due to the ever-increasing level of competitiveness across the state, we are committed to providing our student-athletes and fans with the best

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