May 7, 2018
Longtime women’s collegiate basketball coach and current academic administrator Paul Nixon of Senatobia will be the next Director of Athletics at East Central Community College in Decatur.
Nixon will replace Chris Harris, the college’s Dean of Personnel Services/Athletics who retires next month after 14 years at ECCC.
“We are excited to have someone with Paul’s coaching and administrative background join the East Central family and lead our athletic programs following the retirement of Chris Harris,” said ECCC President Dr. Billy Stewart, who chaired the search committee. “I so appreciate the leadership of Mr. Harris in several areas of the college over the years. It is evident he loves East Central and we are going to miss him.
“After interviewing Paul, the search committee agreed that he was a wonderful choice to serve as the next Director of Athletics at East Central. He comes from a coaching family, and athletics have been a major part of his life and professional career. He also has a firm understanding of community college athletics in Mississippi having coached at Northeast Mississippi Community College.”
A native of Clinton, Nixon is currently serving as an associate academic dean at Concorde Career College in Memphis, where he oversees seven of the college’s Allied Health programs and more than 50 faculty and staff.
For 22 years, Nixon coached women’s basketball at the collegiate level, including serving as the head women’s coach at Columbia University in New York City from 2005-13. He remains the career leader in NCAA Division I wins and in conference wins at the Ivy League institution.
He also has served as the assistant women’s coach at Long Island University in Brooklyn, N.Y., Indiana University in Bloomington, the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of Nevada-Reno, and Marshall University in Huntington, W.V.
Nixon is familiar with the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges, having spent a year as the assistant women’s coach at Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville.
He spent the year prior to his current position with Concorde Career College as an eighth grade math teacher and assistant softball and baseball coach at Independence High School in Coldwater.
Nixon received his Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from Vanderbilt University and his Master of Science in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation from Marshall University.
Nixon’s father, Ed, was the all-time winningest women’s basketball coach in Mississippi College history at the time of his retirement.
“Honored is the first word that comes to mind when I think about being selected as the next Director of Athletics at East Central Community College,” said Nixon. “Dr. Stewart and Chris Harris have done a tremendous job of putting together an outstanding group of coaches, and I am very excited about working with them to continue building all of our athletic programs.
“My first priority after getting started will be to get to know our primary stakeholders, both on campus and in our local communities. I want to meet our current supporters and begin engaging those who will support us in the future. It’s a great time to be a Warrior!”
Nixon will assume his new duties June 18.
