NE10 40th Anniversary Home Page
It was a busy month of May in 1986 for Keith Dickson, then a 29-year-old assistant coach for the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team. His second son, Jeffrey, was born on Friday, May 16 and he was officially appointed Head Coach of the Hawks hoopsters just six days later. The rest, as they say, is history.
Dickson is currently the longest-tenured men's basketball head coach in the College's history, mentoring hundreds of student-athletes since coming to the Hilltop as an assistant men's basketball coach and as the head women's soccer coach in May 1985. Since that time, Dickson has maintained a constant presence on the Hawks sidelines.
During his 34 seasons as the men's basketball bench boss, Dickson has logged an overall record of 664-342 (.660) and stands as the program's all-time record holder for coaching victories. He enters the 2020-21 season with the 11th-most victories by any coach with at least 10 years in NCAA Division II (664) and owns the NE10 record for career coaching wins outright.
Prior to Dickson's hiring, the Hawks had bottomed out with a 1-25 overall record during the 1982-83 men's basketball season. Head Coach Bob Brown assumed the head coaching reins the next season and moved the team from six wins in 1983-84, to nine wins in 1984-85, and then to 21 wins in 1985-86.
In Dickson's first season as an assistant, the Hawks logged their first 20-win season since 1951. Fast forwarding to the present day, Saint Anselm has won 20-plus games in each of the previous five seasons under Dickson. There's no doubt that the coaching staff assembled by Brown had things trending in the right direction.
Across an outstanding coaching career that continues to reach milestones and rack up accolades, Dickson has led the Hawks to nine NE10 Championships and to 20 appearances in the NCAA Division II postseason tournament. In 2012-13, he became just the 16th Division II coach to reach the 500-win plateau when the Hawks defeated Pace, 101-54, at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium on Jan. 15.
Due to his team's successes in NE10 play, Hawks student-athletes have brought significant recognition to the league by winning two East Region titles, making appearances in the "Elite Eight" in 2000 and as recently as 2019. Dickson's Hawks have never gone more than three years without an NCAA berth and are currently riding an active streak of eight-straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
Highly respected by his peers, Dickson has been selected as the NE10 Coach of the Year five times and was inducted into Saint Anselm's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003. Regionally, Dickson has received the New England Basketball Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year award and was recognized as the National Association of Basketball Coaches Northeast District Coach of the Year.
During his standout athletic career at the University of New Hampshire, Dickson was a four-year starter who graduated with 1,202 career points, at the time placing him as the school's third highest all-time scorer. Upon his departure from Durham, he served as an Assistant Coach at several institutions, including Biscayne College and Bentley College.
Coach Dickson maintains his residence in nearby Bedford, N.H. with his wife, Patti. The Dickson's have three children, Brett, Jeffrey and Michelle. Jeffrey, who was the New Hampshire Class "L" Player of the Year at Manchester West High School, graduated from Saint Anselm in 2008.
Michelle was a Northeast-10 All-Conference performer and a member of the Saint Anselm women's soccer team that her father once coached, graduating from Saint Anselm in 2010.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
"I [also] got to spend four amazing years working alongside a man I truly admire, but in a much different capacity. I learned so many valuable lessons coaching beside him and have an appreciation for how he shaped this program ... I was able to see, on a daily basis, his true dedication to this school, his alumni and most importantly, his players ... Coach has a special knack for motivating his teams to perform at the highest level, but [he is also] there to pick you up when the game doesn't go quite as planned. Coach Dickson has dedicated his entire career to this program and his players. He has created a brotherhood of players, past and present, and I couldn't be more proud to be a part of this special group." - Jim Moore '06 upon his induction into the Athletics Hall of Fame
"I always appreciated Coach Dickson's honesty and straightforwardness. You always knew where you stood with him. That was a major reason why I chose Saint Anselm and I will say everything he said during our initial meeting when I first visited the school was 100% accurate. I truly don’t think I would have achieved what I achieved here at Saint Anselm College anywhere else as a result of his belief in me throughout the entire process."- Matt Cahill '06, Athletics Hall of Fame inductee (2019)
"As impressed as we were at what an exceptional coach he was during our time and beyond at Saint Anselm, there is so much more to his great legacy. He was more than a coach; he built a great program that is still a big part of my life over 20-plus years since graduating. I learned so much, on and off the court, and the relationships that I have developed with coach, my teammates and players that came before and after my years on the Hilltop have been invaluable. I still tell Coach Dickson today that I am so thankful to have been a small part of what he has accomplished over his career and I am even more honored that he and this program are a big part of who I am today." - Darren Clough '96, NE10 Hall of Fame inductee (2019)
Keith Dickson Links of Note:
ABOUT THE NE10
Beginning its 40th anniversary season, the NE10 is an association of 14 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
