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Hixon makes mark

• Former Randolph Southern and Georgia Southwestern star Kim Hixon is given Marist's mot prestigious coaching honor.

Scott Chancey

ALBANY — While watching her daughter, Kim, grow up playing basketball, Jo Hixon noticed something unique — she thrived at playing point guard.

“She liked to run the floor,” Jo said. “She liked to be in charge.”

That leadership led to a GISA state championship at Randolph Southern as a player, with her twin sister, Jeni, a stellar career mostly at Georgia Southwestern and two GHSA Class AAAA state final appearances as Marist’s coach.

Just recently, Hixon was honored in a way she had never been honored before at Marist, becoming the first female winner of the Frank P. Hagan Award — the most prestigious coaching honor offered by the Atlanta-area private school.

“I’ll tell you what, this has been amazing,” Hixon said. “Last year we were No. 1 in the state for the first time in school history.”

Hixon, who is 117-31 during her five years at Marist, coached the Lady Eagles to a 28-6 record in 2005-06 and 29-3 mark last season.

Coincidentally, St. Pius stood in Marist’s way in both title games, winning, 56-36, in 2006 and 45-36 last season. One of Hixon’s players, Drey Mingo, was named All-American by McDonald’s WBCA and Parade Magazine, and will play for 2006 national champion Maryland next season.

Andrea McGuirt, another Marist star player, will continue her career at Indiana.

While Hixon was honing her skills at Randolph Southern, she began to realize the point guard position was suited for her abilities.

“That’s just what I wanted to do,” Hixon said. “And from that point, in the seventh grade, I wanted to be a coach, too. I wanted to do both teaching and coaching and I got to do that at Randolph Southern my first year out of college.”

Although Hixon said she doesn’t remember her record at Randolph Southern, she does remember coaching her younger sister, Adrienne, who now is the fitness center director at Darton College.

“It was a dream come true,” Hixon said. “Most don’t get the opportunity to do something like that. That’s sort of what drew me back there after college. It did get difficult at times because at times she’d look at me like I was her sister but I’d reel her back in. I expected more out of her, and I felt, as her sister, that I could get more out of her.”

Even Adrienne saw Hixon’s coaching potential early in her career.

“I remembered that she came from great colleges (Hixon also played at Auburn-Montgomery her freshman year) so I trusted what she said,” Adrienne said.

Hixon will likely have a chance to spend more time with Adrienne as she helps out with an individual basketball camp at Darton from July 9-12 (Call 317-6795 for more information).

“She’s just been very successful, an unnoticed talent,” Darton girls basketball coach Laura Blackwell said.

It was by fate that Hixon was hired at Marist. While the school was looking for a quality assistant, administrators contacted Georgia State coach Lea Henry. Henry, who starred at Southwest Georgia Academy, the University of Tennessee and was on the 1984 Olympic U.S. women’s Gold Medal team, recommended her.

And after serving as an assistant at Marist for two years, Hixon’s chance to be the girls team’s top coach arrived. As she continues to coach, Hixon is constantly reminded why she chose her profession.

“It’s about the relationship with the kids,” she said. “You watch them grow as you teach them. I like the team chemistry, the hours of practice, putting kids together and just seeing what they can do.”

Although Mingo’s playing days at Marist are over, she’ll appreciate what kind of coach Hixon was for years to come.

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