Keith Dickson enters his 23rd season as the head coach of the Saint Anselm men's basketball program. Last season, Dickson's team again advanced to the Northeast-10 postseason tournament after finishing with an 11-11 conference record. In the 2006-2007 season, he became the 20th Division II coach to reach the 400-win plateau when the Hawks defeated Franklin Pierce at Stoutenburgh Gym. The Hawks also advanced to the league quarterfinals for the 19th time with a road win over the Ravens in the first round of the NE-10 Tournament.
The Hawks' head coach, who has been named the NE-10 Coach of the Year three times, owns a reputation as one of the most successful Division II basketball coaches not only in the region, but on the national level. With 420 wins coming into the season, Dickson holds the school's all-time record for coaching victories and has been inducted into the college's Athletics Hall of Fame (2003) while earning the Walter A. Smith Coaches Award at the New Hampshire Parade of Champions Banquet in February of 2003.
Dickson took the reins of the program in 1987 and since that time has enjoyed extraordinary success, resulting in 10 Northeast-10 Tournament Championship game appearances and seven tournament championships. That string of tournament titles includes back-to-back conference banners on two occassions, including most recently in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. The Hawk program has also enjoyed success in the regular season, including back-to-back regular season titles in 1999 and 2000.
Due to the Hawks' successful Northeast-10 seasons, the program has gone on to earn 11 bids to the NCAA Division II national tournament under Dickson, and an appearance in the 2000 "Elite Eight." Dickson's Hawks have never gone more than three years without an NCAA berth. In addition, his teams have posted a winning mark in 14 of the last 16 seasons.
That streak includes an impressive run in the Northeast-10 Conference, where the Hawks have had winning seasons in 11 of the past 14 years with a combined record of 188-96, a .662 winning percentage. Consistency has also been a key to Dickson's teams' successes. During his tenure the team has won at least 10 straight games on six different occasions and never suffered a losing streak of more than five games.
In addition to numerous playoff successes and championships, Dickson has produced some other impressive personal numbers. With a 420-231 overall record entering this season, his .645 winning percentage places him among the nation's top NCAA Division II coaches. The Hawks sport a 7-3 record in NE-10 championship games and a 36-18 record (.667) in Northeast-10 Conference championship tournament play.
Dickson's successes have earned him a number of accolades for excellence. He has been honored as the Northeast 10 Coach of the Year three times, earned the New England Basketball Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year award and has also been named the National Association of Basketball Coaches Northeast District Coach of the Year.
Also highly regarded among his peers, Dickson is an active member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II Congress.
Coach Dickson is a native of Rockland, Mass., where he was a standout basketball player at his hometown high school. He moved on to play Division I college basketball at the University of New Hampshire from 1975-79. As an outstanding point guard, Dickson started four years for the Wildcats and graduated with 1,202 career points, at the time placing him as the school's third highest all-time scorer.
He stepped into the coaching ranks immediately after leaving UNH, joining Biscayne College in Florida for one year and entered the Northeast-10 Conference a year later as assistant coach at Bentley College. He joined Saint Anselm as an assistant in 1985-86 and a year later was named as head coach.
In his first season, he led the Hawks to a 25-5 record and since that time, the Hawks have won 20 or more games nine more times.
Coach Dickson resides in Bedford with his wife,
Patti, and their three children - Brett (24), Jeffrey (22), and
Michelle (20). Jeffrey, who was the New Hampshire Class "L" Player
of the Year at Manchester West HS, graduated from Saint Anselm in
2008. Michelle is a member of the Saint Anselm women's soccer team
and is a junior.
