Jeff Nix grew up on Deer Creek Road but now
splits his time between his home in Indiana and work in the Big Apple as the Assistant General Manager of the
New York Knicks.
He had a highly successful academic and athletic career
at PCS. He was a star varsity basketball player for 4 years under Ray Deland, scoring 942 points (#4 all-time) in
65 games.
The Panthers were 54-9 during his three years as a starter,
including the 75-76 season when the squad finished 20-1. Parents Cliff and Marj also raised Debbie, Scott, and
Gary into successful Portvillians.
Check out this link for more about Jeff's PCS career:
Jeff earned his bachelors degree from Canisius, where he
again played hoops and began his coaching career as an assistant in 1979. In 1981, he moved on to assist at
St. Francis, PA, where he coached until 1984.
He continued on the college assistant track at Loyola College
in Maryland for a year and then to Xavier in Cincy for two more seasons, under Pete Gillen.
In 1987, Mr. Nix took a big step up the ladder, when he
became an assistant to Digger Phelps at Notre Dame, home of his future wife Margie (they married in 1994). The Irish
had two 20-win seasons under Digger and Nix, who remained at South Bend for 5 years. John MacLeod took over the team
in 1992, Jeff's final year working the college game.
In that year, Jeff was hired by the NBA Knickerbockers as
a scout under famed coach Pat Riley, who led the franchise to records of 60-22 and 57-25 in 1993 and 94. The Knicks
met the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals in 94, but lost in Game 7. Jeff could be seen sitting on the bench next to
Riley for many of the prime-time shows.
While with the Knicks, Jeff has also served under Don Nelson
and Jeff Van Gundy, both Basketball heroes in the NY-PA region. In 1999, the Knicks made it to the finals again, but
were beaten by the San Antonio Spurs.
In September of 2000, Jeff moved to the front office, accepting
the position of Assistant GM under Scott Layden, who was later replaced by the current GM Isiah Thomas.
Jeff continues to support Portville and the school from
his elevated position in the epicenter of basketball, traveling the world to search for the next Clyde Frazier, Bernard
King, Patrick Ewing, or Stephon Marbury.
