Josh Dix on Team USA Training Camp, Expanded Role at Iowa
IOWA CITY -- Iowa sophomore guard Josh Dix is entering his sophomore year in Iowa City. Averaging 9.2 minutes per game over 31 contests during his freshman campaign, Dix put up 2.0 points and 0.9 rebounds per game. He also shot 40 percent from three-point range and 40.4 percent from the field.
Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said Dix and fellow freshman guard Dasonte Bowen, earned more minutes than they got in 2022.
"He and Josh, I thought I should have played them both more. They both played a fair amount, but they both deserve to play more and should have played more."
Dix said that McCaffery had already talked to him about wishing he had played him more last season.
"Yeah, he said that, but it's all good," Dix said. "That was last year, so I think this year I've got to run away with the opportunity to do whatever the team needs me to do."
One thing the team will need Dix to do is play in more of an on-ball role in 2022, following the departure of Connor McCaffery via graduation and Ahron Ulis to the transfer portal. Dix, along with Bowen, Tony Perkins and Brock Harding will share the backcourt duties.
"We do have a lot of options at that position," McCaffery said. "I think we'll see Tony there at times. I think Dasonte and Brock and Josh can all play that position. Normally you don't have that many options."
"Fortunately, all of those guys can also make shots. So sometimes they're sort of forced to be in a distributor position because no one really scores at all. ... I think those guys are good assist guys with no turnovers. Their numbers from when they started here, and then obviously since the young guys got here, they're really good."
Dix is ready for whatever is going to be thrown at him.
"I'll do whatever the team needs me to do," he said. "I think I'll have the ball in my hands more," Dix added. "I played the point a decent amount in overseas. I also like playing off-ball -- just cutting and stuff like that -- and getting shots."
"I want to be a knock-down shooter, but I want to expand my role," he said. "I feel like last year I was kind of known as a shooter, but I think I can do more. Defensively, I like to take on the challenge of guarding one of the other team's best players, so that's kind of what I see for myself. I think defensively I can guard one through three, so I'll take on that role. Then, on the offensive side, I can play one through three as well."
Along with his experience as a freshman and the work going into this season, Dix was invited to the 2023 FIBA U19 training camp June 11-18 to compete for a Team USA roster spot. He, along with 34 other young players from across the country were invited to the camp in Colorado Springs. Though Dix didn't earn a sport on the Team USA roster, he did take some valuable lessons from the camp that he'll use going forward.
"It was a great experience competing with some of the top players in the country at my age group," he said. "I learned a lot over there, there were a lot of good coaches."
"I definitely recognized that I needed to work on my conditioning. I got there and within the first five minutes I was having a little trouble with my breathing. It comes down to being in better shape, and everyone is good out there, so you've just got to hone in on your craft a lot."