Clemson basketball losing two key staff members to other jobs, reports say
Clemson men’s basketball is losing two valuable staff members to other power conference schools, according to multiple reports Saturday.
As first reported by TigerIllustrated.com, Clemson assistant coach Sean Dixon is leaving for a job on Louisville’s staff under Pat Kelsey, and Clemson general manager Lucas McKay is leaving for a role at Oklahoma with Porter Moser.
The Clemson Insider confirmed both coaches’ departures. Dixon’s move to Louisville was also confirmed by multiple local Louisville outlets.
The reported departures of Dixon (who just got a raise last week) and McKay are notable for a Clemson team that’s already lost three other staffers from a Tigers program which has reached three straight NCAA Tournaments.
Brownell’s team has also won 20-plus games four years in a row, which has generated interest from other programs in Clemson’s staffers.
Earlier this month, assistant coach Billy Donlon took the head coaching job at Eastern Michigan, assistant coach Dick Bender retired and director of quality control/support staffer Jeff Reynolds stepped away from basketball.
Brownell replaced those three coaches with Chad Warner (Minnesota), Chris Harriman (Charleston) and Andre Morgan (Cincinnati).
With Dixon and McKay reportedly leaving, Brownell will now need to hire another assistant coach. McKay also leaves a gap, as he was the program’s general manager and widely known for his connections and skills in transfer portal recruiting.
The Tigers have notably hit on their portal acquisitions in recent years with players like Joe Girard III (Syracuse), Viktor Lakhin (Cincinnati), Jaeden Zackery (Boston College) and Carter Welling (Utah Valley).
Dixon worked on Clemson’s defense and with its wing players. He was in his fourth season at Clemson after joining the Tigers from Middle Tennessee State. Dixon also worked at UNC-Asheville and Presbyterian.
Dixon received a raise to $400,000 in annual salary last week in conjunction with Clemson hiring its three new assistant coaches. He’ll now coach within the ACC for Kelsey at Louisville, which has made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.
McKay was in his second stint with Clemson. He originally joined the Tigers when Brownell was hired in 2010 after working with Brownell at UNC-Wilmington and Wright State. He left for an assistant coaching job at UMKC from 2019-21.
McKay made $225,000 in his role as general manager. He’ll now reportedly be working in the SEC in a similar GM role for Moser and Oklahoma.
This story was originally published April 4, 2026 at 6:23 PM.
