ELMIRA, NY – Playing for a hometown team is something a lot of athletes dream of. Most of them never get the chance to play for the team they grew up cheering for, for one reason or another. For Amarionah Dixon '26, when the opportunity arose, it was too good to pass up.
Dixon, playing in her first year with the Soaring Eagles, transferred in from Tompkins Cortland Community College, where she played her first two years. In two years with the Panthers, Dixon averaged 16 points and 15 rebounds per game in 33 games. Now at Elmira, Dixon has enjoyed playing at home and contributing to the school she grew up so close to.
"It feels really good to know everybody's close. I have all my people who supported me from high school and up. They come to my games. I get to play in front of my family and just be home. Home is where the heart is," the third-year guard said of her experience playing in front of friends and family at home games.
"Playing at the JUCO level taught me the game is a lot different. It's a different speed, different pace, and you have to be mentally built to play at this level. It taught me that I could go through anything. Honestly, if I put my mind to it, I just have to work for it," Dixon said about her experience playing at Tompkins before arriving at Elmira.
After finishing her two years at Tompkins, Dixon reached out to Thad Phillips, the head women's basketball coach at Elmira with the intention of playing for the Soaring Eagles for her final two years. After a few conversations with Phillips, open gyms that Dixon attended, and everything on campus "felt like a fit", Dixon was ready to continue her basketball career in the Purple & Gold.
"I was talking to my coach and telling him how I graduate [Tompkins] but I want to continue to play basketball, but I want to stay home and play. He texted coach Phillips and it went from there. It was a pretty smooth process. He called and I answered and he had a few questions. I went to a couple of open gyms and I felt like I was the right fit," Dixon said about the process of coming over to Elmira.
Dixon will experience her first Empire 8 playoff game on Saturday as the eighth-seeded Soaring Eagles travel to Brockport to try and knock off the top seeded Golden Eagles, who finished the regular season 15-1 in the Empire 8, and 22-3 overall.
This marks EC's third straight trip to the Empire 8 playoffs. But first, Dixon and the Soaring Eagles close out their regular season tonight on the road against Keuka.
