It was always Pitt.

After four days of speculation surrounding where Jamie Dixon would coach next, it turns out he will coach the team he wanted to coach all along - the Pitt Panthers.

Pitt and Dixon came to terms late Friday on a new contract that will put him in a new tax bracket. Pitt nor Dixon would disclose terms of his salary last night, but indications are that he will be in the neighborhood of $900,000 per season. That would put him in the upper half of the Big East coaches in terms of compensation.

Dixon had four years remaining on his old pact and had three more added. The new deal runs through the 2012-13 season.

"You can rest assured that his salary is in line with where he has brought the program in the Big East and nationally," Pitt athletic director Jeff Long said last night. "We've provided him with a good salary, one that is competitive in the Big East and one that shows we're happy to have him as our head coach."

Dixon would not say if he ever considered leaving Pitt, but he made it abundantly clear that Arizona State was a second option all along. Arizona State officials were steamed late Friday night when they learned Dixon was staying at Pitt. While Arizona State never offered Dixon a contract, Sun Devils athletic director Lisa Love was under the impression that Dixon was willing to coach at Arizona State and believed the two parties were on their way to completing a deal.

"It never really got that far," Dixon said tonight at the Petersen Events Center.