Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson and men's basketball coach Jamie Dixon hammered out a contract extension one day over lunch a few weeks back.

Some contract negotiations can take days, weeks or months. This one was done before the check came.

Pederson offered Dixon more money and three more years on his existing contract, and Dixon had only one question: how long the administration of Pederson, Vice Chancellor Jerry Cochran and Chancellor Mark Nordenberg would remain intact.

"My only concern, and I raised this to Steve, was this contract runs for eight years," Dixon said. "I wanted to know how long they will be here, what the direction of the university is and where they will be.

"They couldn't give me guarantees, but that's a big part of our success. Jerry, Steve and the chancellor are a big part of it. They've done an unbelievable job running this place."

In other words, as long as the current administration is in place, Dixon has little desire to be elsewhere. Dixon's new pact runs through the 2015-16 season.

The length of a college-coaching contract means nothing because coaches have buyout clauses written into their deals, but Dixon made it clear yesterday that he wants to remain at Pitt for a long time.

"I can't see how I could leave," Dixon said. "I don't see how I could have better people to work for. To me, that's the most important thing. I've been in enough places to know that administration is the reason you have success. I believe that."

Pederson would not divulge specifics of the contract, but Dixon will likely earn more than $1.5 million per season. Dixon was the top-earning employee at the university last fiscal year with a salary just shy of $1.3 million. Pederson said it was important to compensate Dixon as one of the top-paid coaches in the conference because Pitt's record under his guidance has been among the best in the country.

"We know where we fit in this conference," Pederson said. "My feeling is that a coach ought to be recognized for that. I want to make sure he knows we understand what he has done and the heights he has taken this program."

Dixon is entering his sixth season as head coach at Pitt and his 10th year overall at the university. He took over when Ben Howland departed for UCLA before the 2003-04 season.

In his first five seasons, Dixon has compiled a 132-40 record with five consecutive 20-win seasons and five trips to the NCAA tournament, including three trips to the Sweet 16.

Dixon is 66-31 in Big East Conference play, which is currently the highest winning percentage in league history, higher than legends such as John Thompson, Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim.

"The one constant in this program has been Jamie," Pederson said. "This is the guy that should be synonymous with Pitt basketball. Like [Mike] Krzyzewski at Duke, [Jim] Boeheim at Syracuse and [Jim] Calhoun at Connecticut."

It was Pederson who helped convince Dixon to come to Pitt in 1999. When Howland took the job, he had one request -- to hire Dixon away from the University of Hawaii, where he was an assistant coach and recently engaged to a native of the 50th state.

Dixon visited Pitt two days after a major snowstorm. It took some convincing from Pederson, a former recruiting coordinator for the Nebraska football team, but Dixon accepted.

"We pretty much wore him down until he said yes," Pederson said.

In the intervening 10 years, Dixon and his wife, Jacqueline, have put down roots. Their two children were born here, and the family considers Pittsburgh home.

"[Jacqueline] had the biggest adjustment," Dixon said. "But this is where she wants to be. She's made that very clear. I've moved all over. I've had the opportunity to be other places. I guess the reason we stay is the people.

"Sometimes, you just say to yourself, 'I'm in the right place.' I remember my sister Maggie said that when she was at Army. She had some other job offers, but she wanted to stay at Army. That's how I feel. That's how my wife feels, which is probably most important."

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NOTES -- Dixon said the rehabilitation process for senior point guard Levance Fields, who had bone graft surgery four weeks ago to repair a fractured bone in his left foot, is going more slowly than expected because of a post-surgery infection. Fields' foot was injured in December. Dixon said Fields has been unable to do his rehabilitation and conditioning, but he said it was too early to tell whether Fields would miss any regular-season games. Fields was at the Petersen Events Center in a walking cast, but he did not wish to speak about his injury. ... Pitt begins preseason practice Oct. 17. The first regular-season game is Nov. 14 against Farleigh Dickinson. Pitt's opponent in the first game of the Legends Classic in Newark Nov. 28 is Texas Tech. The winner of that game will play the winner of the Mississippi State-Washington State game for the championship.