The 1996 Norwich Native Son was Howie Dickenman. He is a retired college basketball coach and the former men’s basketball head coach for the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils. He was the second-longest tenured head coach in program history.
A native of Norwich, Connecticut, Dickenman played collegiately at Central Connecticut State University from 1966 to 1969 as a 6’4″ center. He was the first pick of the 17th round of the 1969 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns, though he never played in the league.
Dickenman’s father, Howie, Sr, was a longtime coach at Norwich Free Academy
His first coaching job was as an assistant coach at New Britain High School.
He started as a college coach at CCSU in the mid 70’s. In 1977, he was hired as an assistant coach at Canisius by 1987 Norwich Native Son honoree Nick Macarchuk.
Previous to becoming the CCSU head coach, he spent fourteen years as an assistant coach for the UConn Huskies where he was hired by Dom Perno. The last ten years were as the top assistant under Hall-of-Fame coach Jim Calhoun.