Eric Dixon has done all the work. Now, in the NBA draft, it’s time to ‘let the chips fall.’

Eric Dixon was on his way to a hot yoga class Monday morning. The last three months — after his six-year run at Villanova finally ended — have offered little opportunity to be home in Abington and little time for relaxation.

Dixon, college basketball’s leading scorer last season, a third-team All-American, was based in Las Vegas this spring as he geared up for the NBA draft. He held his pro day there and used Vegas as a launching point for the majority of the 13 workouts he has gone through with NBA teams in recent weeks. His 13th and final visit was Sunday with the New York Knicks, so Sunday and Monday marked just the second time, Dixon said, that he’d been home since Villanova’s season ended.

There is nothing left for Dixon to do. He tested the waters last offseason before returning to Villanova for one last run. He led the nation with 23.3 points per game. He showed himself to be a more than capable power and point forward, who wasn’t just a center, and showed that his three-point shooting wasn’t just the product of a small sample size. He made 40.7% of his more than seven attempts per game and scored them in various ways: off the catch, off the dribble, on the move, the way NBA scouts and front offices wanted him to when he went through the draft process last year.

All that’s left, Dixon said, is to “let the chips fall where they may.”

» READ MORE: Eric Dixon, Villanova’s homegrown star, is college basketball’s leading scorer and could one day be a museum curator

Dixon, 24, is at ease with whatever happens. Monday morning’s yoga class would be a good way to activate his body after a Sunday workout with the Knicks, but he didn’t necessarily need the session to relax his mind.

“You know me, I don’t stress too much about anything, really,” Dixon said.

He can leave that to his parents, Eric and Jean.

“I’m stressed as hell,” the elder Eric said.

There is a rational side of being a father in this moment. Dixon’s father knows he can’t get too high or low. Wednesday will pass without his son hearing his name called, but Thursday’s second round is another story. The Dixons will host 15 to 20 family and friends, but there’s no guarantee Abington High School’s all-time leading scorer gets picked. Mock drafts in the second half of the second round tend to be a crapshoot, but Dixon’s name has popped up on more than a few of them, and multiple teams have expressed interest in him.

Among the 13 visits were with the Lakers, Warriors, and Mavericks. The Sixers, Dixon said, interviewed him but did not bring him in for an official workout.

“I have to be ready to support him with whatever he needs,” Dixon’s father said.

That could be helping his son get ready for life in the city that drafts him, or it could mean talking with Eric and his agent, Darrell Comer, about what likely would be multiple free-agent offers and analyzing Eric’s potential landing spots and the rosters and fits.

But … “I don’t know how to deal with the emotional part other than to be nervous,” the father said.

Dixon’s unlikely rise from a self-described chubby freshman who was forced into redshirting during his first year on campus to one of college basketball’s best players has been well-documented during his six years as a member of the Villanova basketball program. The same kid who once called home in tears during that redshirt year and told his father that he didn’t think he’d ever be good enough to play at Villanova left the school as its all-time leading scorer.

Tell the high school version of Dixon that he’d one day be knocking on the door of the NBA, and he’d probably nod his head in agreement.

“I think if you told redshirt me that I’d be going to the NBA, he’d be a lot more surprised,” Dixon said.

“In totality, I think it’s just a story of hard work.”

» READ MORE: As Villanova goes through a period of transition, Eric Dixon has a chance at history, asterisk or not

This reality started to come into focus last year. He planned to leave Villanova and forgo his final season of eligibility. He spent the spring at a training facility in Texas, but surprisingly wasn’t even invited to the G League combine portion of the draft proceedings, which set back the professional timeline a bit. He returned to Villanova as one of the higher-paid players in the sport and continued to add to his game. There is little more he could have done. At 6-foot-8, he’s a bit undersized to play center in the NBA, but he proved his scoring touch and ability to play a point forward role that some NBA teams may covet.

His knocks haven’t really changed. As his NBA.com draft profile explains: “Dixon’s ability to put the ball in the basket should translate to the next level, but to carve out a consistent role, he’ll have to improve defensively, especially on the boards.”

“Most teams throughout this process are pretty polite,” Dixon said. “Everyone says they’re impressed, and everyone says they like my game. I don’t really know what to expect. It’s always good to hear good feedback. It’s better than hearing bad feedback. But at the same time, I still don’t know exactly what’s going to happen.”

His father likens it to a blowout vs. a tight game. Last year was more of a blowout. Dixon wasn’t invited to the G League combine, and being drafted was a long shot. There was time to process the emotions and move on. This year? Dixon performed well at the main draft combine in Chicago and has impressed during some of his workouts.

“Here, you just won’t know until the last pick is picked and whether or not you hear his name,” the elder Dixon said.

Thirteen workouts, though, has to be a good sign, right?

“Not when you talk to Khalif Wyatt and he tells you he had 17 and didn’t get drafted,” Dixon’s father said. “It’s just one of those things where you just don’t know. Teams give you very little feedback, if any. You’re just kind of hoping, but we feel like Eric did his part.”

His parents did, too. His mother is a college administrator, and his father is a teacher. They raised a curious student with interests that extend beyond a basketball court. But the father and son also spent long nights closing down the Willow Grove YMCA along the journey. And Dixon used the driveway of his high school coach, Charles Grasty, during the pandemic to work on his game when he couldn’t get inside a gym.

This week is the culmination of all of it, when Dixon could make the rare jump from Abington to the NBA.

“We did not set out to raise an NBA player,” Dixon’s father said. “That wasn’t the mindset. The mindset was, ‘Let’s try to produce the best human being we can.’ I just don’t think we could have done any better there. As a parent, that’s what you hope for.

“But as a result of how he’s treated people and the humility that he’s shown throughout the process and his career, you really have to feel good that a lot of people in this community, a lot of people that I encounter in my day-to-day life, they’re really rooting for him. Because he’s a good person, and good things should happen to good people.”

» READ MORE: ‘How absurd is that?’: Pope Leo XIV, once just a Villanova student named Bob, is a Wildcats basketball fan

This is pro sports, though, and the Dixons know that there isn’t room for all of the fairy-tale finishes.

“I told a friend of mine the other day, I can’t complain,” the elder Dixon said. “I can’t call people and tell them what I’m nervous about, because then it sounds like I’m bragging. ‘What’s bothering you today?’ ‘Well, uh, I’m wondering if my son’s going to get drafted into the NBA.’”

One was off to yoga Monday morning, spending part of his drive explaining to a reporter that he did everything he could and he was at peace that nothing was in his control. The other seemingly was counting down the minutes until Thursday night, nervous, excited, and all the other emotions that come with this week.

“I have always marveled at his ability to just be in the moment, whether it be a situation in life or a situation in sports,” the father said of his son.

“I feel like I did everything I could do to get the results that I want to get,” Dixon said. “However it comes out, it comes out.”