New women's basketball coach Jason Burton thrilled with smooth transition to UNT

Burton bounced around like a lot of coaches do early in their careers before landing at Texas A&M-Commerce, where he worked as an assistant coach with the men’s team before returning to guide the women’s team.

Burton built the program into a Division II power, guided it through the transition to Division I and a 10-8 record in conference play in its first season in the Southland. It’s hard to imagine a coach having more job security.

Burton left it all behind and couldn’t be more excited about the way that choice is playing out.

“The administration has been great,” Burton said this spring while sitting in his new office at the Super Pit. “It’s been fun to know about all our different resources. I sat down for an hour with our sports psychologists and found out that we use the same people the Dallas Wings use.

“It’s been good getting to know all of the different people at North Texas and what we have to work with. Every day, I realize I made the right decision to come here.”

The challenge for Burton is to capitalize on those resources and take UNT to new heights. Program legend Jalie Mitchell led UNT to a runner-up finish in the 2019 Women’s Basketball Invitational and a berth in the Women’s NIT in 2022 on her way to posting 111 wins in eight seasons. Mitchell stepped down in the spring after an 11-20 finish.

Only Tina Slinker guided UNT to more wins in her Hall of Fame career than Mitchell.

Burton talked about UNT’s potential to do even more when he was introduced as the Mean Green’s coach. Nothing he has seen since beginning the process of settling in at the school has changed his mind.

UNT has fielded a highly successful men’s basketball team for years and is coming off a milestone season that was capped with a run to the National Invitation Tournament title.

The school is also preparing to make the jump from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference on July 1.

“There is a lot of potential here,” Burton said. “We’re in the Dallas market. The excitement around the men’s team winning the NIT shows that potential. We’re going into the American, are a big school and are growing. Our name is getting out there, which helps with recruiting.”

What UNT has to offer made the job attractive. A few connections helped Burton land it.

Burton’s wife, Alexyndra, played for Abilene Christian when new UNT athletic director Jared Mosley was in the same position at ACU. His brother, Brian, worked at ACU under Mosley.

Burton is also familiar with several of the coaches on men’s basketball coach Ross Hodge’s staff from his time coaching in men’s college basketball earlier in his career. Those connections have helped Burton settle in, as has his familiarity with the area.

Burton played at Plano East. His wife went to Fort Worth Christian.

“Coach Burton’s vision for this place, his excitement for UNT women’s basketball and what we can achieve here as well as his alignment with the things we value as a university and an athletic program make him a great fit,” Mosley said when he introduced Burton. “His focus on relationships and building an impactful experience for our student-athletes helped him clearly rise to the top in our process.”

Burton has spent the last few weeks quickly building his staff and roster as he looks to capitalize on what UNT has to offer.

He retained assistant coach Durmon Jennings and landed two former TCU assistant coaches in Britney Brown and Leah Foster. He also brought Princess Davis with him from Commerce and promoted her to an assistant coaching role.

“I got my first choice on a lot of the staff,” Burton said. “I thought we hit it out of the park on Brown and Foster. They’re veterans who are really good and connected in this business.

“It was important to me to hire women on this staff. I wanted to have a lot of positive female role models. You can’t get any better than those two.”

Burton and his staff haven’t wasted any time in remaking UNT’s roster. Dyani Robinson and DesiRay Kernal followed Burton to UNT from Texas A&M-Commerce.

Robinson was a Division II first- team All-American in 2021-22 and an honorable-mention pick in 2020-21. Kernal was an honorable-mention All-American in the 2020-21 season. The Mean Green also added Wichita State wing Shamaryah Duncan and Morehead State forward Sophie Benharouga.

UNT is hoping those players help fill the considerable void left when the Mean Green lost Quincy Noble, one of the best players in program history. Noble transferred to Oklahoma State after last season.

“We have upgraded our roster,” Burton said. “We are in that world where you are going to lose talented players because of the portal.

“The players from Commerce will translate. Robinson’s numbers against Texas, Mississippi State, New Mexico and Boise State show that.”

Robinson scored 23 points in a loss to the Longhorns last season.

UNT still has a scholarship to give and will continue to add to a group of returning players.

Burton said he has been impressed with Tommisha Lampkin, Jaaucklyn Moore and Aniyah Johnson, who has made a splash on social media by dunking tennis balls.

Jaylen Mallard, Jahcelyn Hartfield and Desiree Wooten have all shown signs of returning to full strength after missing last season due to injury.

Those players have jelled with Burton and his staff.

“It’s going well,” Mallard said. “The energy is great. It’s a different vibe from where we came from. It feels like we have a bright future.”

UNT officials felt like the program needed a jolt after the Mean Green lost their first game in the C-USA tournament last season. Burton has provided that spark.

“We all come to the court ready to get better,” Moore said. “We want to come in, do everything right and put in the work. We have always had the talent. We have the drive now that we didn’t before.”

Burton left a comfortable situation at Commerce hoping to provide that spark at UNT. He couldn’t be happier with the way his tenure started.

“I’m at home,” Burton said. “I knew that from the get-go.

“I was excited about the people when I took the job. As I have gotten here and gotten to know them, they’re all high-level people who are great at their jobs and are selfless.”