Head women’s basketball coach Jason Burton has finalized his first staff at UNT, hiring an elite squad of coaches to lead the Mean Green in the 2023-24 season.
In total, the coaching staff is comprised of 65 years of collegiate coaching experience and 26 years of collegiate playing experience across its seven members. In addition, the staff has compiled 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, eight WNIT appearances and 11 conference titles.
“It’s a blessing to be able to get to work with such an incredibly gifted and hardworking group of coaches that don’t have egos, don’t care who gets the credit, they just want to win and help these young women be the best versions of themselves” Burton said. “Hiring the right staff was my number one priority when I got this job. I knew if I got that right, everything else would fall into place. I think we knocked it out the park with this staff. Now it’s time to keep working on building a championship culture here.”
Britney Brown joins the staff as the Associate Head Coach after spending the last seven seasons on staff at TCU.
Brown helped lead the Horned Frogs to three 20+ win seasons and a pair of appearances in the WNIT Semifinal. In seven seasons at TCU, Brown helped the Horned Frogs win a total of 105 games, including a three-season stretch from 2017-18 to 2019-20 where they won 22+ games in three straight seasons for the first time in program history.Durmon Jennings remains on staff as an assistant coach, making him the longest-tenured member with the UNT women’s basketball program after joining the staff for the 2020-21 season.
Jennings works with posts and scout team on a regular basis and assisted with one of the best seasons in North Texas history, with back-to-back 10+ conference wins in consecutive seasons for just the second time that has happened in program history. Jennings came to Denton following two seasons as the women’s basketball associate head coach at Eastern New Mexico.
Princess Davis joined the staff in late April and quickly showed her prowess as she was elevated to the role of Assistant Coach, Recruiting Coordinator.
Davis came to UNT after spending the 2022-23 season as an assistant coach on Burton’s staff at Commerce. She helped lead the Lions in their transition to Division I and was crucial piece in helping them advance to the semifinal of the Southland Conference Tournament.
Dr. Leah Foster was announced last week as the Director of Player Engagement and Assistant to the Head Coach after spending five years as the Player Development Coordinator at TCU.
In her five years with the Horned Frogs, Foster helped the Horned Frogs post a pair of 20+ win seasons as well as an appearance in the WNIT Semifinal in 2018-19. Before working at TCU, Foster spent three years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Tulsa. The Hurricane advanced to the Quarterfinal of the American Athletic Conference Tournament in all three years with Foster on staff.
After a brief stint as the Director of Basketball Operations, Olivia Hunt was named the Director of Recruiting and Player Development.
She comes to UNT after spending one season as an assistant coach at Austin College. Prior to her time with the Roos, Hunt served as the assistant coach for the University of Texas-Dallas from 2018-22. While at UTD, Hunt was named the TABC Small College Assistant Coach of the Year following the 2019-20 campaign.
Finally, LaDerica Paul was announced this week as the Director of Basketball Operations for the Mean Green, joining the staff after spending last season in the same role at Incarnate Word.
In her one season at UIW, Paul helped the Cardinals win 15 games and earn the #4 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament. Paul spent the 2021-22 season at Texas Woman’s University as an assistant coach and an assistant coach at North Central University in 2021. While at North Central, an NCAA Division III program, Paul assisted in leading the women’s basketball program to its first regular season championship and first Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Championship.
