MOUNT BERRY, Ga....Berry College has named Lilburn native Jonathan Norton to the post of head women’s basketball coach, Berry’s director of athletics, Todd Brooks announced Monday.
 
    Norton replaces Jim Izard, who resigned in January.  Brooks coached the 2004-05 season’s final 16 games on an interim basis.

    The addition of Norton to the Berry athletics staff concludes a national search that began in March.

    “This particular search proved a little lengthier because there was a strong emphasis on finding someone who was the right fit for Berry College, and I feel confident that we've done just that,” Brooks said Monday. 

    “We took a lot of time and worked very deliberately on this search so we could make sure we would find the right candidate to take us into the next phase of this program,” Brooks said.  “The process included a lot of people, including faculty and staff, the president, the provost and the ladies on the basketball team, and Jonathan related very well to all these facets of the college.  A big part of this is checking references, and while we didn't know each other, we knew many of the same people, and there was not one negative thing said about Jonathan.  They all spoke about his commitment, how he would be dedicated and very loyal to Berry College.  These are qualities that were instrumental in Jonathan's candidacy, and I think everyone realized that this was just a very good fit between Jonathan Norton and Berry College.”

    According to Brooks, the current team members were also a large part of the selection process.

    ‘We had one player on the search committee, and the entire team met with the candidates and would turn in evaluations based on their impressions of each candidate,” Brooks said.  “The feedback we received was very strong toward Jonathan, and they felt comfortable with his style and coaching philosophy and his expectations.  These young ladies are dedicated to moving to the next level.  They want to compete for a conference title and compete in the national tournament.

    “I’d love to see him lead this team to a conference title and into the national tournament, but I don't want to put any undue pressure on him,” Brooks continued.  “Right now, my aspiration is for him to build a program that the young ladies feel comfortable with, and will be able to sustain itself on the court and off.”

    Norton comes to Berry from Lander University in Greenwood, S.C., where he served as LU’s head coach for three seasons from 2002-2005.  When he took over the Lander program, it had put together a combined record of just 8-55 in the previous two seasons.  In Norton’s first season at the helm of the program, Lander finished 12-16, the fifth best turnaround in NCAA Division II that year.  The metamorphosis continued in 2003-04 when Norton led Lander to a 24-4 overall record, the nation’s third best turnaround, the school’s first-ever Peach Belt Conference championship and to the second round of the NCAA Division II National Tournament.  The 24 wins were also a school record, and Norton was rewarded by earning the Peach Belt Conference’s Coach of the Year award.  Relying on six freshmen and battling through an injury-plagued season, Lander was 14-15 in 2004-05.

    During his time at Lander, Norton coached nine seniors, all of which have graduated or are on track to receive their degree.

    For Norton, leaving Lander is difficult, but the opportunities afforded by Rome and Berry College were too much to pass up.

    “My wife Michelle and I are looking forward to starting a family in the future, and we love the Rome area and the Berry campus,” Norton said.  “The college is not just about getting an in-classroom education.  It is teaching the total person.  Like the mission statement says, it's about educating the head, the hands and the heart.  I believe in what it stands for, the Christian values and ethics and the stress they put on the academic side within the athletic department.  It just makes for a very inviting environment.

    “We wanted to come to an institution in which we believe we can fit, not just academically but the in the total picture, from the moral beliefs to  the size of the city.  We love being closer to our parents in the metro Atlanta area, but at the same time I don't really have a desire to live in Atlanta anymore, so the fit is just perfect.  We are close to home, and I think we are at one of the top institutions in the state of Georgia.”

    Prior to his stint at Lander, Norton was an assistant at Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga., for seven years.  CSU was 130-33 during his time there, including trips to the NCAA Division II Final Four in both 2000 and 2001.  Along with his duties on the hardwood, Norton also earned as the head cross country coach at CSU, earning men’s Coach of the Year honors in the Peach Belt in 1999.

    According to Norton, he has thought about the Berry job for years.

    “This is a job I've had my eye on for years, back to when I was at Columbus,” Norton said.  “I've always felt that this job at Berry College was one of the top jobs in the state because of what it stands for.  I want the community to know that our team is going to serve the community.  We are going to be there with our doors and arms open to welcome the community, and we want to be a part of the community.  Not just as a form of entertainment, but as a form of servant leadership. 

    “I'm not into coaching college basketball for the wins and losses,” Norton said.  “I'm in it so I can help college student-athletes succeed in life.  I'm in it for the players, and I want to put them  first.  I want to treat them like my children.  I want to care for them and provide for them the leadership and the life lessons.  I want to use basketball as a tool to build life-long relationships.  We are building a program, not just a basketball team, that has a family atmosphere where you can continue those relationships for the rest of our lives."

     Norton graduated from Berkmar High School in Lilburn in 1991.  He owns Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Columbus State.

    Norton becomes the ninth full-time head coach at Berry since 1964.  He takes over a Lady Vikings program that finished this past season 20-12 overall and 13-7 and in third place in the Southern States Athletic Conference. 

...berryvikings...