University of North Texas Athletics
Burton Announces Four Staff Hires for Women’s Basketball
4/7/2023 12:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Head Coach Jason Burton set to bring in a group with a wealth of experience
DENTON, Texas (April 7, 2023) – Head women's basketball coach Jason Burton has announced the hiring of four staff members to his staff.
Joining Burton will be Britney Brown (Associate Head Coach), Brooke Costley (Assistant Coach), Durmon Jennings (Assistant Coach) and Olivia Hunt (Director of Basketball Operations).
"I'm extremely excited to get to work with such a great staff," Burton said. "These four coaches, along with the two to be announced in the coming weeks, are exactly the type of people I wanted when I envisioned putting my staff for UNT together. They all bring different experiences to our program and they all are relentless in their work ethic, their desire to bring out the best in people and their hunger to win."
Brown comes to UNT with a wealth of experience, with nearly 15 years of experience coaching in Division I women's basketball, serving as an assistant coach at TCU, Nebraska and Tulsa.
Most recently, Brown spent the last seven seasons with the TCU women's basketball program, helping lead the Horned Frogs to three 20+ win seasons and a pair of appearances in the WNIT Semifinal. The former Oklahoma Sooners product named associate coach prior to the 2019-20 campaign while also holding the role of Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator during her time in Fort Worth.
In addition, TCU set program records with 17 home victories in 2018-19 and 13 Big 12 Conference wins in 2019-20. The Horned Frogs also managed to register its most road wins since 2003-04, notching nine victories on the road in 2019-20.
"Britney has an incredible basketball mind and has played and coached at the highest level of college basketball, Burton said. "Beyond the X's and O's she is a developer of people. She was an elite point guard herself and knows how to develop leaders on and off the floor. She is an elite communicator and connector of people, which also translates to her ability to recruit at a very high level. Coming from TCU, she knows the DFW metroplex, she knows Texas, and she is going to help take Mean Green Women's Basketball to the next level."
Costley joins the program after spending one season as an assistant on head coach Jason Burton's staff at Texas A&M-Commerce.
Costley was instrumental in the Lions' first season as a Division I program, helping TAMUC advance to the semifinal of the Southland Conference Tournament in 2022-23. Costley played a large role in the development of DesiRay Kernal who earned Second Team All-Southland Conference honors and landed on the Southland All-Tournament team after leading the Lions.
Prior to arriving at Commerce, Costley spent three seasons North Dakota State where she helped the Bison advance to the Semifinal of the Summit League Tournament two times. In just three seasons at NDSU, Costley coached a total of five all-conference honorees as well as three Summit All-Academic Team selections.
"I hired Brooke a year ago to join my staff in Commerce, and what I saw then is still true to this day," Burton said. "She is a rising star in this profession. She has a passion for people and is quickly becoming an elite recruiter."
Jennings will remain on the staff after spending the last three seasons in the same role at UNT.
Jennings works with posts and scout team on a regular basis. He assisted with one of the best seasons in UNT history, with back-to-back 10+ conference wins in consecutive seasons for only the second time in program history. The Mean Green also received a double-bye in the C-USA Tournament and a WNIT berth in 2021-21.
He came to Denton following three seasons as the women's basketball associate head coach at Eastern New Mexico. Spearheaded by his player development and recruiting, Jennings helped guide the Greyhounds to the second most wins in program history with an overall record of 22-9. ENMU advanced to the NCAA Division II South Central Region Championship Tournament for the third time ever.
"I've known Durmon for years, going back to our battles in the Lone Star Conference when he was at Eastern New Mexico," Burton said. "When Jalie Mitchell had a spot on her staff three years ago I told her this was a guy she needed to hire. And quickly after I was announced he reminded me why I recommended him years ago. The guy doesn't stop working. He has a great rapport with the players, administrators and our campus, he's great on the floor, he takes notes on everything and is constantly bringing new ideas to the table. He was a no brainer to keep."
Hunt joins as the Director of Basketball Operations for 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.
In four seasons with the Comets, Hunt helped UTD post an impressive 77-22 record while producing a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2018-19 American Southwest Conference Tournament title.
In 2017-18, Hunt worked as an assistant coach for the Texas A&M-Commerce women's basketball team now head coach Jason Burton. During her one season with the Lions she helped lead that program to its first NCAA Division II Tournament appearance in more than 10 years.
"In our one year together, Olivia showed herself as one of the most detailed people that I've ever been around," Burton said. "No job has ever been to big or too small her, she just works! And she wants to make everyone around her better. I knew she would be the perfect fit for our Director of Basketball Operations."
In total, this group has 34 years of collegiate coaching experience with 19 seasons of coaching at the Division I level.
Joining Burton will be Britney Brown (Associate Head Coach), Brooke Costley (Assistant Coach), Durmon Jennings (Assistant Coach) and Olivia Hunt (Director of Basketball Operations).
"I'm extremely excited to get to work with such a great staff," Burton said. "These four coaches, along with the two to be announced in the coming weeks, are exactly the type of people I wanted when I envisioned putting my staff for UNT together. They all bring different experiences to our program and they all are relentless in their work ethic, their desire to bring out the best in people and their hunger to win."
Brown comes to UNT with a wealth of experience, with nearly 15 years of experience coaching in Division I women's basketball, serving as an assistant coach at TCU, Nebraska and Tulsa.
Most recently, Brown spent the last seven seasons with the TCU women's basketball program, helping lead the Horned Frogs to three 20+ win seasons and a pair of appearances in the WNIT Semifinal. The former Oklahoma Sooners product named associate coach prior to the 2019-20 campaign while also holding the role of Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator during her time in Fort Worth.
In addition, TCU set program records with 17 home victories in 2018-19 and 13 Big 12 Conference wins in 2019-20. The Horned Frogs also managed to register its most road wins since 2003-04, notching nine victories on the road in 2019-20.
"Britney has an incredible basketball mind and has played and coached at the highest level of college basketball, Burton said. "Beyond the X's and O's she is a developer of people. She was an elite point guard herself and knows how to develop leaders on and off the floor. She is an elite communicator and connector of people, which also translates to her ability to recruit at a very high level. Coming from TCU, she knows the DFW metroplex, she knows Texas, and she is going to help take Mean Green Women's Basketball to the next level."
Costley joins the program after spending one season as an assistant on head coach Jason Burton's staff at Texas A&M-Commerce.
Costley was instrumental in the Lions' first season as a Division I program, helping TAMUC advance to the semifinal of the Southland Conference Tournament in 2022-23. Costley played a large role in the development of DesiRay Kernal who earned Second Team All-Southland Conference honors and landed on the Southland All-Tournament team after leading the Lions.
Prior to arriving at Commerce, Costley spent three seasons North Dakota State where she helped the Bison advance to the Semifinal of the Summit League Tournament two times. In just three seasons at NDSU, Costley coached a total of five all-conference honorees as well as three Summit All-Academic Team selections.
"I hired Brooke a year ago to join my staff in Commerce, and what I saw then is still true to this day," Burton said. "She is a rising star in this profession. She has a passion for people and is quickly becoming an elite recruiter."
Jennings will remain on the staff after spending the last three seasons in the same role at UNT.
Jennings works with posts and scout team on a regular basis. He assisted with one of the best seasons in UNT history, with back-to-back 10+ conference wins in consecutive seasons for only the second time in program history. The Mean Green also received a double-bye in the C-USA Tournament and a WNIT berth in 2021-21.
He came to Denton following three seasons as the women's basketball associate head coach at Eastern New Mexico. Spearheaded by his player development and recruiting, Jennings helped guide the Greyhounds to the second most wins in program history with an overall record of 22-9. ENMU advanced to the NCAA Division II South Central Region Championship Tournament for the third time ever.
"I've known Durmon for years, going back to our battles in the Lone Star Conference when he was at Eastern New Mexico," Burton said. "When Jalie Mitchell had a spot on her staff three years ago I told her this was a guy she needed to hire. And quickly after I was announced he reminded me why I recommended him years ago. The guy doesn't stop working. He has a great rapport with the players, administrators and our campus, he's great on the floor, he takes notes on everything and is constantly bringing new ideas to the table. He was a no brainer to keep."
Hunt joins as the Director of Basketball Operations for 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.
In four seasons with the Comets, Hunt helped UTD post an impressive 77-22 record while producing a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2018-19 American Southwest Conference Tournament title.
In 2017-18, Hunt worked as an assistant coach for the Texas A&M-Commerce women's basketball team now head coach Jason Burton. During her one season with the Lions she helped lead that program to its first NCAA Division II Tournament appearance in more than 10 years.
"In our one year together, Olivia showed herself as one of the most detailed people that I've ever been around," Burton said. "No job has ever been to big or too small her, she just works! And she wants to make everyone around her better. I knew she would be the perfect fit for our Director of Basketball Operations."
In total, this group has 34 years of collegiate coaching experience with 19 seasons of coaching at the Division I level.
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