EDINBURGH — The only high school coaching job that Devin Burton ever really wanted was back at his alma mater.
Now, he has it.
A 2011 Edinburgh graduate, Burton was officially hired as the Lancers’ new boys basketball coach on Tuesday night. He succeeds Keith Witty, who departed after six seasons to take the same post at Greenwood.
“This is home to me,” Burton said. “This is where I’ve always wanted to be, so it’s just kind of been a dream of mine.”
Burton, who was part of a sectional championship team as a junior, played one year of college basketball at Earlham before transferring to Indiana State and earning a degree in elementary education. He came right back to his hometown as a teacher and joined Witty’s first Lancer staff as a varsity assistant. He spent two seasons in that role and has served as the junior varsity coach the past four.
Now, he gets to take over a program that he helped lead to some of its greatest successes. The teams Burton played for as a junior and senior won a combined 37 games, setting the table for the 2011-12 squad to go 23-3 and advance to the Class A semistate.
During his year at Earlham, Burton regularly came back to keep tabs on the Lancers.
“Those were my best friends,” he said, “so I was here cheering those guys on. I still felt like I was a part of the program.”
Edinburgh has won 53 games over the past three seasons. Despite two years of significant graduation losses, Burton is hopeful that he can keep the train moving in the right direction.
“We’ve got three guys coming back that heavily contributed last year,” the coach said, referring to senior Austin Brockman and juniors Jackson Hartwell and Connor Ramey, “and being the JV coach, I’ve got good relationships with those younger guys and I’m confident that they can step up and fill some of those roles that we lost.”
Having been a part of several incarnations of Lancer basketball, Burton says he isn’t married to any one particular style of play. He’ll keep some of Witty’s system in place but also incorporate pieces from other coaches he’s played under, such as former high school coaches Curt Chase and Drew Glentzer.
“I’m going to take a little bit from each one,” Burton said, “and kind of spin it and make it my own.”
One thing Burton definitely isn’t planning to do is use the Edinburgh job as a steppingstone to a position at a larger school. He grew up a Lancer, and he plans to remain one.
“This is the only place I want to be,” Burton said. “It kind of comes with the territory working at a small school — you know you’re going to have your ups and downs, and talent’s going to come and go — but I plan on sticking through it all.”
