ATLANTA – Texas A&M University-Commerce women's basketball coach Jason Burton has been named one of the eight finalists for the 2022 Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NCAA Division II Coach of the Year award.
 
Burton is named the Coach of the Year for the South Central Region, while Glenville State's Kim Stephens is the National Coach of the Year.
 
In 2021-22, Burton oversaw the Lion program that advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth year in a row and won an NCAA Tournament game for the second straight season. Burton has been at the helm of the program in four of the five NCAA Tournament appearances in program history. The Lions also advanced to the Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship game for the third straight season.
 
Burton, who just wrapped up his eighth season in Commerce, guided the Lions to reach their best ever ranking of No. 1 in the Division II Sports Information Directors (D2SIDA) rankings and No. 2 in the WBCA rankings. The Lions accumulated 27 wins this season, which are the second most in program history and finished the season leading the country in free throws made.
 
Prior to the start of the season, Burton was named to the 40 Under 40 list by Dave Campbell's Texas Basketball and was named National Coach of the Week by Women's HoopDirt during the season. He has also been selected as the Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year in 2019-20 and notched career win No. 150 with a win over UT Tyler this season. He is the program's all-time wins leader with 157.
 
2021-22 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year
FINALISTS

Name	School
Buffie Burson	North Georgia
Jason Burton	A&M-Commerce
Lori Fish	St Cloud State
Paul Honsinger	Eckerd
Ryan McCarthy	Alaska-Anchorage
Karen Pinkos	Southern New Hampshire
Kimberly Stephens	Glenville State
Mike Williams	Grand Valley State

 
National Coach of the Year: Kimberly Stephens, Glenville State