Buffie Burson
	Head Coach bbburson@ngcsu.edu 706-864-1628

Buffie Burson is in her 16th season as head coach of the North Georgia College & State Univeristy women's basketball team in 2009-10.

Throughout Burson’s career at North Georgia, her teams have won eight conference championships, and made eight national tournament appearances, including 3 Elite Eight and 2 Sweet Sixteen finishes.

In the 2006-07 season, her second year in NCAA Division II, Burson recorded her 300th career coaching victory with an 82-55 victory over Claflin University on December 30.

During the 2005-06 season, in her team’s first year of competition in the Peach Belt Conference/NCAA II, they finished with a 19-1 record in conference play to win the PBC regular season championship.  

In her 15-year tenure, Burson‘s Lady Saints have amassed an impressive overall record of 333 wins and 144 losses (.698), averaging over 22 wins per season. Burson's teams are known for tough defense of their home court. Under her tutelage, the Lady Saints boast an impressive home record of 165 wins while losing only 29 times on their home floor over this 15-year period, including a 96-19 record posted over the last eight years. (Four losses are to the 3 time NAIA National Champions Union University) In January 2003, Coach Burson reached a milestone with her team's 200th win.

The 2006 Peach Belt Championship team helped Burson earn Peach Belt Coach of the year honors as well as the Atlanta Tip-off Club/Naismith Awards Georgia Coach of the Year.  Burson is also a four time Atlanta Tip-off Club/Naismith Awards NAIA Coach of the Year, and three-time GACC Coach of the Year.  Over the years, Burson's forte seems to lie in judging raw talent. Among her recruits are three Players of the Year, eight Freshman of the Year, numerous All-Conference players and All-Academic players, nine All-Americans, and 6 Academic All-Americans. Most importantly Burson's players perpetually boast high team over-all GPA's. Five of her teams have been named to the WBCA Academic Honor Roll, including the 05-06 PBC Championship Lady Saints who were honored by the WBCA for the 14th best GPA in NCAA II with a 3.435 team average.

Throughout the seasons, Burson's teams have been characterized by their mental toughness. Buying into the belief that “Most battles are won before they are fought,” Burson developed DAWG Week, North Georgia's answer to the Army's Special Forces Training. Working closely with LTC Billy Shaw to implement “beast events” which simulate game-like stress situations, Burson puts her “ladies” through five days of grueling war-like basketball. She is often asked the secret in such training whereby she simply states it begins with the name itself. The initials in DAWG Week stand for Dedicated Athletes With Guts! “Their effort is a true testament to their character”, she says with pride.

Burson was born in St. Louis, MO where her father enjoyed a career in professional football. After receiving AS, BS & MA degrees from Truett-McConnell College and the University of Montevallo, Burson followed his footsteps into the coaching field. She began serving as a conference rater in 1998 and worked as an NAIA Rater at the national level, as well as being a member of the NAIA All-America Selection Committee, the WBCA Kodak All-America Selection Committee and the WBCA Scholarship Selection Committee.  In 2007-08 Burson served as a member of the NCAA Regional Rankings Committee and was the Peach Belt Conference Captain for the WBCA.
 
In addition to Burson's coaching duties, she is an assistant professor in the HPE Department. Over the summer months, she is the Director of several girls' basketball camps along with the Team Camp of Champions, featuring some of the best high school varsity teams in the state. During the Fall, Burson's Lady Saints host THE HAUNTED HOUSE OF HOOPS, a free basketball clinic for elementary girls and boys, as a way of “giving back” to the community for their support of the team.

Although winning is exhilarating, Buffie Burson's favorite part of coaching is the Xs & Os. However, it is the imparting of “life lessons” that remain her passion. When asked what she hopes her graduates take with them from her program, she is reminded of basketball coaching legend, John Wooden's advice -- “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation; for your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” “If, through my example, that is the only thing they learn from me in four years,” states Burson, “I will feel that I have truly succeeded!”