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For Matt Britton, the only thing different is the size and location of the school.
At each stop for the past two decades in Indiana and Illinois, everything else was the same when it came to the culture and buy-in he established at each boys basketball program while piling up 299 wins. And that is where he started this week after his official hire as the new head coach and assistant athletic director at Bloomington North.
More: Larry Williams resigns as Bloomington South head boys track coach
"The one common denominator at each of the places we've been is the culture we've established within the program and the kids buying into that culture," Britton said. "It's gone a long way toward our success. And consistency has been really important. Doing things the right way on and off the court, with consistency, always striving to be our best.
"At each stop, we've been fortunate enough to have kids who were willing to change habits or go about doing things a different way, to try something new. They were willing to be part of a different atmosphere. And winning helps. When you have success, you get better buy in. The players have done a wonderful job everywhere I've been and my assistant coaches as well. It takes a true team to have success and to be able to sustain it for 22 years."
Ten years ago, he was leading his alma mater Bloomfield to the Class 1A state title game before leaving for South Spencer, where he was coach and AD. In 2023, he returned to Greene County and one of the Cardinals' biggest rivals on the hardwood of late, Linton-Stockton.
The Miners finished 25-5 and surprised a few with a run to the semi-state championship game. The cupboard never seems to be bare in Linton, whether it's football, basketball, volleyball, baseball or softball. But the challenge and opportunity at North was one he couldn't pass up.
"It really wasn't one thing, but collectively North had a lot to offer that interested me," Britton said. "I really enjoyed going through the process and thought very highly of the vision principal Matt Stark and athletic director Andy Hodson have for the athletic department.
"The assistant AD position really appealed to me as well."
North finished .500 or better in seven of Jason Speer's nine seasons with the Cougars, so Britton inherits a program used to winning. He also has four starters back who are still ticked off at the way last season ended at sectional. But 4A or 1A, Britton will establish the same things as he gets to know the players in the program.
"Nothing changes in terms of expectations of how we approach our team," Britton said. "I told the players I expect great effort and good attitude, be coachable and be great teammates and be ready to lead and ready to compete. Those have been the foundational pillars everywhere I've coached.
"We talked about what it means to be a great teammate, being a learner, learning the game and how to treat people in life. Basketball is a great classroom and teaches a lot of lessons, how to handle adversity on the court, whether it's frustrations with an opponent, officials or teammates. It teaches kids how to learn and grow and oftentimes, growth requires change."
Change isn't something North basketball experiences often, considering Britton is just the fourth coach the Cougars will have since Tom McKinney was hired in 1993.
"Coach Speer did a great job," Britton said. "Having very few coaches in its whole history, and so many great coaches, some of the best to ever do it, the program is in great shape."
The late official hire means Britton has some ground to make up between now and Game 1, but he expects to see a lot of growth during his first season.
It's going to help the process that he'll have seniors Derrick Cross, Levi Lindeman, Nate Walker and Tevin Bridgwaters back who built up some chemistry last year. He's looking to them to be good leaders, especially in making the transition to a new coach and the changes that will take place. Britton is also still in the middle of putting his staff together.
"It definitely put us behind considerably not having June and July to work on things," Britton said. "It will take some time, but we'll be much better in February and March than in December."
And Britton can hardly ask players to change without changing and growing himself as a coach.
"I feel like I've changed a lot," Britton said. "I've learned something every year. I'm always learning, picking up things, how to teach certain aspects of the game.
"At the same time, I'm trying to build young men be great leaders in the future. That has not changed. It's a big part who I am as a coach, for our players to be high character leaders in their community whenever they leave high school."
To be sure, Britton comes in not wedded to one style of offense or defense and says he's always adjusted to the talent he has rather than make them fit a system.
"You watch our Bloomfield team from 2016," Britton said. "We had pretty good height for a small school but no depth or quickness. We were limited in our ballhandling and we were slow, so we played a lot of zone and utilized our length.
"The last six years I've played more man-to-man because I've had more depth and quickness. I try to adapt to the personnel we have. Same thing on the offensive end. Last year, we were 33rd in the state in offense and we've been top 50 in the last seven or eight years, so I like to play at pace. I think you'll see us get up and down at North."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Why Matt Britton accepted Bloomington North boys basketball job
Continue reading...
At each stop for the past two decades in Indiana and Illinois, everything else was the same when it came to the culture and buy-in he established at each boys basketball program while piling up 299 wins. And that is where he started this week after his official hire as the new head coach and assistant athletic director at Bloomington North.
More: Larry Williams resigns as Bloomington South head boys track coach
"The one common denominator at each of the places we've been is the culture we've established within the program and the kids buying into that culture," Britton said. "It's gone a long way toward our success. And consistency has been really important. Doing things the right way on and off the court, with consistency, always striving to be our best.
"At each stop, we've been fortunate enough to have kids who were willing to change habits or go about doing things a different way, to try something new. They were willing to be part of a different atmosphere. And winning helps. When you have success, you get better buy in. The players have done a wonderful job everywhere I've been and my assistant coaches as well. It takes a true team to have success and to be able to sustain it for 22 years."
Ten years ago, he was leading his alma mater Bloomfield to the Class 1A state title game before leaving for South Spencer, where he was coach and AD. In 2023, he returned to Greene County and one of the Cardinals' biggest rivals on the hardwood of late, Linton-Stockton.
The Miners finished 25-5 and surprised a few with a run to the semi-state championship game. The cupboard never seems to be bare in Linton, whether it's football, basketball, volleyball, baseball or softball. But the challenge and opportunity at North was one he couldn't pass up.
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"It really wasn't one thing, but collectively North had a lot to offer that interested me," Britton said. "I really enjoyed going through the process and thought very highly of the vision principal Matt Stark and athletic director Andy Hodson have for the athletic department.
"The assistant AD position really appealed to me as well."
North finished .500 or better in seven of Jason Speer's nine seasons with the Cougars, so Britton inherits a program used to winning. He also has four starters back who are still ticked off at the way last season ended at sectional. But 4A or 1A, Britton will establish the same things as he gets to know the players in the program.
"Nothing changes in terms of expectations of how we approach our team," Britton said. "I told the players I expect great effort and good attitude, be coachable and be great teammates and be ready to lead and ready to compete. Those have been the foundational pillars everywhere I've coached.
"We talked about what it means to be a great teammate, being a learner, learning the game and how to treat people in life. Basketball is a great classroom and teaches a lot of lessons, how to handle adversity on the court, whether it's frustrations with an opponent, officials or teammates. It teaches kids how to learn and grow and oftentimes, growth requires change."
Change isn't something North basketball experiences often, considering Britton is just the fourth coach the Cougars will have since Tom McKinney was hired in 1993.
"Coach Speer did a great job," Britton said. "Having very few coaches in its whole history, and so many great coaches, some of the best to ever do it, the program is in great shape."
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Hitting the ground running
The late official hire means Britton has some ground to make up between now and Game 1, but he expects to see a lot of growth during his first season.
It's going to help the process that he'll have seniors Derrick Cross, Levi Lindeman, Nate Walker and Tevin Bridgwaters back who built up some chemistry last year. He's looking to them to be good leaders, especially in making the transition to a new coach and the changes that will take place. Britton is also still in the middle of putting his staff together.
"It definitely put us behind considerably not having June and July to work on things," Britton said. "It will take some time, but we'll be much better in February and March than in December."
And Britton can hardly ask players to change without changing and growing himself as a coach.
"I feel like I've changed a lot," Britton said. "I've learned something every year. I'm always learning, picking up things, how to teach certain aspects of the game.
"At the same time, I'm trying to build young men be great leaders in the future. That has not changed. It's a big part who I am as a coach, for our players to be high character leaders in their community whenever they leave high school."
To be sure, Britton comes in not wedded to one style of offense or defense and says he's always adjusted to the talent he has rather than make them fit a system.
"You watch our Bloomfield team from 2016," Britton said. "We had pretty good height for a small school but no depth or quickness. We were limited in our ballhandling and we were slow, so we played a lot of zone and utilized our length.
"The last six years I've played more man-to-man because I've had more depth and quickness. I try to adapt to the personnel we have. Same thing on the offensive end. Last year, we were 33rd in the state in offense and we've been top 50 in the last seven or eight years, so I like to play at pace. I think you'll see us get up and down at North."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Why Matt Britton accepted Bloomington North boys basketball job
Continue reading...
