FORT MYERS, Fla. – Jack Burton, who spent the last two seasons with the University of Dayton, has been named assistant coach of the FGCU Volleyball program as announced by head coach Matt Botsford today.
 
"I am absolutely honored to be joining the Florida Gulf Coast Volleyball program. My wife Cori and I would like to sincerely thank Ken Kavanagh, Matt Botsford, and Kate Morrell for the opportunity to be a part of the Eagle flock," said Burton. "I also want to thank all the incredible mentors that have helped shape my career through the years. I am extremely excited to work with the student athletes, administration, and entire staff at FGCU. I can't wait to build upon the successes of the program and help it reach new heights!"
 
Burton was a volunteer assistant coach with the nationally-ranked Flyers during the 2020 and 2021 campaigns. He helped UD go 40-8 with two Atlantic 10 Championship titles and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. His primary focus was attack/setter training, film breakdown and scouting, recruiting, and summer camp coaching outside of his in-match responsibilities.
 
In his two seasons with the Flyers, Dayton received its highest AVCA ranking at No. 26 and was one of the top ranked offenses and defenses in the country. He helped train two AVCA All-Americans, three first team all-region selections, two A-10 Athletes of the Year, two A-10 Setters of the Year, two Players of the Year, a Libero of the Year, and nine All-Atlantic 10 honorees.
 
"We are so excited to welcome Jack to the FGCU Volleyball family. From the start of the interview process I was very impressed with his knowledge of the game, his ability to communicate ideas, and his overall passion for teaching young student-athletes," said Botsford. "Having now seen him in action with our own players, he is a wonderfully gifted young coach that understands the significance of every interaction within the gym. His priority is very clearly to make those around him better and he has a knack for doing exactly that. Jack will be integral to what we continue to build here and I am looking forward to seeing the positive contributions that he will undoubtedly make."

A graduate of Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz., Burton played in 63 matches at outside hitter for the Lopes men's volleyball team. He was voted team captain for the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He was named to the MIVA Academic All-Conference team as a freshman. He earned a bachelor's degree in exercise science with an emphasis in sport performance training from GCU in 2020. 

A native of Bolingbrook, Ill., Burton played for Naperville Central High School where he was a three year varsity starter, was named Illinois All-State in 2014 and 2015, and tallied 1,000+ career kills. He was a two-time captain and National Honor Society member, plus holds the Naperville Central record in kills and aces.

In addition, he played club for Sports Performance Volleyball, starting on the 15's team up through the 18's team and qualifying for four open USAV nationals, placing as high as 5th place at USAV nationals. He was named to the USAV 18's open division all-tournament team at nationals.

He joins the Flyers after serving as the boys assistant coach, 16N-RL for Prestige Volleyball Arizona from 2019-20. He served as a summer coach at the GCU men's volleyball all-skills camp.  

He was the boys 17's assistant coach for Club 1 Boy's Volleyball in Plainfield, Ill.  That squad qualified and was the 13th place finisher at USAV Nationals at the 2016 Indoor Open and also were AAU National Champions.
 
The Eagles are coming off a historic season which saw FGCU post a 27-6 overall record en route to the ASUN Championship Title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. In the NCAA First Round, the Green and Blue was able to rally past Texas Tech but fell in the second round against eventual national champion Wisconsin. The championship title and NCAA berth marked the second time in program history (2018) for the Eagles to accomplish both.
 
The 27 wins tied the program record, alongside the 2016 and 2018 teams, while FGCU also posted its best-ever RPI at No. 31 during the year. Over the last five seasons, the Eagles have the 12^th most wins of any team in the country with 144 which is more than Stanford, Penn State, and Washington, but just behind Wisconsin and Minnesota.
 
The Eagles are set to return 12 veterans this upcoming season including three of their top-five point producers.
 
For complete coverage of the volleyball program, follow the Eagles on Twitter at @FGCU_VB, on Instagram at @FGCU_VB, on Facebook at /FGCUVolleyball and online at FGCUathletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU volleyball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
 
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IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!

COACH BOTSFORD
Matt Botsford finished his eighth season as head coach of the FGCU women's volleyball program in 2021 after being hired on Feb. 10, 2014. In his tenure, Botsford-led teams have compiled a 184-59 (.757) record overall, including a 96-20 (.827) record in ASUN play. Including this past year's unprecedented spring season, he has taken the program to heights it has not seen in the Division-I era (2007-present) – registering at least 20 wins overall in six of the past seven seasons and at least 10 wins in conference play every season. In 2018, he led the program to its first regular season championship since 2012 (fourth overall) and its first-ever ASUN tournament title, NCAA tournament appearance, NCAA tournament win and victory over a ranked team. His first two campaigns resulted in ASUN regular season runner-up finishes, and the following two saw the Eagles advance to the tournament championship and now the team has won three straight regular season titles, including a division title and ASUN tournament runner-up finish in the spring 2021 season. On Sept. 10, 2016, Botsford led his team to a five-set win over Indiana in Alico Arena, which signified the program's first-ever win over a team from a Power-5 conference. In 2018, he led the team to a win over Miami (Fla.) - the program's first-ever road Power 5 win, and the Eagles followed that up with a straight-set win over the Hurricanes at a neutral site in 2019.
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 25, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--