Incoming Georgia Southern Director of Athletics Jared Benko has named Texas Tech assistant coach Brian Burg as the new head coach of the Georgia Southern men’s basketball program. 

Burg will replace Mark Byington, who left GS last week to become the new head coach at James Madison. This is Burg’s first opportunity as a head coach since he began his coaching career in 2003.

“We are thrilled to announce Brian Burg as our next head men’s basketball coach,” said Jared Benko. “Brian’s commitment to the comprehensive development of our student-athletes on-and-off the court resonated with the search committee.  As we spoke to some of the best and brightest college basketball minds in the country, his name continued to come up time and again. Brian has mentored under some of the top coaches in the country, and we know this experience will benefit our program tremendously.  Coach Burg will hit the ground running this week, and we look forward to him having a long and successful career with Georgia Southern University.” 

Burg came to Texas Tech from Arkansas-Little Rock with Chris Beard in 2016. He served as the Red Raiders’ chief of staff from 2016-2018 and was an assistant coach for the past two seasons. In his time at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders went 94-44 with two deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, including an appearance in the 2019 national title game.

Burg was also an assistant coach at Campbell and North Carolina Central. 

“This is a dream come true! A year ago, this weekend, we were playing Gonzaga for a spot in the Final Four, and today I am named head basketball coach at Georgia Southern University,” said Burg. “I couldn’t be more excited. What a year it’s been! I want to thank President Marrero, Director of Athletics Jared Benko, Senior Associate Athletics Director Reggie Simpkins and Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. Chris Geyerman for the confidence they’ve shown in me and the trust they’ve placed upon me. I also want to thank Chris Beard, LeVelle Moton, Robbie Laing, Kermit Davis and every coach that I have coached under and played for during my career. These men have left an indelible mark on the way that I approach the game each and every day. I’m proud to use the term ‘blue collar’ as it’s the perfect description of the culture that we’ve worked so hard to instill here in Lubbock, and I can’t wait to bring that same work ethic to Statesboro. I’m excited to share my vision and work relentlessly to build a similar culture at Georgia Southern.  Dr. Marrero and Jared have spoken very highly of the young men in our program and assured me that they, too, are ready to go to work in pursuit of a Sun Belt championship.”

Georgia Southern tied for fourth in the Sun Belt standings last season and has finished in the top-5 in each of its six seasons in the league. GS tallied 20-plus wins for the third straight season, a feat not accomplished since 1986-89, and the Eagles advanced to their conference tournament semifinal round for the third consecutive season, the first time that has happened in program history.

Burg’s first official day as head coach will be April 1st which is the same official first day for Benko as the new Director of Athletics. 

Elijah Jackson, The George-Anne Sports Editor, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu