BROOKS SAVAGE - ETSU HEAD COACH
Brooks Savage was named ETSU men's basketball head coach on March 20, 2023. Savage, the 19th head coach in program history, served as an ETSU assistant coach during its historic run from 2015-2020.
In his first season as the Buccaneer head coach in 2023-24, Savage led the Blue & Gold to 19 wins – the most since the 2019-20 season – as well as a trip to the Southern Conference Tournament championship game. The Bucs won three games in three days with victories over No. 10 VMI, No. 2 UNCG and No. 3 Chattanooga to get to the title game where ETSU fell to No. 1 seed Samford in a tightly contested battle.
Savage earned his first win as a head coach in his Buccaneer debut as ETSU defeated King 73-56 on Nov. 6, 2023, while his first win over a Division I program as the Bucs’ head coach came against Atlantic 10 perennial power Davidson on Nov. 17. Savage coached a pair of All-SoCon selections in Jaden Seymour and Jadyn Parker, while Seymour, Ebby Asamoah and Quimari Peterson earned SoCon All-Tournament Team selections. Parker set a new ETSU single season record with 73 blocked shots, while Asamoah broke the SoCon Tournament record for made threes with 17 in the four games. As a team, ETSU set a new SoCon Tournament record in steals (42) and tied the tournament record with 168 rebounds.
ETSU went 10-4 at home in Savage’s first season, marking the most home wins since that historic 2019-20 season where the Bucs went 16-1 inside Freedom Hall. The Bucs also secured true road non-conference wins at Conference USA member Jacksonville State and American Athletic Conference contender East Carolina where the Bucs dismantled the Pirates by 16, 86-70.
Savage has a plethora of experience in the Southern Conference as he has spent seven of his 12 years as an assistant in the league. Between his five years at ETSU and two years at Chattanooga, Savage’s teams have combined to win 79 percent of their conference games (98-26) and 72 percent overall (170-67). Savage’s teams have finished either first or second in six of those seven seasons, while also appearing in four tournament finals and winning two of those championship games.
Following a run where Savage played a vital role in ETSU going 130-43 (.751), he has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach under Steve Forbes at Wake Forest. During his time in Winston-Salem, Savage helped bring the Demon Deacons back to prominence in the Atlantic Coast Conference and on a national level.
Wake Forest enjoyed the third-largest turnaround in college basketball history in 2022 – seeing a 19-win improvement – while the Demon Deacons’ 13 ACC wins in 2021-22 were tied for the most in school history and their 18 home wins that year broke a program record. The 13 wins also marked a 10-win increase from 2020-21, featuring the largest year-to-year improvement in ACC history.
During the 2021-22 season, Wake Forest reached the NIT Elite 8, while the 25 wins marked the most since 2004-05. Over the last two years in Winston-Salem, Savage saw Wake Forest compile at least 10 ACC wins, resulting in the first time the Demon Deacons had back-to-back 10-plus conference wins since 1996-97.
In terms of player development, Savage assisted in Alondes Williams earning ACC Player of the Year honors and Jake LaRavia receiving All-ACC Second Team honors. LaRavia was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2022 NBA Draft, while Williams signed with the Brooklyn Nets. This 2022-23 season, Ty Appleby was named Associated Press ACC Player of the Year – joining Williams with that honor – becoming the first time in school history that Wake Forest had back-to-back AP ACC Players of the Year.
During his time in Johnson City, Savage saw the Blue & Gold win over 75 percent of their games, while capturing two Southern Conference regular season titles and two tournament championships. ETSU’s 130 wins were the most victories over a five-year run in program history and the most by a SoCon team since 1953. The Bucs also won 71 conference games over this stretch, resulting in a .789-win percentage.
The Bucs won the 2016-17 regular season title and went on to capture the SoCon crown, earning a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament where ETSU faced Florida in Orlando. A year later, the Bucs won a school-record 16 straight games – which was also the longest streak in the country at that point – and finished with a 25-win campaign and a trip to the SoCon championship game. In 2019-20, ETSU posted a school-record 30 wins en route to sweeping both the SoCon regular season and tournament titles. The Bucs became just the fourth team in SoCon history to reach the 30-win mark and were one of four Division I programs to register 30 wins that year – joining Gonzaga (31), San Diego State (30) and Liberty (30). To go with the 30 wins, ETSU set a program record with an .882-win percentage.
While at ETSU, Savage saw the Bucs reach the SoCon championship game in four of the five seasons, while he helped coach 15 all-SoCon players. The Bucs also defeated three Power-5 programs during his time in Johnson City – Georgia Tech (2015), Mississippi State (2016) and LSU (2019).
Prior to coming to ETSU, Savage spent two seasons as an assistant at Chattanooga from 2013-15. The Mocs won 40 games over those two years, including a 22-win campaign in 2014-15, marking Chattanooga’s first 20-win campaign since 2004-05. Chattanooga won 15 conference games in that 2014-15 season – at the time the second-most league wins in school history. Savage helped coach five all-SoCon players, while the Mocs finished second in the SoCon both years.
Savage entered the Division I ranks as an assistant in the Big South conference when he led Presbyterian College through the Division I transition during the 2012-13 season.
Savage’s first stint as an assistant came in 2011-12 when he joined Steve Forbes at Northwest Florida State College where the Raiders set a school record with 32 wins, while winning the Panhandle Conference title and finished as the NJCAA National Runner-Up. The Raiders were ranked No. 1 during the season and had a 13-win increase from the previous year.
In his 12 years as an assistant, Savage has worked for six conference Coach of the Year winners, while coaching 32 all-conference players. Savage has averaged 22 wins per season in 12 years as an assistant, has totaled 20-plus wins in seven of the last nine years and been to seven career NCAA Tournaments. Savage has also seen his student-athletes succeed in the classroom as he has a 100 percent graduation rate during his time as a coach.
A 2008 graduate of Tennessee, Savage holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sport management/business. As an undergrad, he worked as a student manager and graduate assistant from 2004-10 and was a part of five Volunteer NCAA Tournament teams in his six seasons.
Savage and his wife, Lauren, are the parents of daughters Waverly and Sloane.
J.T. BURTON - TUSCULUM HEAD COACH
James Tyler “J.T.” Burton was named the men’s basketball coach at Tusculum University on March 21, 2018 becoming the 28th coach at Tennessee’s most historic university and the seventh head coach during the NCAA Division II era of the program. Since his arrival, Burton has orchestrated six straight winning campaigns while finishing in the top-five in the South Atlantic Conference standings in each season. He has amassed a 98-64 record including a 79-41 SAC worksheet. He led the Pioneers to back-to-back trips to the SAC Semifinals in 2020 and 2021 and earned the team its first NCAA Tournament berth in 2021 (first since 2009 and third in program history). His 2023 club won six in a row to advance to the SAC semifinal round for a third time in four years. The Pioneers went 14-6 overall and 12-4 in conference play during the COVID shortened 2020-21 season. Coach Burton guided TU to a third-place finish in the regular season standings and earned the No. 2 seed in the SAC Tournament where they advanced to the semifinal round. TU won its final six regular-season contests and parlayed their strong finish into a NCAA at-large bid. In a perfect 5-0 February, Tusculum posted an impressive 90-74 win over eighth-ranked and eventual NCAA national runner-up Lincoln Memorial. In the NCAA Tournament, Burton sparked the Pioneers to their first NCAA postseason victory with a 65-63 overtime win over 23rd-ranked Carson-Newman. Leading the charge for the Pioneers was SAC Player of the Year Trenton Gibson. Gibson was named to the NABC All-District first team and earned All-SAC honors for a third straight year. Gibson was also tabbed the SAC Men's Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year, becoming the first player in league history to earn the sport's top-two awards in the same season. Gibson was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America first team and was the 2020-21 recipient of the SAC President's Award, the league's highest student-athlete honor. In 2021-22, the Pioneers established a new school record with 19 conference victories as Tusculum finished third in the South Atlantic Conference. TU went 19-8 overall, despite starting the season 0-2. TU went an amazing 19-5 in SAC play which included a six-game winning streak and a pair of five-game winning streaks. TU also went 10-3 on the road which included an 81-74 victory at No. 4 Queens. Gibson and super sophomore Inady Legiste earned All-SAC honors that year. In 2022-23, Tusculum posted a 16-11 record while facing one of the toughest schedules in the country, which included four teams which advanced to the NCAA Tournament. TU ended the regular-season with a five-game winning streak to finish runner-up in the SAC Mountain Division and earn the right to host a SAC Quarterfinal game for a fifth straight year. Tusculum recorded wins against SAC Divisional winners Lincoln Memorial and Catawba as well as Peach Belt Conference co-champion USC Aiken. On Jan. 25, 2023, Tusculum defeated third-ranked Lincoln Memorial, 80-78, the highest ranked opponent to fall at the hands of the Pioneers. In his first season in 2018-19, Burton led the Pioneers to a 16-13 overall record and a 12-8 mark in conference, a 10-game improvement from the previous season. Tusculum hosted its first SAC Championship quarterfinal game since 2010 and snapped a 24-game losing streak to perennial SAC power Lincoln Memorial. The Pioneers earned season sweeps of Carson-Newman, Wingate and Newberry and won three overtime games in a span of two weeks at midseason. Tusculum finished the regular season strong, winning its final six games to grab a share of fourth place in the final conference standings. During the 2019-20 season, Tusculum accounted for its second straight top-four finish in the conference and hosted a SAC Championship quarterfinal in consecutive season. TU posted an 86-65 win over Anderson University in the SAC quarterfinal to advanced to the semifinal round for the first time in nine years. Defense and rebounding were what the Pioneers hung their hats on. Tusculum led the league in turnovers forced, steals, rebounds per game, fewest rebounds allowed per game, rebound margin and offensive rebounds per game. TU also finished second in the SAC in scoring defense and blocked shots per game. Burton has over 20 years of basketball coaching experience, including 11 years as a collegiate head coach. His basketball journey has included NCAA Division I stops at the University of Tennessee as director of player development for the men’s basketball program in 2014-15 and most recently as an assistant coach at Morehead State University for the 2017-18 season. As a collegiate head coach, Burton has amassed 248 victories which includes five 20-win campaigns, four national postseason appearances and two trips to the national quarterfinals. He has proven himself to be an outstanding recruiter and teacher, mentoring numerous student-athletes who have earned All-Conference, All-Region and All-America distinction along with several All-Academic honorees. Burton coached two seasons at Motlow State Community College in Lynchburg, Tennessee where he led the Bucks to an impressive 55-13 record. In 2016, he coached Motlow State to a 25-7 record and finished runner-up in both the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) and the NJCAA Region XII Tournament. In 2017, he guided the Bucks to a 30-6 campaign while sweeping the Region XII regular season and tournament titles, and advanced to the NJCAA Elite Eight. For his efforts, he was named the Region XII Coach of the Year. He spent a successful six-year run as head coach at St. Catharine College in his native Springfield, Kentucky where he compiled a 95-80 worksheet. During his coaching tenure, St. Catharine transitioned from a two-year to a four-year institution, playing on the NAIA level and were members of the Mid-South Conference. Burton served as an assistant coach at St. Catharine during the 2007-08 season and was promoted to the head coaching post the following year. He was named the Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year in 2011 after the Patriots went 24-10 and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament. Burton led St. Catharine to three 20-win seasons as the Patriots made another NAIA Tournament appearance in 2014, advancing to the national quarterfinals. Burton played collegiately at St. Catharine for two seasons and was a member of the Patriots’ 30-5 squad which advanced to the NJCAA National Tournament for the first time in school history. Burton earned his bachelor's degree from Tennessee Wesleyan in 1999 and his master's degree from Campbellsville (Ky.) University in 2005. He and his wife, Carla, have two daughters, Alexis and Jada.
The Southern Conference, which celebrated its 100th season of intercollegiate competition in 2020-21, is a national leader in emphasizing the development of the student-athlete and in helping to build lifelong leaders and role models.
The Southern Conference has been on the forefront of innovation and originality in developing creative solutions to address issues facing intercollegiate athletics. From establishing the first postseason college basketball tournament (1921), to tackling the issue of freshman eligibility (1922), to developing women’s championships (1984), to becoming the first conference to install the 3-point goal in basketball (1980), the Southern Conference has been a pioneer.
The Southern Conference is the nation’s fifth-oldest NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association. Only the Big Ten (1896), the Missouri Valley (1907), the Pac-12 (1915) and the Southwestern Athletic (1920) conferences are older in terms of origination.
Academic excellence has been a major part of the Southern Conference’s tradition. Hundreds of Southern Conference student-athletes have been recognized on CoSIDA Academic All-America and all-district teams. A total of 20 Rhodes Scholarship winners have been selected from conference institutions.
The conference currently consists of 10 members in six states throughout the Southeast and sponsors 22 varsity sports and championships that produce participants for NCAA Division I Championships. The league added rifle, becoming just the second Division I conference to sponsor the sport, in 2016-17, and added women’s lacrosse for the 2017-18 campaign.
The Southern Conference offices are located in the historic Beaumont Mill in Spartanburg, South Carolina. A textile mill that was in operation from 1880 until 1999, Beaumont Mill was renovated in 2004 and today offers the league first-class meeting areas and offices as well as a spacious library for storage of the conference’s historical documents.