North Texas announced the hiring of Jason Burton, previously at Texas A&M-Commerce, Monday afternoon.

Burton’s hire comes after nine years of leading the Lions’ program including their first in Division I play this past season that saw Commerce advance to the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals.

"We are extremely excited to welcome Coach Jason Burton and his family to North Texas to lead our women's basketball program," UNT athletic director Jared Mosley said in a statement.  "His history of building quality, successful programs and his vision for establishing championship culture stood out among our great pool of candidates.  As a DFW native, he also has strong relationships across the state of Texas and a proven track record of recruiting that will serve our program well."

Burton’s a native of Plano and an alum of Commerce.

"My family and I are extremely blessed to be a part of the Mean Green Family," Burton said in a release. "I want to thank Director of Athletics Jared Mosley and President Neal Smatresk for the  opportunity to lead UNT Women's Basketball into the future and into the American Athletic Conference. Their vision for both the athletic department and the university is a huge reason we are so excited to be at UNT. There is so much momentum here and we are fired up to be here and to get to work!"

The Lions went 69-12 during their last three seasons in DII under Burton and were two-time NCAA regional semi-finalists.