Buffie Burson has posted 25 winning seasons in her time in Dahlonega, including in her last 12 consecutive years as she now enters her 32nd season at the helm of the Nighthawk program.
The legendary coach has guided the program to 15 national tournament appearances, including eight NCAA appearances. From 2017 to 2023, the Nighthawks appeared in six consecutive NCAA Tournaments with the furthest run coming in the 2022 tournament, culminating in the program's first ever trip to the Final Four after winning the Southeast Regional Championship.
In the 2024-25 campaign, Burson led UNG to one of the best seasons in program history. Steered by a pair of Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-Americans in Caroline Martin and Emily Trushel, the Nighthawks compiled the best season in program history with a 31-3 record which included an undefeated (11-0) record on the road for the first time in program history. They won the PBC Regular-season and Tournament Championships en route to hosting the Southeast Regional and finishing in the Sweet 16. UNG broke historic marks in the 2024-25 season, setting program records in assists per game, assist percentage, three-point percentage and three-pointers made per game. Burson was named the PBC Coach of the Year for the fifth time in her career, the most in conference history.
Burson’s teams have averaged 21 wins per season in her 31-year career. She ranks among the most esteemed coaches in NCAA Division II history when examining the numbers. Among active coaches, Burson’s 31 years on the job and 663 career wins both rank seventh nationally. Among coaches with 15+ years of experience, her .698 career winning percentage ranks ninth across the country. She is also the winningest coach in PBC history with 233 conference victories.
She collected her 500th career victory on Dec. 17, 2018 in a 68-63 win over Flagler in the UNG Convocation Center. Her 600th win came on Nov. 19, 2022, a 76-70 victory over No. 9 Carson-Newman.
The first conference championship of Burson’s tenure came in the 1996-97 season in just her third season as head coach. She led the then, “NGC Lady Saints,” to a GAC Regular Season and Tournament Championship. Her teams have gone on to “cut down the nets” with a conference regular-season or tournament title in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2025.
UNG women’s basketball teams under Burson’s leadership have made their mark at the national level through the years, advancing to the NCAA Final Four in 2022, NCAA Elite Eight in 2019, the Sweet Sixteen in 2018 and 2021 and Round of 32 in 2014. From 1997-2005, Burson’s teams made eight NAIA National Tournament appearances, including three Elite Eight and two Sweet Sixteen finishes.
Over 31 years, Burson’s teams have placed a player on the All-Conference team every season, including seven of these players being named Conference Player of the Year - 1998 and 1999 (Morey LeFeve Ivany), 2001 (Courtney Hester Dwyer), 2012 (Jaymee Carnes Acton), 2014 (Mimi Hill), 2015 (Stephanie Huffman Sebring), 2020 and 2022 (Julianne Sutton) and 2025 (Caroline Martin). Burson also proves "the game knows no age” as she has recruited and coached 10 Conference Freshman of the Year, most recently, Caroline Martin in 2021.
Burson’s players have also been recognized on the national level as she has helped produce 15 All-Americans and six Academic All-Americans, in addition to several All Region players. In 2012, she coached UNG’s first ever NCAA National Player of Year, Jaymee Carnes Acton and also coached the 2022 WBCA National Player of the Year, Julianne Sutton.
Burson-coached teams perpetually boast high team overall GPA’s, as just over the past seven years alone her teams have averaged over a 3.2 GPA. In 2017-18, the team won the Highest Team GPA Honor at the UNG Golden Nighthawk Awards, and it’s always worth mentioning the 2005-06 PBC Championship team was honored by the WBCA for the 14th-best GPA in NCAA Division II with a 3.435 team average.
Coach Burson is a five-time Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year (2006, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2025). She was also recognized four times as the Atlanta Tip-off Club/Naismith Awards Georgia Coach of the Year, and is a three-time GACC Coach of the Year. Burson’s postseason run in 2014 led her to receive the WBCA Region Coach of the Year Honors and WBCA National Coach of the Year Finalist honors.
Throughout the seasons, Burson's teams have been built by the belief that “Most battles are won before they are fought.” In 1995, Burson developed DAWG Week, a now 27-year tradition, and is North Georgia's Women’s Basketball answer to the Army's Special Forces Training. Working closely with LTC Mike Ivy to implement “beast events” that simulate game-like stress situations, Burson puts her team through five days of grueling battle-tested events. She is often asked the secret in such training whereby she simply states, “well done is better than well said.”
She is also a member of a pair of Hall of Fame's as she was inducted into the University of Montevallo Athletics Hall of Fame in June of 2021 and into Milton High School’s Hall of Fame as the honoree for the 1980’s in the school’s 100 years of celebration in October of 2021. In 2025, Burson was inducted into the Truett McConnell (TMU) Athletics Hall of Fame as a distinguished alumnus of TMU's women's basketball program. Burson suited up for the Bears from 1985-1987.
In addition to Burson's coaching duties, she is an assistant professor in the Kinesiology Department. Over the summer months, she is the director of several girls' basketball camps along with the Team Camp of Champions, featuring some of the best high school varsity teams in the state. During the fall, Burson's Nighthawks host The Haunted House of Hoops, a free basketball clinic for elementary girls and boys, as a way of giving back to the community for their support of the team.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, and raised in Alpharetta, Georgia, Burson earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the University of Montevallo where she was a player and coach. Burson also spent three years as an assistant coach at Shorter University prior to coming to North Georgia.
Updated: June 2025
