Indiana announced Thursday night that assistant coach Nick Norton has joined Darian DeVries’s coaching staff.
Last season, Norton served as an assistant coach and director of player development under DeVries at West Virginia.
Here’s the full release on Norton’s hiring, per IU athletics:
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana head men’s basketball coach Darian DeVries announced the addition of assistant coach Nick Norton to his inaugural staff in Bloomington.
“We are excited to have Nick join our staff,” DeVries said. “He brings tremendous knowledge and feel for what we want our program to be about. He is terrific with the players on the floor and brings incredible energy every day to the practice floor.”
A native of Bloomington, Ill., Norton relocated to Bloomington, Ind., after one season as an assistant coach & director of player development at West Virginia under DeVries. The Mountaineers improved its previous season’s win total by 10 games to an overall record of 19-13 and a 10-10 mark in Big XII games. WVU earned six Quad 1 victories, 13 wins over NET Top 100 programs, and four triumphs over ranked opponents.
West Virginia played the final 24 games of the season without two-time Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, Tucker DeVries, who was lost for the season with an injury. The Mountaineers held a record of 6-2 with wins over No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 24 Arizona in the Battle 4 Atlantis at the time of the injury. WVU climbed as high as No. 21 in the Associated Press Top 25 (Week 10).
Under the guidance of the staff, senior guard Javon Small became the fourth Mountaineer in program history to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native tied for the league lead with 18.5 points per game, was third in free throw percentage (88.1%), third in assists per game (5.6), fourth in 3-point percentage (35.3%), fourth in 3-point field goals per game (2.5), ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (+2.1), and 12th in steals per game (1.6).
Norton joined the Mountaineer basketball staff after three seasons (2021-24) on DeVries’ staff at Drake, helping the Bulldogs to an 80-26 (.755) record with two NCAA Tournament appearances and two Missouri Valley Conference titles.
Norton joined the Drake staff during the 2021-22 season as assistant director of operations and was elevated to director of operations prior to the 2022-23 season. He was promoted to assistant coach/director of player development for the 2023-24 campaign.
Norton began his collegiate career at UAB (2014-18), making 97 starts for the Blazers. He was named All-Conference USA Third Team as a sophomore, averaging 8.9 points per game and leading the league in assist-to-turnover ratio. Norton was named the 2016 Conference USA Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. As a freshman, he was one of 21 Kyle Macy National Freshman of the Year Award finalists and named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team.
He transferred to Drake in 2018 and averaged 14.0 points, 5.9 assists, and 4.1 rebounds per game before an injury ended his collegiate career. Norton set Drake’s single-game assists record (17) against North Dakota State, a record that stood until the 2022-23 season. He scored a career-high 31 points against San Diego and recorded the second triple-double in team history with 18 points, 17 assists, and 13 rebounds against North Dakota State. Norton was named MVC Newcomer of the Week three times and Player of the Week once.
In 2019, Norton signed with the South Bay Lakers of the NBA G League, appearing in two games before stepping away due to injuries.
His father, Randy, is the head women’s basketball coach at UAB. Nick and his wife, Caraline, have one son, Campton.
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