One week after being announced as UCF’s head men’s basketball coach, Johnny Dawkins has hired Kevin Norris to serve as one of his assistant coaches.
“Kevin brings a lot of experience to our program, both as player and coach,” said Dawkins. “He had an accomplished career as a student-athlete at Miami, played professionally for a number of years and since has made his mark as a coach, specifically at Florida Gulf Coast and USC. We are very excited and fortunate to have a coach like Kevin, who has so much success in the state of Florida, join our staff.”
Norris returns to the state of Florida after a three-year stint as an assistant coach at the University of Southern California. This past season, he helped lead the Trojans to the NCAA Tournament and the program’s first 20-win season since 2009.
Prior to his tenure in Los Angeles, he served as an assistant at Florida Gulf Coast for two seasons. In 2013, Norris helped guide the program to its first NCAA Tournament berth in school history and one of the most historic tournament runs in NCAA history. The 15th-seeded Eagles shocked the nation upsetting No. 2-seed Georgetown and No. 7-seed San Diego State to become the first 15-seed to reach the Sweet Sixteen. FGCU’s “Cinderella Story” ended in the Sweet Sixteen with a loss to No. 3-seed Florida.
Norris began his coaching career at Tallahassee Community College in 2007-08, then spent two seasons (2009-10) as an assistant coach at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He then assisted Buzz Peterson at UNC Wilmington during the 2010-11 season.
Norris was a standout point guard at Miami, where he played for then-Hurricanes’ coach Leonard Hamilton. He was a four-year letterwinner (1995-98) and the only player ever to lead Miami in assists for four straight seasons. Norris still holds the UM record for career steals (208), sits second in career assists (493) and ranks fourth in career starts (108). During his senior season in 1998, he helped lead the Hurricanes to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1960. Norris was also listed on the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team as a freshman.
Following his collegiate career, Norris played professionally overseas in Italy, France and the Czech Republic, as well as in the American Basketball Association (ABA) with the Calgary Drillers.
http://www.ucfknights.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/033016aaa.html
Photo Courtesy UCF Athletics
