Assistant Coach Randy Norton joined Mizzou in 2010, was promoted to associate head coach in 2012, and remained with the program until 2013.
In his first year on the Missouri bench, Assistant Coach Randy Norton brought a wealth of coaching experience to the Tiger program.
Before coming to Mizzou, Norton spent seven seasons with Robin Pingeton at Illinois State. He joined the Redbirds in 2003 as an assistant coach, when he helped Illinois State record its first winning season in seven years. He was promoted to associate head coach in 2005.
At Illinois State, some of Norton’s responsibilities included off-campus recruiting, scouting and coaching the perimeter players for the Redbirds. He also played a vital role in developing the Redbirds’ schedule and helped organize individual workouts and practice sessions.
Norton played an integral part in Illinois State’s drastic improvement during his time in Bloomington. During his time with the Redbirds, the team made the postseason five of seven years, including two NCAA Tournament berths and three trips to the WNIT. The squad also claimed three Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championships and two State Farm Missouri Valley Tournament titles.
Illinois State posted a 144-76 mark during Norton’s seven years with the program, including an 81-23 mark the past three seasons. In 2009-10, the Redbirds posted a 28-8 record, won their third consecutive conference regular-season title and advanced to the semifinals of the WNIT. The 28 wins were a program record for victories in a season, matching the 1980-81 team.
Before moving to the Illinois State sideline, Norton was head coach of Assumption High School’s boys basketball team for 14 years. During his tenure with the Knights, Norton compiled a 230-95 record and won two Iowa Coach of the Year awards. His teams also claimed two Iowa state titles.
Norton was an accomplished athlete in his own right. He was an Iowa All-State selection in basketball and baseball in high school and continued both sports while in college at Iowa. As a freshman and sophomore, Norton was a guard on Lute Olson’s (the former head coach at Arizona) basketball teams that won a 1979 Big Ten Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1980.
As a pitcher for the Hawkeyes’ baseball team, he was a four-year letter winner for Duane Banks, Iowa’s all-time wins leader. He helped the Hawkeyes average 34 wins per season during his time. Norton then went on to pitch professionally in the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) organization for three seasons before moving to coaching.
An Iowa City, Iowa, native, Norton and his wife, Claire, have four children: Tom, Carly, Allie and Nick. Tom, 20, is a sophomore basketball player at Truman State, and Carly, 19, is a freshman on the Parkland College basketball team. Allie, 17, is a senior who plays on Bloomington’s Central Catholic High School basketball team, while Nick, 15, is an eighth grader in Columbia and participates in basketball, baseball and track.