Darren Kinnard
Section618.com

CARBONDALE — For the first time in more than two decades there will be a new head coach patrolling the sidelines for the Carbondale Terriers. Thursday night, the school board officially hired Troy Barton to be the 17th head coach in program history.

Barton is an Eldorado native, who has spent the past 12 years coaching in Mississippi. He started his coaching career as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s teams at Southeastern Illinois college. Barton left SIC to be a grad assistant for two years for the Mississippi State women’s basketball team, before spending the past 10 years at the high school level, also in Mississippi.

Barton will return to southern Illinois after spending the past two years as an assistant coach as well as strength and conditioning coach at Tupelo High School.

Barton replaces Jim Miller, who resigned after 23 seasons and 424 wins as the Terriers’ head coach. Miller told us in an interview back in February, that he was not ruling out possibly coaching again down the road, but after 38 seasons of coaching, he said it’s time to try something new. The Terriers finished 0-8 in the COVID-shortened season completed in March.