BELTON - Justeen Patton has been a volleyball champion as a player in high school and college. She’s served as an assistant coach at a major university.

But even with all of that experience, the 24-year-old Patton decided she wasn’t quite ready to take the next step and coach volleyball at the collegiate level.

The leaders of Belton athletics are thankful for her hesitation.

Pending approval by the Belton school board at its July 21 meeting, Patton will be hired as the fourth Lady Tigers volleyball coach in five seasons.

“I just feel like in high school you have more of an influence on the athlete,” said Patton, who, if hired, will make her coaching debut next month. “When you get to college, you respect your college coach greatly but it’s more like a business. It’s all about winning and not enough teaching. That’s what I’m passionate about the most, so I felt high school would be a better fit for me.”

If approved, Patton will replace Allison Taylor, who had a 30-32 record with one Class 5A playoff trip in two seasons before Belton athletic director Rodney Southern removed her as coach in February.

After more than four months of searching for the right candidate, Southern believes he’s found a steal in Patton.

“The big thing is the energy she had when she first talked to me about making a shift from college to high school,” he said. “Her background, the experience of college and her success in terms of playing on three state championship teams, those things were exciting.”

Patton was named volleyball coach at Durant High School in Plant City, Fla., in January. But before she coached a match, she instead chose to migrate to Texas because of the strength of high school sports.

“I think it’s a high school coach’s dream to be working within the state of Texas as a head coach, especially at a 5A school like this,” said Patton, who has coached club teams and at various summer camps and clinics. “I feel like I was almost born more to be a coach than a player. Those girls are going to work hard and it’s going to be good.”

The coaching bloodlines are strong in Patton’s family. Her parents have a wealth of college and high school coaching experience in the Tampa area, and her sister Jolene has also coached in college.

As a high school player, Patton played a key role in helping Tampa Preparatory win three state championships.

She attended Barton County (Kan.) Community College and won the NJCAA Division I volleyball championship in 2003. She transferred to Iowa and was a starter for two seasons before graduation.

Then Patton served as director of volleyball operations at South Florida from July 2006 until January 2007 before she became a volunteer assistant coach at Kansas during the 2007 season.

“I thought she gave some great value to our setters while in the program,” Jayhawks coach Ray Bechard said. “I was fairly impressed with her composure. I just think she understands and values the sport. She’ll be a star no matter what level she’s at.”

Belton will return three senior starters - outside hitter Becca Owen, setter Myca San Miguel and middle blocker Tilatha Akins - from a squad that finished 20-14 last season and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Once Patton is hired as expected and is finished moving from Florida to Texas later in the month, she plans to meet the team and parents. The Lady Tigers’ first practice will be Aug. 4 and their first scrimmage is Aug. 8.

“We’re really excited to actually have someone who was a great collegiate player and to coach some in the collegiate level and has decided to maybe bypass college coaching a little bit to try her hand at high school coaching,” Belton girls athletic coordinator Randy Bell said.

“We feel real fortunate. It (coaching search) took a little longer than what we wanted, but I think everything has a purpose. I think that length of time’s purpose was so we could get someone of this caliber."

cmeister@temple-telegram.com