Lonny Drayton takes over Smyrna girls basketball program

Smyrna will have its fourth girls basketball coach in four years this season, but it will be a familiar face to the Bulldogs community.

Lonny Drayton, who is also Smyrna's softball coach, will take over the Lady Bulldogs this season after Shelby Moore resigned recently to go back into middle school coaching in Wilson County.

"It's been awhile," said Drayton, who has been both a boys head basketball coach and girls assistant during his tenure at Smyrna. "But I've really been connected with it. My sister-in-law (Lindy King) just stepped out of it to go to Riverdale to be an assistant principal. I've kept up with her teams, and I've kept up here at Smyrna."

Drayton was involved with the girls squad last year, keeping the team's book and driving it to away games. 

Moore held the position for one season, following Jordyn Hartsfield, who coached one year before moving to Blackman, and Bud Brandon, who is now the head coach at Cannon County.

Drayton was the boys head basketball coach from 2008-13. He then spent two years as a girls basketball assistant before taking over the softball program in 2015.

"Lonny has been a Bulldog through and through," Smyrna athletics director Billy Harris said. "He played here, he came back here as a teacher and has coached here. There's a lot of tradition with his family coaching in this county. We knew we had someone in the building that could step in and take over when we found out we needed a coach. We knew Lonny was the best person for the job."

Drayton, a 1995 Smyrna graduate who played both baseball and basketball with the Bulldogs, will remain as the girls softball coach.

Smyrna has had success in girls hoops as recently as 2016-17, when the Lady Bulldogs went 17-11 under Brandon. However, the team has combined to go 6-60 over the past three seasons.

"We don't have a lot of girls that are playing in the AAU circuit. ... That will be a point of emphasis," Drayton said. "We're going to really focus on fundamentals and try to create the same culture we have with softball."