Becky Burke is headed west.
The Clarks Summit native is leaving the University of Buffalo to become the women’s basketball head coach at the University of Arizona, the school announced Wednesday.
Burke, 35, spent the last three seasons at Buffalo, which culminated with a program-record 30 wins this season and the WNIT championship. She was 61-37 at Buffalo, improving each year by going 12-16, 19-14 and 30-7.
She becomes the 10th head coach in the history of Arizona women’s basketball, replacing Adia Barnes, who left to take the head coaching job at SMU.
“Our model centers around identifying head coaches who prioritize success in coaching, recruiting and the development of high-character student-athletes,” Arizona Vice President and Director of Athletics Desireé Reed-Francois said in a press release. “Coach Burke is a proven program builder and rising star in collegiate women’s basketball with a track record of transformational success.”
Prior to Buffalo, the former Abington Heights and University of Louisville star coached at Cal State Fullerton in 2013, and by 2015 had her first full-time coaching job, starting the program at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, where she had a winning record the first season and won 21 games in her second season. From there, she moved on to NCAA Division II University of Charleston (W. Va.), where she 48-14 before making the jump to Division I South Carolina Upstate in 2020, transforming an eight-win program her first year to a 22-win squad and Big South Coach of the Year honors.
“I would like to thank President (Suresh) Garimella and Desireé for this wonderful opportunity to lead Arizona Women’s Basketball, a program with such rich tradition,” Burke said in a press release. “Wildcats’ fans fully understand the role that elite culture plays in building a program that wins championships. Our staff will be ready to make that a reality as we call Tucson home.”
In her second season at Buffalo, Burke led the Bulls to 19 wins, a trip to the MAC Championship game and an appearance in the postseason WNIT. The Bulls won 10 games in league play, a seven-win improvement from the previous year, which was the highest improvement of any MAC school, while also finishing fourth after being picked eighth in the MAC preseason poll.
At USC Upstate, she engineered one of the best turnarounds in the country in 2021-22. The Spartans were picked 10th in the Big South’s preseason poll and finished with a No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. Her club tied the program’s Division I-era record for wins (22) and conference victories (14) as the team made a 14-win improvement from 2020-21.
Burke also had an impressive two-year stint at the NCAA Division II level as head coach at the University of Charleston. In her first season in 2018-19, she led the Golden Eagles to a 25-7 mark, which was a 12-win improvement from the previous year. The Golden Eagles also cracked the Top 25 that season and made their first NCAA Tournament since 2014.
In her second year, the Golden Eagles went 23-7.
Before her head coaching career, Burke was an assistant coach at Saint Joseph’s College (2014-15) and director of basketball operations at California State Fullerton (2013-14).
As a player, Burke was the Pennsylvania Class 4A Player of the Year in 2008 and was a two-time all-state pick for the Lady Comets. She scored 2,162 career points and was named to the Times-Tribune All-Region team four times, just the second girl at the time to achieve the honor. She also was the Times-Tribune Player of the Year three times.
She went on to a standout career at Louisville (2008-12), where she scored more than 1,000 career points. In four years as a Cardinal, she led the program to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the championship game in 2009 and the Sweet 16 in 2011.
Originally Published:
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
