Mary Burke, the 2007 Rhode Island Women's Basketball Coach of the Year, concluded her 18th season as head coach of the Bryant women's basketball team, guiding the Bulldogs into their first year of Division I competition in 2008-09.
Bryant, led by junior Kelsey O'Keefe's 16.0 ppg scoring average and 8.0 rebounding average, posted the most wins of the four Division I schools in Rhode Island (PC, URI, and Brown). The Bulldogs earned wins over New Hampshire, Colgate, Central Connecticut (twice), Saint Francis, Wagner and Fairleigh Dickinson. For O'Keefe, it was the third-straight season she has led the team in scoring and rebounding.
Coach Burke has been a mainstay in Rhode Island basketball throughout her playing and coaching years. Under Burke's tutelage, the Bulldogs have made it to the NCAA Tournament seven times, including back-to-back appearances in 2004 and 2005, as well as their final appearance in the Division II Tournament in 2008.
Burke's rapid climb up the coaching ladder began in 1987 when she joined former Bryant head coach Ralph Tomasso's staff as an assistant with the Bulldogs.
She was promoted to head coach, August 1, 1991, becoming only the fourth women's basketball head coach in Bryant history. She boasts a 246-251 record in her 17-year head coaching career.
In Bryant's final year in Division II in 2007-08 -- Burke and her team ended the season 20-12 overall, posting a 12-10 mark in Bryant's final season as a member of the Northeast-10 Conference.
The 2007-08 season saw the Bulldogs, who were picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches poll, defeat three nationally ranked teams -- No. 21 Bentley, No. 15 Stonehill and No. 17 Franklin Pierce -- en route to a sixth-place conference finish and seventh-seed NCAA Regional Tournament ranking. It was Bryant's seventh NCAA appearance and first 20-win season since 2003-04.
The season saw the conclusion of Lynne-Ann Kokoski's successful four-year Bulldog career, averaging 6.7 assists per game as a senior (No. 6 in nation) and graduating No. 2 in the Bryant record books for all-time assists (385).
Bryant also appeared in the national polls on five occasions this year, each time in the "Others Receiving Votes" category.
The 2008 dance was Burke's fourth as a head coach, while the 2007-08 effort marked just the second time she has eclipsed the 20-win clip.
Another highlight of Burke's tenure at Bryant came in the 2003-04 season, when the Bulldogs finished the year ranked in the USA Today Division II Coaches Poll Top-25 and advanced to the NCAA Regional Final, where they fell to Northeast-10 foe Merrimack College, finishing the season 22-9.
In addition to her duties as basketball coach, Burke spent two seasons as the head women's volleyball coach at Bryant, during which time she amassed a 35-20 record.
Burke's success as the Bulldogs' leader comes as no surprise, considering the lofty heights she reached as a player at Providence College. A three-time Big East All-Conference selection, Burke was named a District I All-American as a senior. In her four years as a Friar, Burke helped lead her team to an 80-36 record. During that time, she led the 1985-86 Providence squad to the Big East Championship Game and a bid in the NCAA tournament and also spearheaded the Friars' run in the 1986-87 NIT.
Burke graduated as the Friars' fourth-leading women's scorer (1,672 points) and seventh-leading rebounder (740) of all time. Her 43-point outburst against Miami of Ohio in her final season at Providence set a new school record, etching her name in the recordbooks yet again.
Before even attending Providence, Burke had already made a name for herself in Rhode Island. Earning All-State recognition five times at Toll Gate High School - three times in basketball and twice in volleyball - Burke has been honored on two occasions by Words Unlimited, Rhode Island's professional organization of sports publicists and journalists.
Burke was named Rhode Island's Schoolgirl Athlete of the Year in 1983 and accepted the organization's highest honor in 1987 when she was named Rhode Island's Female Athlete of the Year. She was also the recipient of the ECAC Award of Valor in 1987.
Burke was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004, and enshrined in the Providence College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007.
In addition to her Bulldog coaching duties, Burke directs the popular All-Star Girls' Basketball Day Camp held at Bryant University each July. She is a resident of Western Cranston, RI, and when she is not on the court she enjoys spending time with her three dogs, Spudie, Happy and JR, and her two cats, Mr. Boots and Prinie.
