|
 After
a debut season full of change, Eastern Washington
University men’s basketball coach Mike Burns begins
his second season the same as the first – pursuing
the school’s second NCAA Tournament berth.
His first season at the helm yielded just an 8-20
record, and Eastern finished sixth in the Big Sky
Conference with a 5-9 record. Eastern’s season ended
with a 58-48 loss to eventual champion Montana in
the first round of the conference tournament, but
Burns fully expects the Eagles to return to their
championship ways of 2003-04 (NCAA Tournament) and
2002-03 (NIT).
His 2005-06 squad will return a pair of starters and
three other letter-winners from last year. Although
eight letter-winners were lost – including
three-time first team All-Big Sky forward Marc Axton
– he is reloading with seven newcomers. Those
newcomers are expected to make an immediate splash
in the Big Sky Conference, thanks to an abundance of
players from the state of Washington. Eastern’s
13-player roster includes seven players from within
Washington, and two more that played high school
basketball just a few minutes away from the state’s
borders.
Burns himself has deep roots in the state of
Washington, having graduated from Tyee High School
and Central Washington University. He had coaching
stints at both of his alma maters, as well as
Highline Community College in Des Moines, Wash.
Known for his humor off the court and intensity on
the court, Burns has a reputation for creating and
motivating outstanding defensive squads. His 2004-05
team led the Big Sky in scoring defense in league
games only, allowing just 62.9 points per game.
Overall, Eastern allowed 67.6 to rank third in the
conference – less than a point per game out of
first.
Having spent three previous years as an assistant
coach at EWU, the 42-year-old Burns returned to
Cheney, Wash, to be named as Eastern’s 15th men’s
basketball coach on April 1, 2004. Burns spent the
2003-04 season as an assistant at Washington State
University under first-year Cougar head coach Dick
Bennett. But the prior three years he spent at EWU
on the staff of Ray Giacoletti, who left Eastern on
March 31, 2004, to become the head coach at the
University of Utah.
Under Giacoletti, Burns served as the team’s
recruiting coordinator, coached perimeter players
and was responsible for team defense. Eastern was
17-11, 17-13 and 18-13 in his three previous seasons
as an Eagle as the school advanced to the Big Sky
Conference Tournament title game each year. Eastern
won 58 percent of its games overall (52-37) and 68
percent in conference play (30-14) In that
three-year stretch en route to garnering the
school’s first-ever berth in the National Invitation
Tournament in 2003 and first-ever NCAA Tournament
berth the following season.
"Mike deserves the promotion because of his hard
work and loyalty in helping us build the program at
Eastern over the last two years. Mike’s next
opportunity will be as a head coach, and we wanted
to give him an added exposure to the
responsibilities involved so he can take the next
step."
As recruiting coordinator three seasons at EWU, he
helped the Eagles recruit heavily in the Northwest,
particularly from inside Washington. Eastern’s
recruits during that time included three transfers
from Tacoma Community College, one from Edmonds CC,
six in-state high school players and one from
Portland.
With Burns coordinating the defense for three
seasons, Eastern was one of the most aggressive
teams in the Big Sky Conference by allowing just
68.1 points per game while forcing 17.7 turnovers
each outing. All three years Eastern ranked in the
top three in the Big Sky in both scoring defense and
turnovers forced.
In 2002-03, Eastern ranked third in scoring defense
(66.9) and was second in turnovers forced (16.8). In
the 2001-2002 season, Eastern ranked third in the
league in scoring defense (68.9) and was first in
turnovers forced (17.4). In the 2000-2001 season,
the Eagles led the Big Sky in scoring defense (68.8)
and were second in turnovers forced per game (18.7).
He left Eastern to join Bennett at WSU for the
2003-04 season, and the Cougars finished the year
13-16 overall and 7-11 in the Pacific 10 Conference.
Washington State finished with six more victories
than the previous season, and the Cougars qualified
for the conference tournament for the first time
since 1990, when all 10 schools qualified.
At Washington State, the Cougars allowed an average
of just 59.7 points per game while scoring at a 57.9
clip, and forced 13.9 turnovers per game while
committing just 12.1 per game themselves.
"I’m grateful to Washington State, Coach Bennett and
everybody there who gave me the opportunity in
Pullman," Burns said. "My year there was a blessing.
Professionally it was an experience I can’t begin to
quantify how valuable it was for me."
An assistant in 1999-2000 at Stephen F. Austin in
Nacogdoches, Texas, Burns spent three seasons from
1996-99 under Greg Sparling at Central Washington
University. The Wildcats, fierce basketball rivals
with Eastern Washington in the mid-1970s, were 61-29
and won three conference regular season titles and
three conference tournament championships in his
three seasons there. The Wildcats advanced to the
NAIA Tournament his first two seasons, knocking off
the No. 5 seed and reaching the quarterfinal round
(final eight) both years. In 1998-99, Central was
24-5 and earned the No. 1 ranking in the NCAA
Division II West Region.
Burns coordinated Central’s defense, and in all
three seasons, the Wildcats led their conference in
turnovers forced and in turnover margin. In 1998-99,
the Wildcats forced an average of 24.2 per game,
better than eight per game more than they committed.
Five times Central opponents had 30 or more
turnovers. In his three seasons in Ellensburg,
Central forced 21.2 turnovers per game.
Prior to joining the CWU coaching staff, Burns
served as co-head coach of his alma mater Tyee High
School in the 1995-96 season. Prior to coaching at
Tyee, Burns spent three seasons as an assistant at
Highline Community College in Des Moines, Wash. He
also managed the West Coast All-Star Basketball Camp
in Los Angeles, Calif., in 1996.
Burns is a 1980 graduate of Tyee High School where
he earned six total letters in basketball, cross
country and track and field. He attended Idaho State
University and finished his bachelor’s degree in
health and athletic management at Central Washington
in 1999.
Burns was born on May 14, 1962, in Tacoma, Wash. His
wife’s name is Mary. |
