Beth Burns

Beth Burns
Current position
TitleAssociate Head coach
TeamUSC
ConferencePAC-12
Biographical details
Born (1957-10-07) October 7, 1957 (age 67)
Chatham, New Jersey
Playing career
1975–1979Ohio Wesleyan
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1979–1981Ohio State (grad. asst.)
1981–1983East Carolina (asst.)
1983–1988Colorado (asst.)
1988–1989NC State (asst.)
1989–1997San Diego State
1997–2002Ohio State
2004–2005Stanford (strength)
2005–2013San Diego State
2014–2017USC (assoc. HC)
2017–2022Louisville (assoc. strength/conditioning)
2022–presentUSC (assoc. HC)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards
  • 2× MW Coach of the Year (2009, 2012)
  • 3× WAC Coach of the Year (1994, 1995, 1997)

Mary Elizabeth Burns (born October 7, 1957) is an American basketball coach who is currently the women's basketball associate head coach at The University of Southern California. Previously, Burns was the head coach at San Diego State for 1989 to 1997 and from 2005 to 2013 and at Ohio State from 1997 to 2002. With a 295–186 record at San Diego State, Burns has the most career wins in school history. She guided San Diego State to seven NCAA Tournament appearances and earned five Coach of the Year awards combined from the Western Athletic Conference and Mountain West Conference.

Career

Burns played college basketball at Ohio Wesleyan from 1975 to 1979.[1] From 1979 to 1981, while completing her master's degree in physical education, Burns served as a graduate assistant at Ohio State. Burns then was an assistant coach at East Carolina from 1981 to 1983, Colorado from 1983 to 1988, and NC State from 1988 to 1989.[1]

Burns's first tenure as women's basketball head coach at San Diego State was from 1989 to 1997. During these eight seasons, San Diego State appeared in the 1994, 1995, and 1997 NCAA Tournaments, and Burns won Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in those years as well.[1]

From 1997 to 2002, she served as the head women's basketball coach at Ohio State. Her teams went 81-65 during her tenure, and Ohio State won the 2001 Women's National Invitation Tournament.[1][2] On March 4, 2002, Ohio State declined to renew Burns's contract, which expired after a 14–15 season in 2001–02.[3][4]

Burns founded BBHoops, a fitness and basketball instruction business in San Diego, after leaving Ohio State. In 2004, Burns joined Tara VanDerveer's staff at Stanford as strength and conditioning coach.[5]

On April 8, 2005, Burns began her second tenure as head coach at San Diego State.[6][7] San Diego State formally signed Burns to a five-year contract on August 30, 2005.[8] Inheriting a team that went 8–20, Burns went 3–24 in her first season back in 2005–06, but her teams improved to 12–16 and 18–13 over the next two seasons.[9]

In the 2009 NCAA Women's Tournament, San Diego State was a 10 seed and advanced to the second round. During the 2009–10 season Burns led San Diego State to a 22–10 overall record and a 10–6 record in the Mountain West Conference (MWC), as well as the MWC Tournament Title. That season the team was an 11 seed in the NCAA Women's Tournament with an opening round match-up versus the sixth-seeded Texas Lady Longhorns, with San Diego State winning 74–63.[1]

Eight months after signing a five-year contract, Burns resigned on April 16, 2013.[10]

In 2014, Burns joined USC as associate head coach under Cynthia Cooper-Dyke.[5]

After three seasons at USC, Burns joined Louisville as assistant strength and conditioning coach.[11]

Lawsuit against San Diego State

On February 19, 2014, Burns filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against San Diego State University, alleging: "SDSU fired her in retaliation for her unwavering demands that SDSU put women’s basketball and men’s athletics on an equal footing."[12] Burns also filed a similar claim against the California State University system in October 2013.[13] Trial began in May 2016.[14] In September 2016, Burns won the lawsuit, with an award of $3.35 million.[15]

Head coaching record

Sources: Ohio State,[16] San Diego State[9]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
San Diego State Aztecs (Big West Conference) (1989–1990)
1989–90 San Diego State 7–23 6–12 8th
San Diego State Aztecs (Western Athletic Conference) (1990–1997)
1990–91 San Diego State 14–14 6–6 4th
1991–92 San Diego State 18–11 9–5 4th
1992–93 San Diego State 19–9 9–5 T–2nd NCAA First Round
1993–94 San Diego State 26–5 13–1 1st NCAA Second Round
1994–95 San Diego State 24–6 14–0 1st NCAA First Round
1995–96 San Diego State 20–8 9–5 3rd
1996–97 San Diego State 23–7 15–1 1st NCAA First Round
San Diego State (first): 151–83 (.645) 81–35 (.698)
Ohio State Buckeyes (Big Ten Conference) (1997–2002)
1997–98 Ohio State 15–12 7–9 8th
1998–99 Ohio State 17–12 9–7 4th NCAA First Round
1999–2000 Ohio State 13–15 5–11 T–8th
2000–01 Ohio State 22–11 6–12 T–8th WNIT Champion
2001–02 Ohio State 14–15 8–8 T–5th
Ohio State: 81–65 (.555) 35–47 (.427)
San Diego State Aztecs (Mountain West Conference) (2005–2013)
2005–06 San Diego State 3–24 0–16 9th
2006–07 San Diego State 12–16 5–11 7th
2007–08 San Diego State 18–13 7–9 T–5th
2008–09 San Diego State 24–8 13–3 T–1st NCAA Second Round
2009–10 San Diego State 23–11 10–6 T–3rd NCAA Sweet 16
2010–11 San Diego State 12–17 6–10 6th
2011–12 San Diego State 25–7 12–2 1st NCAA First Round
2012–13 San Diego State 27–7 15–1 1st WNIT Second Round
San Diego State (second): 144–103 (.583) 68–58 (.540)
San Diego State (total): 295–186 (.613)
Total: 376–251 (.600)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Beth Burns". San Diego State University Athletics. 2012. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  2. ^ "Beth Burns". Ohio State University Athletics. 2001. Archived from the original on May 7, 2005. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  3. ^ Mossbarger, Jamie (March 4, 2002). "Burns not to return for another season". The Lantern. Ohio State University. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  4. ^ "Beth Burns will not receive a new contract". Ohio State University. March 4, 2002. Archived from the original on October 28, 2002. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Beth Burns". University of Southern California Athletics. Archived from the original on May 26, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  6. ^ Vargas, Nicole (April 9, 2005). "'Older and wiser' Burns back at SDSU". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on January 13, 2006. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  7. ^ "Beth Burns Returns As San Diego State Women's Basketball Coach". San Diego State University. April 8, 2005. Archived from the original on April 19, 2005. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  8. ^ "SDSU Women's Basketball Coach Beth Burns Signs A Five-Year Contract". San Diego State University. August 30, 2005. Archived from the original on November 15, 2005. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Coaching History" (PDF). San Diego State Women's Basketball 2015-2016 Media Guide & Record Book. San Diego State University. p. 100. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 20, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  10. ^ Zeigler, Mark (April 16, 2013). "SDSU's Beth Burns retires unexpectedly". U-T San Diego. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  11. ^ "Beth Burns". GoCards.com. University of Louisville. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  12. ^ Zeigler, Mark (February 19, 2014). "Ex-coach Burns files lawsuit against SDSU". U-T San Diego. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  13. ^ "Judge tentatively rules for ex-SDSU coach Burns". ESPN.com. 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  14. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2016-04-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ^ Zeigler, Mark (September 28, 2016). "Beth Burns wins wrongful termination lawsuit vs. SDSU". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on October 2, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  16. ^ "Ohio State Yearly Results" (PDF). 2010-11 Women's Basketball Team Guide. Ohio State University. pp. 178–179. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 21, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2020.