ST. MARYS – The 2023-24 Lady Roughrider basketball team will have a new face behind the bench as Jon Burke announced today he will be stepping down as head coach.
“I’m proud of what this program has accomplished these past six years. We’ve gone to districts five times and have competed for the district championship twice. We’ve had four players earn first team All-WBL and two players earn All-Ohio honors” stated Burke.
In his six seasons at the helm of the blue and gold Burke compiled a 93-55 record.
Burke has accepted the Superintendent position with Pike Delta York local schools and will begin when the 2023-24 school year kicks off in August.
On leaving St. Marys Burke expressed “It’s hard to step away. I’ve been blessed to coach amazing kids who are tremendous leaders and have been fortunate to work with awesome assistant coaches. I’m really going to miss coaching this team, we have great leadership coming back.”
Since his rise to the highest spot in 2017 the Roughrider ladies have posted a 33-21 mark in Western Buckeye League games and have won no fewer than 15 games in each of the last four seasons.
Burke leaves as the third winningest coach in Lady Rider history, behind just Tod Scarpella (1988-97: 132-71), and Bruce Brown (1998-2005: 114-45).
Postseason success for the program has seen a trio of district runner up trophies added to the Memorial trophy case while navigating a tough Division II schedule.
Last season the Lady Riders finished 15-10 overall and finished with a 6-3 mark in the WBL, their fourth mark of six or more conference wins in the last five seasons.
Asked about the what the future holds for the blue and gold Burke responded “The program has strong leadership and great coaches. I’m looking forward to watching this team compete next season. We’ve had a great summer with some young talent really developing.”