New assistant brings experience, recruiting contacts
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
In an effort to maintain continuity from last season's record-breaking success, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball program officially hired Bob Burke as an assistant coach yesterday.
Burke joins the UH staff after 22 seasons as head coach at Chowan College, an NCAA Division III program in Murfreesboro, N.C. He compiled a career record of 419-217 at Chowan.
"He's got a lot of experience and he has a lot of recruiting contacts," UH head coach Riley Wallace said. "Those were the two things we were looking for."
Equally important, Wallace said Burke's teams at Chowan ran the same flex-motion offense used successfully by the Rainbow Warriors in recent years.
"We have an experienced club coming back, so we didn't want to change too much," Wallace said. "(Burke) knows the system, so he can come right in and understand what's going on."
Four starters return from last season's Western Athletic Conference championship team that finished 27-6 — the best record in school history.
Burke replaces Scott Rigot, who left Hawai'i for an assistant coach's position at Kentucky last month. Rigot held the position for three seasons.
"I'm really looking forward to coaching at UH," Burke said in a UH press release. "I have much respect for Coach Wallace and his staff. I'm excited about what they had to say about the kids in regards to their work ethic and academics. The whole package is exciting to me, working in Hawai'i and coaching at the Division I level."
Wallace said "probably more than 40" candidates expressed interest in the position. He interviewed the top candidates while on recruiting trips on the Mainland last month.
Wallace interviewed Burke while attending the Adidas camp in Teaneck, N.J., last month.
"We've been friends for a long time through coaching," Wallace said. "So I knew what kind of coach and person he was. I think he fits in with our system."
Burke joins associate head coaches Bob Nash and Jackson Wheeler on Wallace's full-time staff.
With Burke as head coach, Chowan moved up from a junior college program to NCAA-III in 1993. In 1984, Burke guided Chowan to the junior college national semifinals.
That team was led by Nate McMillan, who went on to a 12-year NBA career, and is now head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics.
Burke owns a bachelor's degree in Health and Physical Education from Campbell University (N.C.), and a master's in Education from North Carolina A&M.
Wallace said he expects Burke to make the move to Hawai'i before the end of August.
