December 10, 2008
PROVIDENCE JOURNAL: Hoops pioneer Mary Burke among those headed for Hall of Fame induction
By JOHN GILLOOLY
Journal Sports Writer
I've always felt Mary Burke holds a special place in the history of the R.I. Interscholastic League, so it was satisfying to see that she has been named one of the 12 individuals who will be inducted into the league's Hall of Fame in the spring.
Part of it, of course, is that she was a great multi-sport athlete in the early days of the league's girls sports programs.
When Burke was earning All-State honors in basketball and volleyball at Toll Gate High in the early 1980s, the Interscholastic League's girls sports program still was in its first decade of full operation.
In 1983 she was named Rhode Island's high school girls Athlete of the Year by the state's association of sports media members. She was one of the first Rhode Island female high school basketball players to attract the attention of women's college coaches from outside New England, so it probably wasn't surprising that she went on to become a three-time Big East all-conference selection at Providence College. In one game in her senior season, she scored 43 points and was named the1987 Rhode Island Female Athlete of the Year.
She went into college coaching after graduating from Providence and spent a few years as both the Bryant (College) University head women's volleyball coach and assistant women's basketball coach before being named the college's women's head basketball coach in 1989. In 17 years as the Lady Bulldogs head coach, her teams had won 246 games going into this season.
She is one of the best athletic success stories of any of the Interscholastic League's female graduates, but her story was always about so much more than just field goals and free throws.
