SCRANTON, Pa. — WNEP Sports Director Jim Coles sat down with Becky Burke over Zoom this week for a one-on-one interview. The former Abington Heights star was recently named the new Women's Basketball Coach at USC Upstate.
Burke: "I just feel like everything is place here to be successful. I feel like we've got the resources, we've got the administration, we've got a solid team, campus life, community life. It's a great place to live. It's a great place to be and they're excited about women's basketball here."
Coles: "What kind of coach are you? I know you as a player. I know you as a person. What kind of coach are you because I know there's an analytical side and there's a passionate side. So how do you mix the head with the heart?"
Burke: "I would say those of you that know me as a player and saw me play in high school, think about that player, 30 years old, a little more mature, a little wiser. I'm still as passionate as I was. I love this game. I love coaching young women and I think 'passion' would be the work that comes to mind when people talk about me as a coach. My teams always display a high level of toughness and you have to have that passion. You have to have that energy, but you also do have to know how to coach and teach and do the X's and O's part and that's where I've grown so much in the last few years in my head coaching time is just those end game situations, X's and O's. I don't think you ever stop growing in those areas. Obviously, these are tough times. It's tough to navigate our way through all of this virtual conversations and things like that, but we're doing the best we can and I'm just excited to get them back on campus as soon as that's able to happen."
Coles: "Where's the headband? That was a main staple for you."
Burke: "I know. People may not even recognize me right now. I probably have 50 of those somewhere in a bag, at the house."
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Coles: "What did you take from coach (Vince) Bucciarelli at Abington and Coach (Jeff) Walz at Louisville that you definitely use and you think about almost every day and say 'I've heard this before?'"
Burke: "I think just the toughness factor. Those two hold their teams to such high standards and there's a reason they've been so successful in their careers. Accountability. Toughness. Doing things the right way. How to win. Both of those coaches that I had the pleasure of playing for instilled those values in me and that's what I instill in my players today. Really teaching the game and getting our players to play hard. Those are all things that both of those coaches showed me and taught me and just the way we go about our business. Winning and how to do that. Any you do, do it at a high level and do your best. I'm just such a competitor. I think that's what people know about me is I compete in everything I do. I'm going to finish eating my dinner before you are. That's just the type of person that I am. So anything that you do in life, whether that's staying in sports, whether that's working a nine to five, a small job in high school, whatever it is, just do you best and have that be just ingrained in you, what your identity is and anything that you do, do your absolute best."