Burt answers call into coaching
Washington native and Trinity High School graduate Dan Burt is in his second season as head coach of the Duquesne University women’s basketball team.
Before becoming head women’s basketball coach at Duquesne, Dan Burt worked as an assistant at multiple schools and as a basketball official in the PSAC and PAC.
Dan Burt sat in a New Jersey hotel room in late spring of 1997 when his phone rang. To Burt’s surprise, the caller was Alexis Basil, who recently had become West Virginia’s women’s basketball coach.
The two were familiar from their work at summer basketball camps. Burt congratulated Basil, who replied by asking him to join her staff in Morgantown.
Burt, then 26, was working as an admissions counselor at Shepherd College, where he was an assistant men’s coach for one season, and as a basketball official.
He replied, “Of course, I’d love to work a summer camp again.”
Basil chuckled before offering Burt a spot as an assistant coach. Burt had a decision to make. He had a successful officiating career in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference.
Burt was on the fast track to becoming a Division I basketball official and faced a life-changing decision. Did he want to trade the stripes for a suit?
He chose coaching.
“I felt I could impact kids’ lives more as a coach and I wanted to give it a try,” Burt said. “I had not done a lot of coaching to that point, so I took the opportunity.”
Burt, a Washington native and Trinity High School graduate, is now in his second year as Duquesne’s women’s basketball coach and guided the Dukes to their sixth consecutive 20-win season last year. He was also a finalist for the Spalding Maggie Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year award.
It was not long ago Burt was playing basketball at Trinity and was a regular fixture at the Brownson House.
“When you think about being that little kid that played basketball for the Pancake Panthers in sixth and seventh grade, then you’re standing on the sidelines at Allen Field House as your team is beating Kansas, or you are at Ohio State and beating them. Surreal is a good way to describe it.”
Burt grew up in Washington surrounded by basketball. His father, Dan Sr., coached the Pancake youth basketball team at the Brownson House for 20 years and his grandparents converted the family barn near Lone Pine into a regulation basketball court.
His father and his brothers, Don, Jack and Harold, were inducted into the Trinity Hall of Fame last November to honor the family’s contributions to the community.
“Burt’s Barn” became the place to gather for a pickup game.
“If you played basketball in Washington, you played in Burt’s Barn,” Burt said. “That was a great influence because I grew up playing with my uncles, my dad and my cousins. Everyone in Washington played there.”
Burt’s youth was spent on that court, competing against family members and kids around the community and for Pancake in the youth league. He could not get enough of the game. At 13, Burt began working at the YMCA as a scorekeeper.
His summers were spent playing in the youth leagues run by Frank Scott and Willard “Lock” Hartley. Burt went on to run cross country and played basketball at Trinity High School, learning the intricacies of the game under Gerry Berty and Bob Thornton.
“When I was at Trinity, I was one of those kids who thought he knew more than the coach,” Burt said with a laugh. “I had a big mouth, but my time there was great. (Berty and Thornton) were lifelong influences.”
After high school, Burt walked onto West Liberty State’s basketball team and played until he graduated in 1993.
During college, Burt officiated during his free time and fell in love with job. Shortly after his graduation, Burt was shown the ins and outs of officiating by Bill Christy, the supervisor of officials for the Washington & Greene County chapter.
Burt would observe future NCAA Division I officials Paul Soroka, Gene Steratore Jr., who also is an NFL referee, and Ray Natili. He then became an NCAA official with the PSAC and PAC.
Things changed when Basil called. Burt quickly became one of the top assistant coaches in the country.
Burt spent four seasons at West Virginia before accepting a job as an assistant coach at UNC-Wilmington under head coach Ann Hancock, who won a National Championship in 1994 as an assistant at North Carolina.
Burt worked on a staff that orchestrated a dramatic turnaround as the Seahawks earned the most wins in any three-year period in program history with the help of Burt’s recruiting efforts.
“Dan impressed me in many aspects of the game,” said Hancock, who is now head coach at Wingate University. “His work ethic always stood out. He is as passionate as anyone I know about the game of women’s basketball. He is very creative and innovative.”
Burt became the top assistant at Bucknell University in 2004, helping recruit a team that won the 2006-07 Patriot League regular-season title and earned an appearance in the WNIT. He developed a reputation as one of the top recruiters in the country, which caught the attention of Suzie McConnell-Serio.
McConnell-Serio, a Pittsburgh native, accepted the head-coaching job at Duquesne in 2007 and got in touch with Burt.
He joined her staff and he did the majority of recruiting for seven seasons. Burt helped the Dukes to 143 victories and six WNIT appearances. He was instrumental in recruiting 10 players who earned all-conference honors and seven 1,000-point scorers.
When Pitt hired McConnell-Serio in April 2013 to revitalize its program, Burt was named Duquesne’s head coach.
Burt’s ascension up the coaching ranks did not surprise Hancock.
“Communicating and building relationships in recruiting have always been two of Dan’s strengths,” Hancock said. “He will work tirelessly to find a diamond in the rough. Dan works even harder to convince them the school is the best place for them.”
Burt is followed his strong rookie season by continuing to build Duquesne into one of the top teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Dukes entered the weekend with an 11-8 overall record despite facing six teams ranked in the Top 25.
The success has not changed Burt. He vividly remembers his days at the Brownson House and his time as an official. He often reminds referees of his officiating experience, usually drawing a laugh or a shaking of the head. Burt also officiated in the Washington Summer League for 27 consecutive years.
“I’m incredibly blessed. There are a lot of people in Washington who helped me,” Burt said. “They kept me on the straight and narrow and kept me on track. I’ve had a few write me and say that I am living our dream. It is our dream. I’m very lucky to have this opportunity and I’m hoping I can do it for the next 20 years. I owe it all to so many people in Washington.”