Daemen University Athletics

Longtime athletic administrator and coach Patrick Burke begins his second season as an assistant coach on the Daemen College women's basketball staff in 2016-17.  Burke will play a role in nearly every aspect of the program, including on-floor coaching, scouting of opponents and recruiting.

Burke comes to Daemen after retiring from a 20-year stint as the Director of Health, Physical Education and Athletics for the Lockport City School District.  During his tenure in his alma mater district, Burke was the recipient of several awards given to athletic administrators, including the Niagara Frontier League Don Burns Key Person Award (2004), N.Y. State Athletic Administrator of the Year in Section VI (2005), Joe Wolf Award as the Outstanding Athletic Administrator in Section VI (2009) and the Empire State Supervisor and N.Y. State Administrator of the Year Award for the Western New York Region (2013).

Prior to his tenure in Lockport, Burke was an Assistant Principal, Athletic Director and coach for the Medina Central School District from 1988-94.  From 1982-88, Burke got his start in the education field as a physical education teacher, Athletic Director and coach in the Barker Central School District.  

While this will be his first forray into the college game, Burke is no stranger to the game of basketball, or coaching for that matter.  He holds 10 years of experience as a varsity basketball coach, working with both boys and girls, as well as a three-year stint coaching AAU girls basketball.  In addiiton, Burke was also a high school baseball coach, leading Wilson High School to back-to-back Section VI championships (1983, 1984) and the 1983 N.Y. State championship, for which he earned WKBW Channel 7 High School Baseball Coach of the Year honors.

A 1976 graduate of Lockport High School, Burke went on to receive his Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Education with a minor in Sports Management from the State University of New York at Brockport in 1980.  He would then add a Master's Degree in Administration and Supervision from Niagara University in 1988.  He would later add additional administrative certificates (N.Y. State Administrator Supervisor, 1991; N.Y. State District Administrator, 1994), both from Niagara University.

As an undergrad at Brockport, Burke competed for the Golden Eagles' baseball team, earning All-SUNYAC honors in his junior and senior seasons, while serving as captain of the team in his final three years.  To this day, he still ranks in the top-10 all-time in more than six offensive and defensive categories.

In 2014, Burke was inducted as a Lockport High School Distinguished Alumni.

Burke is married to his wife, Becky, and they reside in Lockport.  Together the couple has three daughters, Andrea, Bridgette and Lindsay.  Bridgette starred here for the Daemen women's basketball program from 2007-11 and was a 2011 inductee into the Daemen Athletics Hall of Fame.