Prattsburgh's Burke elected to HOF

Posted by Brian Hillabush on November 12, 2008 - 8:48pm
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Notre Dame boys basketball coach Mike Rapone and Prattsburgh coach Jim Burke have had some great battles over the years. Burke won a regular season contest between the two squads last season, making Rapone wait another game before getting his 500th career victory as a boys basketball coach.

Rapone beat Burke to the 500-win plateau as Burke is still sitting at 499 career victories heading into this season. But Burke beat Rapone to the Section 5 Hall of Fame and will be inducted on Saturday at the Clarion Riverside Hotel in Rochester.

Burke's daughter, Jamie, will also be inducted at the ceremony as well as NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy, who is a Brockport native.

Here is the description given on Burke at the Section 5 Web site.

.. This coaching icon has been a model of success in both boy’s and girl’s basketball. Jim has amassed 676 wins (499 boys, 177 girls) and has directed Prattsbugh Central to 6 Boys and 4 Girls Section V titles. His 1991 Boys team netted the NY State championship with an unblemished 29-0 record. He was honored by the Rochester D&C in 1991 as their AGR “Coach of the Year.” Coach Burke is also a member of the New York State Basketball Coaches and Wayland-Cohocton Halls of Fame.

Posted by Matt Novak on November 13, 2008 - 1:42am
Do you know if Jim Boeheim is in the Section V Hall of Fame?
Posted by Brian Hillabush on November 13, 2008 - 2:04am
Novak,
He is not. I'd be all for him being in the Section 5 HOF. He's a great coach and from Lyons.
Posted by Matt Novak on November 13, 2008 - 1:25pm
Lukelakers said that he was inducted in 2003.
Posted by Brian Hillabush on November 13, 2008 - 1:38pm
I just checked the records and it looks like he was. Luklakers got it. Man, I'm not having a good week. I should have known that.
Posted by Brian Hillabush on November 13, 2008 - 2:00pm
Jim Boeheim
Player

He was a 1962 graduate of Lyons Central, where his three-year varsity career included action in all but one of the team's 58 games. During that period, the team rang up a 48-10 record. He scored 1,012 points in his 57 games, giving him a 17.8 points per game scoring average. He increased his scoring output each year, culminating with 520 points and a 24.8 points per game average. During his time of play, Lyons chose to play in a large school division, and met success.

The Lions won the Wayne-Finger Lakes League Championships in his junior and senior years, with records of 15-1 and 14-0, respectively. During those two years, he was second in league scoring as a junior (19.3 ppg.) and led the league as a senior. The Lions made the eight-team Sectional playoffs both years ('61 and '62), when only the top eight schools in each classification could participate, and were undefeated (20-0), going into the 1962 Class AA Championship game, where they lost a one point double-overtime decision to undefeated East Rochester, also 20-0. (Information courtesy of the Finger Lakes Times.)

His talents took him to the court of NCAA Division I Syracuse University, where he scored 745 points in his three-year career ('63-'64 - '65-'66). The Orangemen were 55-24 (.696) during the time he was on the school's roster. After graduating with a B.A. in Social Science (1966), he embarked on a professional basketball career with Scranton of the Eastern League. He played for four years and was a member of two championship squads. Personally, he was named as a second-team All-Star. He became a graduate assistant coach at Syracuse in 1969 and coached the freshman team to a 16-2 record. He became a full-time assistant in 1972, and took over the Head Coach position for the Orangemen in 1976, the beginning of a journey, which, in the 27 years up to the time of his induction, would see him accumulate a coaching record of 653-226 (.743). During those 27 seasons, his teams have received 26 post season invitations ( NIT or NCAA). His 22 NCAA appearances show 12 years attaining the Sweet Sixteen, three Final Fours and the 2003 NCAA National Collegiate Basketball Championship.

He is actively involved with the Kidney Foundation, Coaches vs. Cancer, and the father of four.