By Chris Granozio
Jim and Pam Halpert of “The Office”
Nick and Nora Charles
Jay-Z and Beyonce
Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley
What do each of these husbands and wives – fictional and real – all have in common? They shared a life, as well as an occupation, with their spouse.
From a D2 basketball standpoint, meet another such duo that not only shares the same profession, but in the same division of the same conference, no less. Bethanne Burke (below, left) and Dan Burke (below, right) are the only such twosome we know of who have individually held basketball head coaching jobs in the East Region. The fact that they are employed by the two Delaware schools in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference’s South Division makes it even more intriguing. But the parallels don’t end there. Dan – who is in his ninth year as head coach of the Wilmington University men's team, and Bethann – in her 10th with the Goldey-Beacom College women – first met as student-athletes at yet another school that is affiliated with the CACC South: Chestnut Hill.
The Burkes’ "
All in the CACC Family" story certainly doesn’t qualify as “news” around that circuit, but both did make individual headlines on their respective campuses last month for each having collected 100 coaching wins. Bethann reached the threshold first on January 14 in a home game vs. Bridgeport, while Dan made it a household two-fer during a home game against Felician.
“The milestone to me means most to all the alums who have come through the program,” Dan told D2easthoops.org. “It kind of made me think about how far we’ve come. I take a lot of pride in what we’ve been able to build, but there’s still a long way to go.”
As a rookie coach in 2013-14, Dan, who hails from Pottstown, PA, oversaw a second-half Wildcats surge that transformed a spiraling season (8-18 heading into the last three games of the regular season) into a near golden ticket to the NCAA Tournament, thanks to a magical run to the CACC Tourney title game on the back of exceptional playmaker Tyaire Ponzo-Meek. Burke’s teams have reached the postseason each of the past five years and the bar has certainly been raised.
“The conference is so competitive now. More than ever. Every game is so important. This year, we have a lot of potential. We need to respond to adversity and not let a negative result affect us.”
Across town on Limestone Road, Bethann, a Hammonton, NJ native, has steadily become the Lightning’s winningest coach ever, but puts her recent milestone in its proper perspective.
“When I got my 100th win, I had to go to the grocery store after the game, because we needed groceries.”
The former Bethann Castone, like her husband, played her college ball at Chestnut Hill back when the Griffins were in Division 3. Bethann was a three-year captain, and standout point guard who scored 1,174 career points and led her school to its first NCAA Tournament appearance. Dan – who was a member of the very first men’s team at Chestnut Hill - was also named team captain, and was bestowed the Presidential Leader Award, given to select students for their contributions to the college community. Former Griffins head coach (now Athletic Director) Jesse Balcer had a bird’s eye view of both at the height of their athletic prowess.
“Dan and Bethann were both gym rats as well as good students,” Balcer said. “They always paid attention to details within the game of basketball. (I observed that) Bethann was a terrific shooter with a team-first attitude. She was a great competitor. Dan was the best teammate a coach could want. He was always the first in the gym getting loose before practice, and the last out so he could get some extra shots up. He was all-in as a member of my teams, whether or not he was getting the minutes. I never had any doubt that Dan would be a head coach because of the way he works and carries himself.”
Parallel Lines / Parallel Lives
After their playing careers came to a close, the Burkes remained a team within themselves, and were naturally together when they both answered the coaching call: Bethann as varsity girls coach at Council Rock High School South in Newtown, PA, a year before Dan took an assistant’s job at his alma mater. From there, Bethann spent a winter as volunteer assistant at the University of Pennsylvania and then further honed her craft for four seasons under Mark Miller at Holy Family. After four years at Chestnut Hill, Dan spent a season at Camden County (NJ) Community College – his first year in charge of a program – before the CACC called his name again and the door opened at Wilmington. Bethann got the first crack as an NCAA head coach when the very successful Jen Carleton took a similar position with another school. In her first year at the helm, the Lightining ladies reached the ECAC Final. But the journey has been more than just basketball results. In her current position at Goldey-Beacom, Burke has had to wear many hats; such is the landscape at smaller schools.
“The biggest challenge at our level,” Burke said. “is we try to function as a D1 program. I’m also Associate AD as well as a head coach. I monitor all the academics for the student athletes. I have to make sure I manage the time to get home, and I ask for help if I need it. The reality is you don’t have to do more – just do it differently.”
Within a calendar year, Dan took over the reins from Mike Gallagher at WilmU and suddenly found himself working in the same state as his better half. And while coaching in the same conference for traditional rivals may seem a bit unusual for most casual sports fans, it hasn’t exactly affected the Burkes in any significant way.
“It’s really not as big a deal for us.” Bethann said. “It’s great to be somewhere long enough that they believe in you. Both schools are very supportive of us and we don’t take that for granted.”
Dan concurs: “We’re so used to coaching at rival schools, it’s something we don’t give any mind to anymore. I’ve never had anyone in our women’s program suspicious of me or anything. I don’t think Bethann has either. We all get along well with each other’s coaches and admins.”
The unusual yet fruitful partnership is not lost on CACC Commissioner Dan Mara, who has observed it from its infancy.
“They’re truly great people, and the thing that stands out most in the way they handle their programs is that they see the whole person and want to help them in any way they can. And to assist in anything that needs to be done, whether it’s her as the Senior Woman Administrator or him on the RAC (Regional Advisory Committee). They do way more than just coach basketball. They help other members in the conference.”
Balancing the Court
Since tying the knot in 2011, the Burkes found a home in Salem County, NJ, less than half an hour commute for both across the Delaware Memorial Bridge (“no one has an edge,” Bethann chuckles). During their coaching years, they’ve welcomed daughters Julianna (5 years) and Nicolette (2 years next month) into the world, and while managing family dynamics is never an easy endeavor for any working couple, doing so within the framework of hoops season presents challenges most sports fans could never envision.
“We see very few of each other’s games,” Dan admits. “Chances are one of us has the kids. She practices in the morning and I do in the afternoon. We have our calendar figured out a couple months out. She takes the lead with that and makes the whole thing work.”
“Our schedules look kind of crazy, Bethann adds. “It’s not bizarre or crazy to us, but our neighbors and others not in athletics always laugh. Coordinating being there for your kids, getting them to the bus. Trying to work it out the best that we can. We have a lot of help.”
If you’re wondering how much basketball figures into their daily discussions, you probably wouldn’t be surprised by the answer.
“We talk basketball a lot,” Bethann said. “But not X’s and O’s as much as how our games went. We will listen to each other vent after a loss because you want that coach to have the floor. We don’t get tired of talking about that stuff. It’s good to call and talk to someone we trust, who can be real with you. We’ll call each other out. Our philosophies, teams and programs are a little different, plus the differences in men’s and women’s basketball.”
As usual, Dan sees it through a similar lens:
“We talk a lot about managing our own teams. Administrative stuff more than X’s and O’s.”
Asked what Bethann is proudest about regarding her husband’s 100-win journey and she points to his former players. “They are all good spouses and fathers. You can have a bad game or a bad year, but putting it into perspective, they all call him and stay in touch, even if they transfer. That’s a successful program!”
And Dan says he’s “proudest of her because she handles all her responsibilities with such grace. She has everything that an athletic administrator, a mother and a coach’s wife has to do, in addition to running her program. And she does it at a high level.”
A truly symbiotic relationship that has operated successfully on multiple levels, the Dan and Bethann Burke story is a true rarity in collegiate sports, but it’s a shining example of how well such a partnership can thrive, on the court and off. And they’ve been able to coexist exactly where they’ve wanted to be, all along. Their roots and their bloodlines tell the story. Dan’s grandfather Dick Burke was a walk-on at Villanova in 1953-54, while Bethann’s late father played and coached South Jersey parochial championships.
“We’ve been very lucky that all our experiences have been on this Philadelphia/I-95 corridor,” Bethann said. “There are a lot of ties and connections, but all the roads lead back here.
(photos courtesy of Goldey-Beacom and Wilmington Sports Information)