The second-longest tenured coach in the history of Union College Athletics and the winningest coach ever in a single sport at the College, Mary Ellen Burt has announced her retirement as Union’s head women’s basketball coach, Director of Athletics Jim McLaughlin ’93 announced on Thursday.
Burt’s legacy spans 26 years, 344 wins, and nearly 150 student-athletes who have come through the women’s basketball program at Union since she arrived on campus in 1995 following time as the top assistant at the University of Rochester.
“For the past 26 years, I have been fortunate to be the caretaker of the Union College women’s basketball program,” said Burt. “It’s been a daily commitment to the players and the program to enhance and maintain our team culture and standards. I can’t thank the players enough for all the hard work and laughs they provided on a daily basis.”
“I want to congratulate Mary Ellen on an outstanding career and can’t thank her enough for her leadership both on and off the court over the last 25-plus seasons leading the women’s basketball team,” said McLaughlin. “She truly embraced her role as a teacher, mentor and educator for the countless student-athletes that came through this program, and we are fortunate that she will remain with the Department in the future continuing to lead our golf team.”
Taking over a program with just four winning seasons in its first 20 years of varsity competition, her teams recorded only three losing seasons over the last 20 years and averaged nearly 14 victories per year for her career. Since 2000, Union qualified for the Liberty League Tournament 14 times, including an incredible two-year run in 2002-04 that saw the Dutchwomen post a combined 46-9 record.
During that span, Burt was named the WBCA District II Coach of the Year after the 2002-03 team started the season with a program-record 15 consecutive victories and finished with a then-record 22 wins. She then followed up with a second straight Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (now Liberty League) Coaching Staff of the Year award in 2003-04, when Union posted a 24-4 record, earned the first national ranking in program history, and swept the UCAA regular-season and tournament titles to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Burt and her staff also earned Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 2008-09, when she led the Dutchwomen to a 19-7 record and a third Liberty League regular-season title.
“I would sincerely like to thank my assistant coaches over the years, especially Jamie Seward, Mike Smith and Jared Zeidman,” Burt continued. “These three coaches have stretched my entire career at Union and the successes of the program could not have been accomplished without them. Not only were we a staff, but we continue to be great friends.”
More than 130 student-athletes have been mentored by Burt during her decorated 26-year career, including two All-Americans (Erika Eisenhut ’06 and Lauren McCormick ’11), 16 of the top 20 scorers in program history, and nearly 50 combined All-Conference selections.
Despite her retirement from basketball, Burt will still remain a part of the Union College family as the head coach of the women’s golf program, which she started from the ground up in 2012. Burt completed her ninth season at the helm of the golf team in 2020-21.
“Now is the right time to turn the program over to the next caretaker to move the program to the next level,” said Burt. “I am thrilled to be staying at Union College as the golf coach and look forward to continuing to build that program.”
The College will undertake a national search to identify its next head women’s basketball coach.
Coach Burt’s full statement is below:
For the past 26 years I have been fortunate to be the caretaker of the Union College women’s basketball program. It’s been a daily commitment to the players and the program to enhance and maintain our team culture and standards. There have been so many awesome student-athletes over the years from a Bailey Prize award winner (Amy Loya), to a Daggett Prize winner (Krystal Tru Edwards), to two All-Americans (Erika Eisenhut-Rahill and Lauren McCormick). But I think the statistic I am most proud of is that every player that was in the program for four years graduated in four years. Our team GPA was always at or near the top of the Athletics Department. It’s great to stay in touch with so many players, attend their weddings and see their kids growing up on Facebook. I can’t thank the players enough for all the hard work and laughs they provided on a daily basis.
I would sincerely like to thank my assistant coaches over the years, especially Jamie Seward, Mike Smith and Jared Zeidman. These three coaches have stretched my entire career at Union and the successes of the program could not have been accomplished without them. Not only were we a staff, but we continue to be great friends. They joined me with the vision for the program and the commitment to the word “Arete” that was always the backbone of our coaching philosophy: be the best you can be at whatever you are doing. It’s also a proud feeling to have a former player as a volunteer coach who is now a professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Union (Amy Loya).
Now is the right time to turn the program over to the next caretaker to move the program to the next level. I am thrilled to be staying at Union College as the golf coach and look forward to continuing to build that program.
https://unionathletics.com/news/2021/5/26/burt-announces-retirement-from-womens-basketball.aspx
