Mary Burke

Mary L. Burke (born c. 1965) is an American basketball coach who served as the head women's basketball coach at Bryant University. She held the position from 1991 until stepping down in 2023. Prior to coaching at Bryant, she served as an assistant coach for four years under Ralph Tomasso at Bryant. Playing career While attending Toll Gate High School in Warwick, Rhode Island in the early 1980s, Burke played both volleyball and basketball. She earned All-State recognition in both sports, three times in basketball and twice in volleyball. She was named Rhode Island's Schoolgirl Athlete of the Year in 1983. While enrolled at Providence College, Burke helped lead the 1985–86 Friars to the Big East Championship Game and a bid in the NCAA tournament and also secure her team's entry into the 1986–87 NWIT. She was named a District I All-American as a senior. In 1987, she was named Rhode Island's Female Athlete of the Year. Coaching career Burke took an assistant coaching job with Bryant University after graduating college in 1987. She was promoted to head coach on August 1, 1991, becoming only the fourth women's head basketball coach in Bulldogs history.