Burno brings unique background to Marmion

You can't blame the Marmion basketball team for being curious about their new coach, Rashon Burno, before they even met him.

With all the wonderful advances in technology, Googling Burno was the way the Cadets got their information.

The main thing the Cadets knew about Burno, who was hired in late April to replace Pat McNamara, was that he played basketball at DePaul.

That's about it.

But a quick Google search proved much, much more.

"I really didn't know much about him, so I looked him up," Marmion junior guard David Brouch said. "I was excited to meet him because of his background with basketball. I just thought he's going to bring a lot of knowledge to the table."

Some of the things --basketball related or not -- that may have captured the attention of the Cadets included the following:

• Burno's parents passed away when he was a toddler. He was raised by his grandmother, who passed away before he reached his teens.

• He grew up in New Jersey and played for legendary high school basketball coach Bob Hurley at St. Anthony's in Jersey City. He was a three-year starter on three state championship teams.

• After a year of prep school in Massachusetts, Burno was recruited by DePaul coach Pat Kennedy, who left DePaul in 2002. Burno had a successful career as a Blue Demon starting in 1998 and ending in 2002. He also was a three-year captain.

• Burno knows basketball and business. Before entering the world of coaching, he was an account executive and Head of the Sports and Entertainment Division of Wachovia Financial managing the financial accounts of pro athletes and entertainers.

So when it came time for the players to ask their new coach about the things they read, Burno was prepared with answers.

"I wanted to separate the truth from fiction," he said.

Such as?

"They asked, 'Oh, how good were you in high school?' and 'Did you really beat this team?' and 'Did you really win a national title?," Burno said.

The first time the Cadets met Burno was over the summer at an open gym. Burno, however, didn't get to spend a ton of time with his new team until the start of the season.

From April (when he was hired) to October (when practice started), Burno did everything he could to prepare for his new challenge as a first-time head coach. He talked to Hurley and current DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright, to name a couple of influential people from his past.

Next up was learning all about the teams in the Suburban Catholic Conference.

Finally, and most important, building a relationship with his new team.

"I was really excited to work with him because it's exciting to work with someone who was a great player and learn some of the things you can't get with a normal coach," said Luke Colquist.

Burno said his days as a player will definitely come in handy when it comes time to telling the Cadets what to do.

"Kids tend to listen to me a lot more once they find out I played at a high level," Burno said. "The knowledge of the game, from that standpoint, the kids value having a coach that played the game not too long ago."

Burno still has connections to DePaul. He hopes to bring his players to a game or two and perhaps to an NBA game to see his former DePaul teammates Quentin Richardson (who plays for the New York Knicks) and/or Bobby Simmons (who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks).

"We may catch them (Richardson and Simmons) when they come to town," Burno said. "I'll try to use my connections to open up some doors, give some different views, maybe go to an NBA game and talk to these players and stuff like that to lighten the load because we have a long season. We have to break up the monotony of these practices."

Right now, it's all work. Perhaps that is why Marmion is 3-0 and won its own Thanksgiving tournament. The Cadets, however, know there is a lot more on the way.

"It's a nice start, but by no means are we satisfied," Kolquist said. "It's just three games."

"It's definitely a good start, but that's all we see it as," Brouch added. "We don't want to overanalyze. We still have a lot of work to do."

cbolin@dailyherald.com