HAMPTON, Va. – Barbara Burgess, who for the past six seasons has been an assistant coach with the Hampton University women’s basketball program, has accepted the head coaching position at her alma mater, Delaware State.
This will be Burgess’ first head coaching job at the Division I level.
During Burgess’ tenure, the Lady Pirates won five MEAC Tournament titles, five MEAC regular-season crowns, and made six consecutive postseason appearances – including a string of five straight NCAA Tournaments from 2010-14.
The Lady Pirates won 146 games during Burgess’ tenure, and over those six years boasted two MEAC Players of the Year (Keiara Avant and Malia Tate-DeFreitas), one MEAC Rookie of the Year (Tate-DeFreitas), and four MEAC Defensive Players of the Year (Alyssa Bennett and Quanneisha Perry twice each).
Burgess also coached Nicole Hamilton and Jericka Jenkins, both of whom were First Team All-Conference selections. In addition, Jenkins was named All-America Honorable Mention in 2011 by the Associated Press, becoming the first Hampton player to be recognized by the AP.
Prior to arriving at Hampton, Burgess spent a season as an assistant coach at Norfolk State.
Before that, Burgess spent six years (2002-08) as the head girls’ basketball coach at Phoebus High School in Hampton, Va. The Phantoms were 73-67 in her tenure, making three trips to the Eastern Region tournament. During her tenure at Phoebus, Burgess coached against current Lady Pirates head coach David Six, who at that time was the head girls’ basketball coach at Peninsula District rival Hampton High.
Before coming to Phoebus, Burgess was the first woman to lead the women’s basketball program at Virginia Union University. She coached at VUU from 1999 through 2001, going 13-39 in that span.
From 1992-99, Burgess was the head girls basketball coach at Huguenot High School in Richmond, Va. She was named Dominion District Coach of the Year in 1997 after leading Huguenot to a 14-9 record. The following year, the Lady Falcons were runners-up in the Dominion District Tournament.
In her 14 years as a high school head coach, Burgess mentored several players who have gone on to play at the collegiate level, including former Howard University standout Essence Coggins and former Lady Pirates Hamilton and Whitney Hill.
From 2005-08, Burgess served as the head coach for the 16-and-under team of the Boo Williams Summer League. Her team won the Christopher Newport University Team Camp championship in 2005 and had a runner-up finish in 2008.
Burgess was a four-year Black College All-American at Delaware State from 1985-89. She was named to the MEAC All-Rookie team and ended her career with the Lady Hornets as the school’s No. 2 all-time leading scorer with 1,807 points. As a sophomore, she led the team in scoring (17.9 points a game) and rebounding (7.3 rebounds a contest) and was named to the All-MEAC First Team.
She also led Delaware State in scoring as a junior with 17.1 points per game and earned All-MEAC First Team honors. She was Delaware State’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1988-89 and led the Lady Hornets to the 1989 MEAC Tournament Championship Game.
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