HPU’s Burnett Selected For ‘So You Want To Be A Coach’ Program

ATLANTA – Elon University women’s basketball senior guard Shay Burnett will partake in this year’s ‘So You Want To Be A Coach’ program, put on annually by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association in partnership with the Alliance of Women Coaches.

Each member of the 2018 class will participate in the three-day workshop from March 28-30 in conjunction with the WBCA Convention in Columbus, Ohio. Speakers at the event are provided by the Alliance. This year marks the 16th class to participate in the program.

The objectives of the “So” program are to increase the understanding and application of skills necessary to secure coaching positions in women’s basketball, increase the understanding and awareness of competencies necessary for success in coaching, introduce female basketball players to coaches and administrators, and raise awareness of the existing talent pool of female basketball players who have a passion and interest in coaching the game of women’s basketball.

” ‘So You Want To Be A Coach’ is the longest-running education program the WBCA offers, and it remains as popular with member coaches and student-athletes today as it was when it began 15 years ago,” said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. ” ‘So’ is the entry point for women’s basketball players who want to coach. Because of their participation in it, more than 400 former college women’s basketball players are currently working as coaches or in some role in our sport. Our new partnership with the Alliance will enable us to make this already successful program even better.”

“The WBCA has set the bar high for the ‘So’ program,” said Megan Kahn, executive director of the Alliance of Women Coaches. “Joining in partnership, the Alliance is excited to help pave a way for these student-athletes to continue to be involved in the game of basketball. We look forward to welcoming, educating and inspiring these aspiring coaches.”

Burnett closed her career at Elon over the weekend with her fourth trip to postseason play, including two to the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and 2018. Her final point total of 1,567 stands as the fourth-most in program history and her 894 rebounds also finishes as the fourth-best mark. With 563 assists, the number is the second-most in program history.

Joined by Jenny DeGraaf of UNCW, Burnett and DeGraaf are the only two CAA players selected to partake in the program this year.

Qualified candidates are selected from a list of nominees who have exhausted their final year of basketball eligibility at a four-year institution or have graduated within the past year. The candidate’s head coach must nominate them and be an active WBCA member. Each participant is picked based on her academics, contributions to women’s basketball on and off the court, professional resume and a written recommendation from their head coach.

The WBCA “So” program has graduated 814 participants in its 15-year history. Of these, 54 percent (not counting the 2017 class) are currently working in women’s or girls’ basketball at various levels of the profession. A total of 53 “So” alumni are head women’s or girls’ basketball coaches — five in NCAA Division I, three in NCAA Division II, 11 in NCAA Division III, one in the NAIA, four on the two-year college level, and 29 on the high school level.