Regina Cougars men鈥檚 basketball coach Steve Burrows鈥� tenure records many successes
REGINA, Saskatchewan — On 24th June 2013, the University of Regina upgraded Steve Burrows from an assistant coach of the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball teams to the head coach of the University鈥檚 men鈥檚 basketball team. , the school鈥檚 director of athletics who made the announcement, 鈥淪teve will bring experience & a renewed commitment to excellence for our men鈥檚 basketball program.”
Steve Burrows attended Johnson Collegiate, where he played basketball at the high school level until he moved to the University of Regina in the early 鈥�90s. The young Reginan played with the Cougars for two seasons until he had to stop playing after a back injury. While preparing to return to playing basketball, James Hillis became the head coach, and Burrows started helping him with tryouts.
He served as Hillis鈥� assistant for 18 seasons out of 19 seasons which lasted from 1994 to 2013. He also assisted Dave Taylor, the U of R women鈥檚 basketball team鈥檚 head coach, from 2007 until his new appointment in 2013.
It took the University of Regina about a month to name a new coach after Hillis鈥� resignation.
44-year-old Steve Burrows is now a part of the history of the University of Regina as the 10th head coach of the men鈥檚 basketball program. As head coach, Steve now has Wade Hackl and Joel Hunter to support him as assistant coaches. However, he will have to take a leave of absence from being Campbell Collegiate鈥檚 guidance counselor.
As an assistant coach of the U of R men鈥檚 team, Steve Burrows helped get the team to 3 appearances in four years – from 2003 to 2006 – at the Canada West Final Four. During the 2005/06 season, the Cougars were undefeated during the conference held on their home court, with a historic 16-4, thereby setting the record for the most wins in one year.
He also helped the women鈥檚 team to appear in five CIS Championships within the six years he served the team as an assistant coach. Before his promotion to head coach rank, he had gotten up to eighteen years of CIS experience.
Coach Burrows鈥� tenure has recorded a lot of successes since 2013 to date. One of such successes is the Cougars鈥� qualification for five postseasons of the Canada West conference. The Cougars went ahead to qualify for the quarterfinals for three years – 2016, 2018, and 2019. The team participated in the 17-team Canada West and came sixth in the 2017/18 season and fourth in the 2018/19 season.
During Coach Burrows鈥� tenure, seven basketball players earned Canada West鈥檚 recognition. Four of the players – Jonathan Tull, Brain Ofori, Carter Millar, and Greishe Clerjuste – were named all-stars. In addition, Brandon Tull, Johneil Johnson, and Nick Barnard received Canada West All-Rookie honors in 2014, 2017, and 2019 respectively.
Before becoming the Cougars鈥� head coach, Burrows worked with Basketball Saskatchewan as director of coaching development from 2010 to 2013. Other coaching positions he has held include the Winston Knoll Collegiate, Saskatchewan鈥檚 Basketball Canada Centre for Performance, and seven provincial teams.
Steve Burrows has maintained his personality despite his changing titles, as affirmed by Brendan Hebert, U of R Cougars Guard, shortly after Burrows was named head coach. , 鈥淎s long as I鈥檝e known him, he has been the same sort of even-keeled, nonchalant guy and I don鈥檛 think this change in role with the team will make any sort of change in his personality.鈥�
So far, Coach Burrows has been relentless in getting the right players on the court and building a sustainable culture.
He was one of the guest speakers at this year鈥檚 Speaker Series organized by Basketball Saskatchewan in April and presented by Golden Ticket Sports. Also, he is the head instructor at the Cougar Men鈥檚 Basketball Skills Camp organized to facilitate interested athletes鈥� basketball skills.
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