Sonia Burke enters her 13th season at Manhattan, and her seventh under Head Coach John Olenowski. Burke was promoted to Associate Head Coach in August 2010.
Burke is the Jaspers’ recruiting coordinator. She is also responsible for scouting and tape breakdown of opponents, game preparation, on-court coaching and player development of post players, as well as the team’s efforts in the weight room, including strength and conditioning.
As Manhattan’s defensive coordinator, Burke oversaw a unit that finished the 2010-11 season ranked third in the nation in scoring defense, allowing a mere 50.9 points per game. At Manhattan, she has mentored 11 All-MAAC players, including three First Team All-MAAC performers, seven MAAC All-Rookie Team honorees, and four All-Metropolitan selections.
The Jaspers have also been successful in the classroom, collecting 45 MAAC All-Academic Team nods during Burke’s tenure. In addition, Manhattan has been named to the WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll three times, finishing with the seventh-highest team GPA (3.432) among all Division I schools in 2008-09.
While working as an assistant at Saint Francis (PA), Burke helped the Red Flash capture the 2002-03 Northeast Conference regular season and conference tournament titles, along with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Her responsibilities included coordinating junior college recruiting, opponent scouting and film exchange. She also supervised game day promotions, basketball clinics and community service events.
Prior to her time at Saint Francis, Burke was an assistant coach at McGillToolenHigh School in Alabama in 2001-02, where she helped lead the team to a 14-2 record.
A native of Barbados, Burke was a captain on the Barbadian national team that captured the gold medal at the 15th Caribbean Basketball Championships in 2000.
Burke played at Spring Hill College in Alabama and led the Badgers to the Gulf Coast Conference championship and an appearance in the 2000 NAIA Tournament. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in management and a minor in managerial accounting in 2001. Burke earned a master’s degree in public administration from Capella University in 2015.
