Rashon Burno, assistant coach at the University of Florida the past three seasons, has joined the Arizona State University men’s basketball coaching staff, Coach Bobby Hurley has announced.
Burno, who held collegiate coaching positions at Towson State, Manhattan College and the University of Nebraska – the latter post he accepted in May after Florida head coach Billy Donovan was named head coach of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder – joined Levi Watkins and Brian Merritt on Hurley’s coaching staff.
“I am thrilled we were able to complete our staff with Rashon who not only is a great coach and recruiter but someone I am very familiar with,” said Hurley, who was named ASU’s head coach on April 9. “He was part of a Final Four trip at Florida and is extremely connected and respected in the coaching world. He has a great family and is a great addition to Sun Devil Basketball.”
Burno’s ties to Hurley’s family go all the way back to his high school career as he helped anchor back-to-back national championships in 1996 and 1997 at St. Anthony’s High School (Jersey City, New Jersey,) under Hurley’s father, Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley Sr.
Burno, who played point guard during his college career at DePaul, worked with the Florida backcourt players, coaching three Gators to All-SEC honors (Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario and Scottie Wilbekin) in his tenure. Wilbekin became the first Gator guard to earn SEC Player of the Year in 2014.
In Florida’s historic 2013-14 season, the Gators posted a 30-game winning streak that included the SEC’s first-ever 18-0 regular season, capped with the fourth SEC Tournament title in school history. In 2013-14, UF compiled an unblemished 10-0 record in games Burno served as the scout coach, including an early season win against Kansas, a sweep of Alabama, conference wins over LSU and Ole Miss and the NCAA Tournament victory against Albany. UF’s win over Kansas kicked off Florida’s program-record 30-game winning streak.
The Gators also posted an 11-1 record in 2012-13 when Burno handled the opponent scout, including a 5-0 record in SEC regular-season play and an NCAA Tournament victory over Northwestern State. Florida went 29-8, including a 14-4 record in the SEC, during the 2012-13 season, losing in the Elite Eight to Michigan.
As an assistant coach at Manhattan College, Burno helped the Jaspers to a 21-13 record in 2011-12 – the team’s first season under head coach Steve Masiello. The Jaspers added a postseason win in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament to post just the 11th 20-win season in the 106-year history of the program while capping a massive 15-win turnaround for a team that went 6-25 in 2010-11.
Burno’s first college job came in 2010 at Towson State under his old coach at DePaul Pat Kennedy. His coaching career initially took root at Marmion Academy in the Chicago suburbs from 2007 to 2010. While at Marmion he also served as an economics and physical education teacher.
During his playing career at DePaul, Burno started 58 games and helped the Blue Demons to two postseason appearances, advancing to the 2001 NCAA Tournament and the 2000 National Invitational Tournament. He finished his career ranked third in DePaul history with 201 steals and was named to the 2001 Conference USA All-Tournament Team.
Photo Courtesy Sun Devil Athletics
