University of the Incarnate Word Athletics

Ken Burmeister finished his 12th season at the helm of the University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team in the 2017-18 season.

Burmeister posted 10 winning seasons with UIW, including two Heartland Conference titles, a pair of appearances in the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament and a berth in the CollegeInsiders.com Tournament. He accumulated a 311-280 (.526) record in 21 seasons as a head coach and a 183-156 (.540) record with the Cardinals.

The Cardinals had another successful season in 2015-16. Burmeister earned his 300th career win in a 75-71 victory over Southeastern Louisiana on Jan. 16, 2016. The Cardinals also knocked off perennial power St. John's, 73-51, in Queens. Four players would earn NABC All-Region 23 honors at season's end: Mitchell Badillo, Kyle Hittle, Jerred Kite, and Sam Burmeister. Hittle would later receive Academic All-District, All-Southland, and Southland Conference Student-Athlete of the Year honors, while the team as a whole took home the NABC Team Excellence Award. Shawn Johnson’s posterizing dunk on HBU’s Asa Cantwell made SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the week in March.

Burmeister has led the Cardinals through a smooth transition into NCAA Division I play.  The team has won 39 games during their first two years in the Southland Conference, including an 18-11 mark in 2014-15 when they played a full Division I schedule for the first time.  Denzel Livingston capped off his fabulous career averaging over 21 points per game and becoming the first player in school history to earn first team all-Southland Conference honors and first team NABC all-Region 23 honors.

The 2014-15 season had a number of highlights.  In the non-conference schedule, the Cardinals hit the road and upset Princeton and Nebraska creating national headlines.  They followed that up with a fifth place finish in the Southland Conference that gave them the opportunity to host a CollegeInsiders.com Tournament game against University of Louisiana.  It was the first post season game the program has played since joining NCAA Division I.  The team finished the year ranked in the top 30 nationally in five statistical categories.  They were second in free throw made and attempted per game, seventh in points per game, 27th in steals per game and 30th in field goal percentage.
    
Burmeister did an exceptional job of leading the Cardinals in their first year as a member of Division I and the Southland Conference in 2013-14.  The team blitzed through its non-conference schedule with just one loss and then went 9-5 in conference play.  They were nearly perfect at home going 14-1 with the only loss coming on a last second shot.  Livingston was named to the SLC Second Team and all-Defensive Team.  The team had impressive victories over Sam Houston State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi who each received post-season bids.
    
At the end of 2013-14, the Cardinals were ranked in the top 30 nationally in six statistical categories.  Burmeister’s teams have always been high scoring and their 82.1 points per game put them eighth in Division I.  The team was also 14th in field goal percentage (48.8%), 15th in assists per game (15.8) and 28th in three-point percentage (38.9%).  The Cardinals were also a strong rebounding team finishing third in defensive rebounds per game (28.5) and 11th in total rebounds per game (39.6).
    
Prior to joining the Southland Conference, Burmeister led UIW in their move from the Heartland Conference to the Lone Star Conference (LSC).  In his three seasons in the LSC, he guided UIW to a pair of conference tournament appearances, including a semifinal appearance in 2012-13.
    
In 2012-13, the Cardinals were led by First Team all-LSC and Second Team All-Region forward Dionelle Rucker who led the LSC in scoring with 18.2 points per game.  In addition, Burmeister coached his first LSC Freshman of the Year in Kyle Hittle who averaged 10.5 points per game.  A highlight of the season came when senior guard Lyn’Dale Brown’s dunk against West Texas A&M was named the #2 Play of the Day on SportsCenter Top 10 Plays.
    
The 2011-12 team had a pair of all-conference players in Chris Johnson (1st) and Shaun Umeh (2nd).  Umeh was also the LSC Defensive Player of the Year.
    
Burmeister led the Cardinals to back-to-back Heartland Conference titles in 2008-09 and 2009-10.  Shooting guard Pierce Caldwell was Division II Bulletin Honorable Mention, the HC Player of the Year and HC Tournament MVP in both seasons as the team won 23 games each year.  Those Cardinal squads had a total of six all-conference players.
    
In 2007-08, Burmeister took the Cardinals to the Heartland Conference Tournament.  Caldwell won his first HC Player of the Year award and was recognized as a d2basketball.com Honorable Mention All-American.  Tracy Robinson was the HC Freshman of the Year.
    
Burmeister took over a program in 2006-07 that was coming off a pair of losing seasons, the first since 1989-90.  He led the team to an 18-11 record and had three players earn all-conference honors while Caldwell was named the HC Freshman of the Year.
    
It truly was a starting over moment when Burmeister accepted the head men’s basketball coaching position at Incarnate Word.  It was a time of renewal for Burmeister who had not coached in seven years.  And, it had to be a time of regeneration for the Cardinals who had not won a single conference game the year before and finished last in the league standings.
    
Burmeister revels in coaching basketball and although he was unable to coach for a while, he never quit talking the game, never lost his myriad of contacts and never stopped attending games, seminars and clinics. Basketball is his passion.
    
Burmeister has been a head coach at four schools.  His first was at the University of Texas-San Antonio where his four-year mark was 72-44 and included one trip to the NCAA Division I Tournament.
    
His second job was at Loyola of Chicago.  He improved the team’s record each season he was there.  After that, he coached one year as the interim head coach at Trinity University in San Antonio leading them to a 16-9 record.
    
Immediately prior to working at UIW, Burmeister worked for six years in San Antonio as an account executive in the field of media and internet advertising.
    
The Twin Lakes, Wisconsin native is a graduate of St. Mary’s University and holds a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University.  He and his wife, Brenda, have two children, Amanda and Sam.