SAN ANTONIO – Ken Burmeister, the second head coach in UTSA men's basketball history, has died at the age of 72 after a bout with cancer.
Burmeister was named UTSA's second head coach prior to the 1986-87 season and he served in that role through the 1989-90 campaign. Over his four seasons, Burmeister posted a 72-44 record, good for a school-record .621 winning percentage.
His 1987-88 team posted a 22-9 overall record, including 11-1 at the Convocation Center, and a 13-5 league mark. The Roadrunners defeated Georgia Southern 76-69 in overtime to win the Trans America Athletic Conference Tournament and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. UTSA fell to Illinois 81-72 in the first round of the Southeast Region in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Burmeister led the Roadrunners to a 15-13 record in 1988-89 and a 22-7 mark in his final season in 1989-90.
He coached some of the top players in UTSA history during his four seasons with the Roadrunners, including two-time leading scorer Frank Hampton, rebounding dynamos Bruce Wheatley and Taju Olajuwon, and the program's fourth-leading assist man, Ronnie Ellison.
"On behalf of the entire UTSA family, we want to express our condolences to the Burmeister family," UTSA head coach Steve Henson said. "Ken was a fixture in the San Antonio basketball community, having coached at UTSA, UIW and Trinity, and was an elite basketball mind. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to develop a relationship with Ken."
Burmeister opened his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at Texas-Arlington from 1976-79, before assistant stops at Iowa (1979-83) and Arizona (1983-86). After his time leading the Roadrunners, Burmeister served as an assistant at DePaul (1990-94) before taking over the head coaching job at Loyola-Chicago from 1994-98.
Burmeister returned to the Alamo City to serve as head coach at Trinity University from 1998-99. He led UIW from 2006-2018, winning 202 games and sporting a 106-84 record in league action. He twice led UIW to the NCAA Division II Tournament, posting 23-7 records in both 2008-09 and 2009-10.
Burmeister is survived by his wife, Brenda, daughter, Amanda, and son, Sam.
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