It’s been nearly a decade since Cheryl Burnett roamed the sidelines as then-Southwest Missouri State women’s basketball head coach.
However, Burnett’s legacy remains strong in Missouri. One look around the Rolla High School gym Thursday afternoon confirmed that.
Burnett was in Rolla on Thursday to conduct a basketball clinic for participants in the Licking Team Camp, which is headquartered here. A large basketball session of the Licking Team Camp will be held today and Saturday in and around Rolla.
Licking Team Camp founder and organizer Dave Almany brought Burnett in for the camp and made it free for the campers. Thursday’s clinic turnout had to be capped at 75.
“It’s the first year we’ve done it,” Almany said of the clinic. “We had to cut the number down to make it reasonable. It was very important to us to make the clinic from for our campers. It seemed like it was a good fit.”
Almany talked with both Burnett and her former All-America star Jackie Stiles about the possibility of putting on clinics. At first the two were going to put on the clinic together but decided to put on separate ones for the Licking Team Camp. Stiles will hold a similar clinic at St. James’ Donati gym on Thursday, July 23, from 1-5 p.m. To register for the Stiles’ camp contact Almany at (636) 232-4688.
Burnett coached 15 seasons at SMS (now Missouri State in Springfield). She had 319 victories there and coached the Lady Bears to 10 NCAA National Tournaments, including a pair of Final Four berths which put Springfield, Mo. on the national map. After resigning at Missouri State, Burnett was head coach at the University of Michigan for four seasons before retiring. She currently works in the development department at Missouri State.
Stiles was the best player Burnett coached. Stiles was the NCAA’s all-time career scoring leader by the end of her Lady Bear career before becoming a No. 1 draft pick by the WNBA. Wildly popular due to her all-out hustle, long-range shooting style, she was the WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2001. However numerous surgeries to her hands, legs and feet cut short her pro career.
Now age 30, Stiles lives in Wichita.
“I got together with Coach Burnett last fall and we talked about (a clinic),” Almany said. “Coach and Jackie set it up where there will be two clinics.”
The Licking Team Camp continues on this summer with several more basketball and volleyball sessions scheduled around the state, including basketball sessions in Rolla and St. James this weekend, July 10-11 and July 24-25 and a local volleyball session July 17-18.
“We had expected 900 teams and 15,000 athletes this summer but I think we’re going to top those totals,” Almany said. “We’ve had great turnouts this summer. And we want to thank the communities of Rolla and St. James; they’ve been great. And I think our camps bring some money to town. It’s a win-win for everybody.”
