Staff Directory
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Mike Burns enters his 10th season as an assistant coach with the Boise State men's basketball team in 2025-26. A key contributor on the coaching staff, Burns' expertise on the defensive end has helped establish Boise State’s identity.
Last season, Burns coordinated a defense that allowed 66.9 points per game which was second in the Mountain West and 41st nationally. The team held its opposition to 60 points or fewer 12 times (most in the Mountain West), resulting in a 12-0 record in those contests.
Advancing to the final of the 2025 Mountain West Championship, Boise State allowed 63.3 points on average in those three games. The Broncos limited San Diego State to 52 points in the quarterfinal and surrendered just 69 points to both New Mexico and Colorado State in the semifinal and championship game.
The Broncos has similar results in the 2023-24 campaign, surrendering 67.3 points per game and ranking 52nd in scoring defense. Boise State won 22 games and advanced to NCAA Tournament for the third-straight year, the first time that's happened in program history.
Reaching the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons, the defense led Boise State to a 24-10 record. On Burns' end of the floor, the Broncos ranked 28th nationally in defensive efficiency and 37th nationally in scoring defense (64.6 points per game).
Following the season, Burns was named to the 75 Rising Stars: Impactful Men's Mid-Major Assistants by Silver Waves Media.Â
In 2021-22, Boise State leaned on its defense all season en route to claiming the outright Mountain West regular-season championship, the conference tournament title and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Broncos finished the season with the nation’s 20th-ranked defense according to KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric.
That year, the Broncos ranked 13th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 60.9 points per game. Boise State limited its opponents to 60 points or fewer 15 times.
The 2019-20 Broncos set a program record, allowing opponents to shoot just 29.9 percent from three-point range, as Boise State posted yet another 20-win season. That season signified the eighth time in a 10-year stretch where the team won at least 20 games.
The team was exceptional in 2016-17 and 2017-18 under Burns’ watch in overall field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 42.7 percent shooting (fifth-lowest in a single season in program history). The focus on defense – specifically defending the three – helped the team to back-to-back NIT appearances.
2017-18 saw Boise State go 23-9 and take second place in the Mountain West with a 13-5 record. Winning at least 11 conference games for the fourth straight year, the Blue and Orange finished defensive possessions at an unprecedented rate, ending the season as the No. 1 defensive rebounding percentage (83.7%) team in the NCAA.
The Broncos went 20-12 in 2016-17 and finished with a 12-6 mark in conference play. Claiming third place in the league, Boise State finished in the upper half of the conference in both scoring defense (5th) and rebounding margin (3rd).
Prior to Boise State, Burns spent the 2015-16 season as the interim head coach at Pacific. It was Burns’ lone season at Pacific, after spending seven years as the top assistant at San Diego.
Before San Diego, Burns was the head coach at Spokane Community College for one season. He led the Sasquatch to a 30-2 record and was named NWAACC Coach of the Year.
From 2004-07, Burns was the head coach at Eastern Washington, where he coached Rodney Stuckey, a former first-round draft pick of the Detroit Pistons. His 2006-07 team ranked No. 3 in the NCAA scoring, averaging 84.2 points per game.
An assistant coach at EWU from 2000-03 under Ray Gioacoletti, Burns eventually earned a promotion to associate head coach in 2002. The three-year span saw EWU earn the first NCAA Tournament and NIT berths in program history.
In his one year between stints with the Eagles, Burns joined Dick Bennett’s staff at Washington State. He helped the Cougars to a six-win improvement over the previous season.
Burns began his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater, Central Washington, from 1996-99. He orchestrated the defense on a team that advanced to the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Tournament in consecutive years before moving to NCAA Division II.
In their first season in Division II, the Wildcats spent time ranked No. 1 in the West Region. Following the season Burns took a position at Stephen F. Austin for one year before returning to the Northwest.
Burns and his wife, Mary, have two children - Bode and Kylie.
