Jonna (Huemrich) Burke was honored to pick up the phone and have Sam Clancy on the other end of line. Clancy, a Pitt graduate who had an 11-year football career in the USFL and NFL, was calling to tell Burke she will be honored Feb. 20 at Pitt’s 64th annual Varsity Letter Club Awards Dinner as part of the 2026 Awardees of Distinction Class.
The distinction class is for letterwinners who have “distinguished themselves in their profession or community, and who, by their accomplishments, have enhanced the value of intercollegiate athletics programs at the University of Pittsburgh.”
Burke, who is the girls basketball coach at Shady Side Academy, has coached girls basketball for more than 30 years. Burke helped lead the Bulldogs to the WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A championship games last season. It was the first time Shady Side Academy had ever reached the PIAA final in girls basketball.
“I’m a lot older now,” Burke said. “I’m humbled and honored because they can just as easily forget about an old lady like me. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve it. I’ve coached girls basketball teams for 30 years. It’s been my life’s work.”
Burke, who has won more than 500 games as a coach at Bethel Park, Butler and Shady Side Academy, had an outstanding playing career.
Burke, a 1994 Pitt graduate, accomplished plenty during her time with the Panthers. During her freshman season, Burke was named the Big East Rookie of the Year in 1994. She was a two-time first-team All-Big East selection in 1993 and 1994.
Burke was chosen as an honorable mention All-American by the WBCA in 1994. She scored 1,807 points during her career, which is still the seventh-best in program history.
Burke’s total of 954 rebounds also ranks seventh in program history.
What Burke was most proud of was when she was on the court the last time Pitt beat UConn. The Panthers, who are 9-41 all-time against the Huskies, beat UConn, 76-74, at Fitzgerald Field House on Feb. 24, 1993.
“Within the last few years, UConn had become a perennial power,” Burke said. “Everyone knew they were the best to get the win over them and there was a big crowd there. Most of them were probably there to see UConn.”
The Huskies went on to finish that season 30-3 and made the Elite 8. Pitt finished 21-10 and won in the first round of the Women’s NIT.
“My senior year we had a 20-win season,” Burke said. “I was hoping we would get an NCAA bid. That was one of the most disappointing things about my time at Pitt is we never got an NCAA Tournament bid.”
Burke, a Bethel Park graduate, said her final choice for college came down to Pitt and Penn State. She chose to play for the Panthers due to a desire to stay home and to be in a more urban environment.
“The best thing about my time was to play basketball with my teammates who I loved and for a coach that I loved — for a school that I loved,” Burke said. “It was a time in my life that I didn’t realize until now that I would miss it tremendously. I missed playing. I missed it so badly that the only thing I could do was to play at the YMCA with guys and get into coaching.”