Michigan’s new commander in chief of women’s
basketball, Cheryl Burnett, has blazed a trail of excellence. Now
she embarks on a new challenge: taking Michigan’s program to
national prominence. She has the passion and knowledge. But she
embodies much more. She’s not just a coach, she’s
...

A Cheerleader

It was the second half in the second round of Michigan’s
Preseason Women’s National Invitational Tournament game
against Cincinnati, and the Wolverines found themselves down by
seven points. The crowd sat anxiously in the Crisler Arena stands,
hoping high scorer Jennifer Smith would bail the team out.

But the fans’ intent gazes weren’t enough for Cheryl
Burnett.

The coach began to stomp her feet and wave her hands, shouting
to the crowd, “Get up!”

Some fans seemed confused, while others were charmed by
Burnett’s heartfelt plea. Regardless of interpretation,
everyone stood up collectively to begin an arena-wide chant to
cheer the girls on.

The crowd was on its feet for nearly the rest of the game
— and its vocalized presence seemed to work magic for the
players. Michigan squeaked out with a 73-69 victory over the
Bearcats.

Since that game, Burnett has called upon the crowd several times
when Michigan needs a boost or is down in a game.

This technique is nothing new to the veteran coach, who
regularly riled up crowds when she was head coach at Southwest
Missouri State. Burnett says that she has always been an
instinctive cheerleader.

“I’m just really natural about how I coach,”
Burnett said. “I’ve always been very in tune to the
players on the court. It’s also kind of how I used to play. I
played in the sense that I was very verbal with my
teammates.”

Actively involving the crowd with the games is just one way
Burnett has tried to start building a fan base in Ann Arbor. When
she took the helm of the Southwest Missouri State program, as few
as 400 fans would grace the stands of the 8,846-seat Hammons
Student Center. By the time she left, the arena was regularly
filled to the top with screaming, stomping fans — no doubt
modeling their spunky head coach.

“I believe that our support system — which is the
crowd, the fans — can help us win games,” Burnett said.
“I’ve seen it, I’ve experienced it and I believe
it.”

Burnett’s enthusiasm has also impressed the players, who
admit that building a fan base could greatly benefit their energy
level during a game.

“We would have more people to play for,” freshman
Kelly Helvey said. “Not only ourselves and our coach.
We’ll have people that will keep coming, and we’ll
build a tradition.”

Who knows, with Burnett in town, perhaps Crisler Arena will play
host to a sold-out women’s basketball game before her reign
is over.

A Student

Burnett realized early on that before she could be a great
teacher of the game, she had to be a great student as well.

“I’ve always known I wanted to coach,” Burnett
said. “It goes all the way back to high school.”

It was way back in high school that Jim Enlow coached Burnett as
a member of the girls’ basketball team at Centralia High
School in Missouri. When Enlow would take his boys’ team to
scout upcoming opponents, Burnett would be the only girl to tag
along.

“I just knew the impact that he had on my life was more
than a basketball coach,” Burnett said. “So I just knew
that I wanted to have that kind of impact on players.”

After Enlow pointed Burnett down the road of coaching, a number
of other mentors helped guide her in a profession that until
recently has been mostly for the boys.

Burnett worked as an assistant for Jane Schroeder, the
women’s basketball coach at Illinois. Then, early in her head
coaching days at Southwest Missouri State, Burnett had the
privilege to work with Charlie Spoonhour — the men’s
coach at the time — now the coach at UNLV.

If you look closely at Burnett’s offensive and defensive
strategies, you may see a resemblance to another marquee name in
college basketball. Burnett spent time at her alma mater, Kansas,
last winter to watch the Jayhawks practice under men’s
basketball coach Roy Williams, who is now at North Carolina. Her
patented scramble defense bears a striking resemblance to the sets
of last year’s Jayhawks and this year’s Tar Heels.

Now Burnett is the mentor and hopes to leave some lasting
impressions of her own.

A Teacher