VICTORIA – A new era begins for the University of Victoria men's basketball team with the appointment of Murphy Burnatowski as the sixth head coach in the program's storied history.

Originally from Waterloo, ON, Burnatowski is making a cross-country move from Halifax, N.S., where he spent the last four seasons as the lead assistant coach with the Dalhousie Tigers men's basketball program. Coaching alongside Rick Plato, Burnatowski helped lead the Tigers to a 2024 AUS conference title and a fourth place finish at the U SPORTS National Championship. 

"I'm honoured and humbled for the opportunity to lead such a historic program with deep roots in Canadian basketball history. I hope to continue the winning tradition those before me have built while helping these talented young players grow both on and off the court," said Burnatowski.

A former collegiate athlete, Burnatowski played two seasons with the NCAA Division I University of Maine before transferring to Division I Colgate University from 2011-2014. At Colgate, he was a two-time All-Patriot League team member and served as a two-year team captain for the Raiders.

A familiar face on the Canadian basketball scene, Burnatowski represented the men's national team program at the junior, university and senior levels, most recently in 2017 at the Americup in Argentina.

After graduating from Colgate University with a Bachelor of Arts in economics, Burnatowski spent a decade playing professionally in Asia (Vietnam, Thailand), Europe (Poland, Czech, Switzerland, Cyprus) and North America with the Hamilton Honey Badgers in 2019, the Fraser Valley Bandits in 2022 and the Brampton Honey Badgers in 2023. During that time, he racked up an impressive list of accolades, including Euro Basket All-Switzerland All-Star Team, Euro Basket All-Cypriot Defensive Team and Euro Basket Bosman Player of the Year, to name a few.

In addition to his career as a professional athlete, he runs Burnatowski Basketball, offering group, private, and high-performance training camps. He also served as a director and coach for All-Canada Basketball Camps from 2014 to 2020.

"Throughout the search process Murphy exhibited an engaging energy that was accompanied with a superior technical insight and a positive balance of intensity. We truly believe that head coach Burnatowski is a game-changer. He is a natural leader who we are confident will guide our men's basketball team to be successful next year and for years to come. We are beyond excited to welcome Murphy into our Vikes family," said Director of Varsity Performance Sport, Dr. Nick Clarke.

Burnatowski replaces longtime Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp, who last month accepted an assistant coaching role with a Division 1 program at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

A huge congratulations and Vikes welcome to Murphy Burnatowski.