Murphy Burnatowski was appointed the sixth head coach in the program's storied history on June 27, 2024. He enters his third season at the helm of the Vikes men's basketball program in 2026-27.
This past season, Burnatowski led the Vikes to a conference-best 17-3 record and a Canada West gold medal. At the U SPORTS Championships, the Vikes fell in the semi-finals before persevering and claiming the bronze medal. Burnatowski’s focus on player development shone as Ethan Boag broke through as a star for the Vikes. Boag’s impressive campaign led to Canada West Player of the Year honours as he followed in the footsteps of Sam Maillet, who won U SPORTS and Canada West Defensive Player of the Year in 2024-25. Geoffrey James made in back to back seasons with the pillar of the Vikes’ defence winning Canada West Player of the Year as his defensive tenacity earned him these honours.
In his first season at the helm of the program in 2024-25, Burnatowski led the Vikes to a perfect 20-0 mark in Canada West play, becoming the first coach in U SPORTS men's basketball since Doug Daigneault (Concordia) and Ed Hall (Saint Mary's) in 1975-76 to guide their team to an undefeated conference season in their first year with the program. Beginning postseason action, the Vikes claimed the Canada West bronze medal to earn a spot at the U SPORTS Final 8. Entering the U SPORTS Final 8 as the fourth seed, the Vikes went on to win the program's first U SPORTS title since 1997, wrapping up the year with a 25-1 record.
Before being appointed Head Coach for the Vikes, Burnatowski spent four seasons as the lead assistant coach of 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.
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 to 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.
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 EuroBasket All-Switzerland All-Star Team, EuroBasket All-Cypriot Defensive Team and EuroBasket Bosman Player of the Year, to name a few.
In addition to his career as a professional athlete, he ran Burnatowski Basketball, offering group, private, and high-performance training camps, and served as a director and coach for All-Canada Basketball Camps from 2014 to 2020.
Burnatowski is a graduate of Colgate University with a Bachelor of Arts in economics.
AWARDS & HONOURS
Canada West Coach of the Year (1): 2024-25
U SPORTS Coach of the Year (1): 2024-25
