(Butler, PA) A former Butler County Community College student-athlete who coached western Pennsylvania high school basketball programs to a combined 164 victories and three berths in the state playoffs has been selected to lead a BC3 women’s team seeking a seventh conference title since 2016.
BC3 has hired Chris Burtch, of Cranberry Township, as head coach of a women’s program that is 30-22 over the past three seasons and captured its sixth Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference championship in 2023. Burtch succeeds Dan Odell, who stepped down in March.
Burtch was head coach of a Grove City High School varsity girls’ program that was 91-49 over six seasons. His team in 2020 won a District 10 Class 5A crown and qualified for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association playoffs.
He was also head coach of a Slippery Rock High varsity boys’ program that was 73-55 over five seasons. His teams in 2001 and 2004 qualified for the PIAA Class 5A playoffs for what is still the only times since 1980.
“I’ve certainly always had it in my mind that if an opportunity to coach at Butler County Community College came open that I would be very interested because of what BC3 did for me.”
Burtch’s squads at Grove City and at Slippery Rock were 164-104 over 11 seasons.
“A lot of experience,” Rob Snyder, BC3’s director of student life and athletics, said about Burtch. “He was successful in both programs and knows a lot of people in the area. And at this level it is mostly about recruiting and who you know.”
Burtch, a guard on BC3 men’s basketball squads that were a combined 40-18 in the 1988-1989 and 1989-1990 seasons, said he has “always kept in touch, and in tune with what was happening with the BC3 teams.”
He earned an associate degree in secondary education-social studies option from BC3 in 1990 and a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania in 1992.
“I’ve certainly always had it in my mind that if an opportunity to coach at Butler County Community College came open that I would be very interested because of what BC3 did for me,” he said.
“After a year of floundering after high school, I went to BC3, started playing basketball and baseball and really kind of found myself. I had success as a student for the first time at BC3.
“When you combine the way I feel about BC3 as an institution and how much I enjoyed that last stint coaching girls, it certainly seemed like this was a tremendous opportunity for me.”
“Find a desire to be great”
His satisfaction as a coach, he said, isn’t the result of championships or qualifying for postseason tournaments.
“It is about the relationships that I have had with my players, and how much enjoyment we found in trying to be great,” Burtch said. “I am good at helping kids find a desire to be great.”
Guard Emma Johns led the Pioneers with a 17.4 points per game scoring average in the 2023-2024 season.
“I can’t wait to get back in there, see what we can do and get going,” said Johns, a physical education-physical activity and fitness management option student at BC3 and graduate of Karns City High. “The goal is to win. We have to try to see if we can win the conference again and build from there.”
The Pioneers open their 2024-2025 season at 5 p.m. Nov. 12 by visiting the Community College of Beaver County. BC3’s home opener is at 5 p.m. Nov. 14 against Westmoreland County Community College.
Burtch also earned master’s degrees from Slippery Rock and Gannon universities and has taught social studies at Slippery Rock High since 1992.
