Ryan Bozer:
Good morning. You're listening to Morning Edition on SDPB. We've talked basketball the past several weeks from players to coaches to the big games, but this week we got the news that one standout player is taking over the coach's helm for Aberdeen Central. Here to take us to that story and bring your morning in play. It's SDPB's Sports and Recreation Reporter, Nate Wek. Nate, thanks for joining me this morning.
Nate Wek:
Hey Ryan, how's it going?
Ryan Bozer:
Going well. So tell us about this player taking over what I'm going to call the coach's whistle in Aberdeen.
Nate Wek:
Right. So I saw the news break over the weekend that Paiton Burckhard was going to be taking over the head girls basketball job for Aberdeen Central. And this is kind of the fun part about my job because I'm starting to see players that I've covered over the years, and you do this for 10, 11 years, you start seeing a lot of players. And to see Paiton Burckhard, a person that I remember covering and doing a story with and that kind of stuff, to see that she's taking over a head coaching job, I obviously get really excited about that because I like to cheer for really everybody in the state when it comes to what they do after their playing days. And so to see not only that she's going to be sticking around basketball, but kind of returning to our alma mater up at Aberdeen Central and taking over a program up there. It's certainly something that's very exciting, I know to the people of Aberdeen. And it should be exciting, too to the sports audience in South Dakota.
Ryan Bozer:
Yeah. To get to have that homecoming of, Hey, I used to play here, now I get to have my own turn at the helm to sort of take what other people taught me, take what I know and impart it onto others, be that role model. I mean, that's an extremely cool opportunity to get to have. And Paiton had one coach while she was at Aberdeen that it was pretty notable Dawn Seiler, right?
Nate Wek:
Absolutely. And Dawn Seiler now the athletic director at Aberdeen Central. Up until this year was the winningest girls basketball coach in state history. Jim Bridge just broke that mark this year. So Dawn Seiler is now the second winningest girls basketball coach in state history. So I think to see that player coach relationship now carry over to the professional level with Paiton jumping into that head coaching role and still having Dawn in the building for a person of advice that you can bump ideas off of and stuff like that. It really has the recipe for a perfect storm.
Ryan Bozer:
Right. And Paiton herself had quite the career. Two championship runs while she was at Aberdeen. She played for SDSU and was a phenomenal player there as well from what I recall. How does she feel about going back to her alma mater to be the new coach?
Nate Wek:
Well, and it's a good thing that you brought that up, Ryan, because I actually spoke to Paiton on the phone yesterday, had a nice 10, 15 minute conversation with her. And I asked her, I said, "What are some of your opening thoughts to going to Aberdeen? A place where you played and now getting to kind of start your own coaching legacy?" And here's what she had to say.
Paiton Burckhard:
Oh gosh. There's just a lot of excitement behind it all. From my perspective and just getting back into basketball, to getting to give back to the program that helped turn me into the player in person I am today to being able to coach my sister, coaching with friends, hopping into a program that I'm familiar with, and I know a lot of the girls. So there's just a lot of exciting elements that are, obviously made this job so appealing to me, and now that I'm in the head coach position, I'm just super excited and I'm really looking forward to getting started.
Ryan Bozer:
So obviously some excitement there. It's cool that she'll get to coach her own sister. I seem to think, Nate, and correct me if I'm wrong, you'd be the one to know this, but we have sort of a track record in South Dakota of specifically women's basketball players taking on then coaching roles after they're done playing at some point. I can think out here in Rapid City, Becky Hammon would be the big one. But Dawn Seiler herself and a couple others, right?
Nate Wek:
Yeah, absolutely. And I just think to my time in some of the most recent names, Macy Miller and Chloe Lamb, jumping into the college world a little bit, doing some coaching. Brianna Kusler, who was a teammate of Paiton Burckhard at Aberdeen Central, she's the boys varsity coach at Pier. So you've got some of these really recent names that have completed their playing career through college and are now getting into coaching themselves. Which again, for me, for the chair that I'm sitting in, is very exciting.
Ryan Bozer:
Yeah. And something I'm also thinking about coming from a place where you've had some phenomenal coaches like Paiton's had, how do you think that influences what her own coaching style is going to be? Obviously it's going to be her own unique take, but I think you would take pieces of that with you.
Nate Wek:
Absolutely. And I talked to her about that too. And she said too, that playing for Dawn Seiler, playing for Aaron Johnston and seeing the way that they believed in their players, they cared for their players, they believed that their players could succeed. They weren't just saying it, they were saying it because they genuinely believed that their players could have success and reach a different pinnacle of their potential. And I think that's one thing that Paiton mentioned with me too, was that this is something that she's going to look at, too and getting her players to buy in, getting her players to believe, and then in part, her believing in them as well.
Ryan Bozer:
Wow. A role model role, a mentorship role, and a coach. All those things tied into one and getting to do it for your sister and for your old team, that's such a phenomenal opportunity. I bet the city of Aberdeen's pretty excited about that, too.
Nate Wek:
I would guess the hub city is very excited about this. Yes.
Ryan Bozer:
Well, I can't wait to talk basketball next season once we actually get to see her on the court coaching her players. Hopefully they have a nice opening season for her. Right?
Nate Wek:
Absolutely.
Ryan Bozer:
I'll let you get back to it and we'll chat again soon.
Nate Wek:
All right, thanks Ryan. I appreciate it.
