Burns rode athletics to career in education
Like many athletes from his era, Jim Burns used athletics as a springboard to an education and a career.
Burns was a feisty point guard for St. John’s High School in the late 1950s.
“I played JV ball and dressed varsity as a sophomore,” Burns said.
“I got significant playing time as a starter my junior and senior seasons.”
St. John’s posted a 19-5 record during Burns’ junior season in 1956-57. After defeating St. Bernard’s, 69-31, in the PCIAA playoffs, the Eagles lost to St. Casimir, 72-64. In Burns’ senior campaign in 1957-58, the team went 18-9. In the PCIAA playoffs, the Eagles knocked off St. Joseph, 80-50, and then lost to St. Casimir, 53-40.
“We were always competitive under Lash Nesser,” Burns offered. “We were rough and tumble.”
Nesser was a legendary figure in Fayette County athletics and Burns said it was an experience playing for him.
“He got the most out of his personnel out of fear,” Burns joked. “From a coaching standpoint, he was excellent. He knew when to substitute and he was right on the money depending on how the game was going. He was abrasive, but we loved the man and I still do.”
Burns tallied 132 points in his junior season with the Eagles and followed that up with 211 points as a senior. His high point total was 20 points in a playoff win against St. Joseph.
“I was a point guard and it wasn’t my job to score,” Burns explained. “It was my job to get it to a ball player on the team that could score.”
Burns has fond memories of his high school days.
“St. John’s was a special place,” Burns stated. “The nuns looked after us and the priests looked after us and most of all Lash looked after us. We were a small school and I had great relationships with my teammates. We started as freshman as a unit and we had some good players like John Mochel, who was our leading scorer, and John Burns (no relation) was another high scorer.”
The big rival for St. John’s was Kolb Memorial High School of Masontown.
“We played in a gym down there with a balcony all around the floor,” Burns remembered. “You had to be careful shooting the ball or you would hit the balcony, just like at Dunbar you could hit the roof in that gym. But Kolb was an intense rivalry.”
When Burns graduated from St. John’s in 1958 he wound up at Saint Vincent College.
“Doctor Maher, who was prevalent with the St. John’s boosters, and Doctor McGee went to Saint Vincent and they, along with my dad, influenced me to go there,” Burns stated. “Waynesburg had already offered me meals and books. I went to Saint Vincent for one year and went back for the second year, and stayed until two months went by in the semester and packed my bags and came home.”
Burns then decided to go to Waynesburg College.
“I was at Saint Vincent with Bob Belan, Joe Sosnak and Mel Freeman,” Burns recalled. “Dodo Canterna was the coach and I didn’t play much as a freshman. I wanted to go to Waynesburg to play basketball and I wasn’t playing much at Saint Vincent and I wanted to play, so I transferred. I sat out the 1959-60 season and played for coach Pete Mazzaferro in 1960-61.”
The Yellow Jackets posted a record of 3-17 in the 60-61 season.
“We had some talent with Bill Eloshway and Jim Lowe, but we couldn’t win basketball games,” Burns explained. “Mazzaferro was a great guy, but he was really a football guy.
“I was the sixth man that season and I started a couple of games. I played just that one season because I was preparing for student teaching and couldn’t balance both of them.
“I did my student teaching at Uniontown High School. I decided to take care of the books. I was disappointed that I couldn’t play my senior year.”
When he graduated from Waynesburg, Burns embarked on a long career in education. He had stops at Rostraver Middle School in the Belle Vernon Area School District for six years. He did some basketball coaching with Don Asmonga.
He then became the junior high principal at Carmichaels and spent three years there. In 1970-71, he went to Uniontown as assistant high school principal and held that position for four years.
In 1975, he became principal at Uniontown. In 1982, he was named assistant to the superintendent in charge of curriculum. In 1988, he became superintendent of the Uniontown Area School District for seven years. In 1999, he became superintendent at Mapletown. He retired in 2002.
“My most enjoyable line of work was being assistant high school principal and principal,” Burns stated. “I had a blast with those kids. Every school I went to, I made it a point to address the shortcomings in athletics. I helped kids, just like people like Lash Nesser and Fred Stuvek helped me along the way.”
Burns, 72, resides in Uniontown with his wife of 45 years, Joanne. They have a son and a daughter.