Burgess becomes new Havre High head coach

Walynn Burgess has spent the last four seasons rebuilding the North Star boys basketball team. But after leading the Knights to their first divisional tournament berth in a decade, Burgess is ready to take on a new challenge, as head coach of the Havre Blue Ponies.

Burgess, who will replace Curt Leeds, who stepped down earlier this spring after six seasons at the helm, was recommended to the school board by Havre High activities director Dennis Murphy and Friday afternoon, the board approved the hire, making the move official.

"I am just super excited about the opportunity," Burgess said. "I am excited to take over and excited to build something that the community can be proud of. I am looking forward to this opportunity and very thankful for it."

The fact that Burgess coached at a school that is just about 45 minutes away from Havre, helped according to Murphy, who said he has watched Burgess grow over the past few years as a coach.

"Havre is a unique community," Murphy said. "So it was important to get someone who understands that and wants to be part of that."

Yet, Murphy, who was formerly the head coach of the Havre boys and girls basketball teams, said he was also struck by Burgess' own development as a coach.

"Over the past four years, I have watched him coach North Star and I was really impressed by his interactions with his students," Murphy said. "The excitement that he has for the game and being able to watch him the last four years, to see his growth and development, you can tell he loves the game by the way he presented himself on the sidelines and talking to him off the court. He has great passion for the kids and is looking forward to working with them here at Havre High School and I am happy to have him on staff."

Following a college basketball career that ended at Montana State University-Northern, where he played under head coach Shawn Huse, Burgess was hired as North Star head coach ahead of the 2014-15 season. After one losing season, Burgess built a winner at North Star and finished his stint with three straight winning campaigns to close out his tenure, finishing with a record of 50-38.

However, after going 6-14 to start his coaching career, Burgess led the Knights to a 12-10 record in 2015-16, a 14-8 mark in 2016-17 and an 18-6 record this past season. North Star also finished fourth or higher in the 9C each of the past three seasons.

One of the goals set by Burgess when he took the job was getting North Star back to divisionals and finally this past season, the Knights did just that, knocking off Hays-Lodge Pole in the semifinals of the District 9C Tournament to punch their ticket. North Star lost the 9C championship game to Chinook and were eliminated by the Sugarbeeters after notching a win at the Northern C Divisional one week later.

Now, Burgess will set his sights on doing the same thing for a Havre program that has won a total of seven games the past two seasons.

"We know that it's going to take some work," Burgess said. "We aren't going to go compete for a state championship from day one. We know that we have a lot of work to do and that it takes time. But if you get people to buy in to the way that you play and the style that you play, it starts showing and you start seeing results."

While HHS has had back-to-back losing seasons, the Ponies were in consecutive state semifinals as recently as 2015 and 2016. At one point, Leeds led Havre to three consecutive state tournaments.

"I am really glad that Curt came back to Havre," Murphy said of Leeds. "I appreciate all of the hard work that he put in and sometimes you just realize that you have other interests outside the game. He has a family now and is pursuing some other things with his education and I wish him well in all those endeavors."

Following the board's approval, Burgess became the head coach of the Ponies, effective Friday, which will allow the new coach to hit the ground running.

"I am ready to get started," Burgess said. "This summer's going to be really important and we are going to have to put a lot of work in. But I can't wait to meet with the kids and get things going."

Certainly, with Havre basketball, expectations are always going to be there, but Burgess said it's going to be a process, but one that he believes will eventually result with Havre being a factor again at the Class A state tournament.

"Every year, your goals are going to be different," Burgess said. "They have to be. My first year at North Star we won six games. The long term goal is getting back to the state tournament, but it's going to be a process. It's rewarding when you are able to see it through. It's going to take some time and a lot of hard work, but I am excited about the challenge."