ATLANTA — Trey Burke picked up the Naismith Player of the Year award and the Oscar Robertson Trophy Player of the Year honors on Friday to go with his Associated Press National Player of the Year honors.
Despite being projected as the No. 7 pick in the NBA Draft By DraftExpress.com, he has yet to decide if he will turn pro after this season, according to his mother.
“He has not made any decision,” Ronda Burke told Yahoo! Sports Thursday afternoon. “Trey is focused on playing the games.”
The 6-foot sophomore will lead Michigan into a national semifinal here Saturday night against Syracuse and its stingy 2-3 zone, with the winner to advance to the NCAA championship game Monday night against the Louisville-Wichita State winner.
“It would be great to get a win on Saturday, to have the opportunity to play on Monday and cut down the nets would definitely be a great feeling,” Burke said. “But we have unfinished business. We’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Coming out of Columbus (Ohio) Northland High, Burke was “a fringe Top-100 player” and was headed to Cincinnati because Ohio State “was all filled up,” according to Paul Biancardi of ESPN. He ultimately landed at Michigan after being recruited by assistant Jeff Meyer.
“I wasn’t really recruited hard coming out of high school and it put a chip on my shoulder,” Burke said. “It made me work harder. I obviously knew I needed to get better. That is what made me work hard each and every day. Once Darius Morris left for the Lakers, I was thrown into the fire so I had to grow up quickly. It just allowed me to gain a lot of experience and confidence.”
Burke averaged 14.8 points, 4.6 assists and 2.8 turnovers as a freshman and then took it to a new level this year, averaging 18.8 points, 6.8 assists and 2.2 turnovers.
“Trey Burke is a sophomore, but when he was a freshman we put him right in,” Michigan coach John Beilein said.
“We had no other choice last year because Darius Morris went pro early. Turned out to be a win-win for both. Darius with the Lakers, Trey got an opportunity to play early and jumped on it.”
Burke became the first Michigan player and just the fifth sophomore ever to win the Naismith award, following Blake Griffin, Andrew Bogut, T.J. Ford and Elton Brand.
And though he hasn’t officially decided on his NBA future, he’s already modeling himself after a few NBA point guards.
“Guys like Tony Parker, Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo,” Burke said. “When you watch those guys, they are more than just great basketball players out there, they are actually leaders. They are coaches on the court.
“You want to model yourself after guys like that because you have your teammates’ respect. Instead of criticizing your teammates on the court, you can help them.”
Photo: Getty Images
