With the 9th pick of the 2013 NBA Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves select: Trey Burke, from the University of Michigan. Thus began the professional career of Point Guard, Trey Burke. His first day being apart of the league showed him that the NBA is truly a business, being traded from the T'Wolves to the PG-less Utah Jazz. This was quite a surprise for Trey considering he never had a workout with the Jazz (though did have an interview), but is proving to be a good fit for him as the Jazz are starting an all-youth movement.
Trey grew up with a competitive edge, winning attitude, and great leadership abilities thus leading him to have a very successful youth career. At age 5, his youth league had to change the rules so that he could not steal the ball as much as he did, not allowing him to full-court press. At age 9, Benji Burke, his dad and agent, made TB3 do everything with his left hand to obtain ambidexterity. It was at this same age that he met his best friend, future teammate, and future NBA colleague, Jared Sullinger.
Trey and Jared's bond grew as they became high school teammates under Jared's father. They weren't allowed to play AAU ball together due to the age difference, but Trey's U15 squad did advance to the championship game, a game in which his team fell. Trey did, however, bounce back the next time around and won the National Championship game. In Trey's sophomore year, he and Jared led the team all the way to the finals and won the State Championship by a score of 60-58. In his junior year, Northland High School beat the top two teams in the nation and advanced to the Regional Finals, which they did end up losing to put a damp on what was a terrific season, being ranked #1 in the nation before that.
Due to the fact that Jared and fellow teammate J.D. Weatherspoon left for Ohio State, it was Burke's team. He was able to lead his team to a 26-2 record, finishing #45th in the nation. Trey's efforts led him to become Ohio Mr. Basketball.. It was before this season started that Burke announced he would be signing his NLI with the Michigan Wolverines, rivals of his hometown Ohio State Buckeyes that did not offer him a scholarship, where his best friend/former teammate happened to play. Trey ended his season with a 4 star rating on Scout and a 3 star rating on Rivals.
During his freshman season at Michigan, he notched 7 total Freshman of the Week awards. His play eventually helped the Wolverines grab a share of the Big Ten regular season title. After the stellar season he was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year by the Big Ten media, also being added to the All-Big Ten 2nd Team. As his sophomore season began he was suspended for the first exhibition game of the year for a "violation of team standards." Burke rebounded with very successful play which led to his team becoming the #1 team in the nation, the first time since the Fab Five did it in 1992.When the NCAA Tournament came around many people doubted the 4-seeded Michigan, but they were out to prove everyone wrong. Trey is known for having a chip on his shoulder and the doubters fueled him. In a sweet sixteen game against top-seeded Kansas, Burke single-handily brought the Wolverines back from a huge deficit with 23 points coming in the second half and in OT, which was only possible thanks to a clutch TB3 3-Pointer with only 4.2 seconds remaining. UofM would fight all the way into the National Championship game where they lost to Louisville.
After another fantastic season Burke was named Big Ten Player of the Year, as well as getting the Naismith Award, naming Trey the top player in the nation. Trey also received the Bob Cousy Award, Oscar Robinson Trophy, and the John R. Wooden Award. Just like that his amateur days were finished as he announced he would declare for the NBA Draft., where he ends up with the Jazz.Based on the stats at the top of the screen you can see that he has improved in every category except, barely, rebounds. This isn't just impressive because it was a tremendous leap, but he also did it averaging less minutes. As you can see in the highlight video below, Burke isn't a very athletic player which could be difficult for him in the point guard age of the NBA. Size is also a factor as he isn't near the average height for a point guard, and could spell trouble for him in the lane.
He has attended one of Chris Paul's camps and could use that to his advantage and become a similar player in this league. He does have great leadership, but also respect for his teammates, which can also show a sure sign of maturity. Based on his ask.fm you could say otherwise however #EASTAFRICANWOMEN. He is usually a very decent shooter, but struggled in his first NBA action during Summer League shooting 24% from the field, 1 - 19 from three. If he has to rely on his shooting he could very well end up like a Jerryd Bayless, but if he can master the game of the undersized ballhandler and put all of his talent and hard work to use, he could easily become the next CP3 in the next few years to come. They do call him TB3 for a reason...You can view the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs8hjC3mkiI
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trey_Burke
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