To the surprise of few, former Michigan basketball star point guard Trey Burke was named to the Big Ten Network's first-team All-Decade squad. He joins Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky, Michigan State's Draymond Green and Ohio State's Evan Turner, with the final member of the first team expected to be announced later on Wednesday.
"This is a dream come true," Burke said in an interview with Big Ten Network. "A lot of kids when they come in to college dream to win a national championship, get to the Final Four, player of the year, all-decade team, things like that.
"Being from Columbus, Ohio, a lot of people ask, ‘How could you go to that school up north?’ But, it has a special place in my heart, and it always will. I’m just thankful to be able to be recognized as one of the greats of the last 10 years."
The Columbus (Ohio) Northland product and Rivals.com No. 142 recruit in the class of 2011 outplayed his ranking from the start. In his freshman season (2011-12), Burke averaged 14.8 points, 4.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors and was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, while helping lead the Wolverines to a share of the Big Ten regular season title.
He made the decision to return to U-M following that season, after coming close to entering the NBA Draft and beginning his professional career.
"Man, I was pretty much out the door," he said. "I ended up coming back, and Coach Beilein and all of the guys, everybody was all in, and we ended up making a run.
"It was the best decision that I ever made, because not only did we make a great run, we just built a different type of bond that year."
The Wolverines made it to the final Monday night of the season, going on a magical run to appear in the school's first Final Four and national title game since 1993.
That season, Burke was the Big Ten Player of the Year and a consensus pick for National Player of the Year. He averaged 18.6 points, 6.7 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game, while captaining the club.
"I just think Coach [John] Beilein and the coaching staff gave me a lot of freedom to not only make plays, but play through mistakes," Burke said. "When you play with that kind of trust, player-coach relationship, and you put that together with talent, as well as talent around you, some great things can happen."
Beilein was also interviewed by Big Ten Network, saying he felt Burke's mentality was one of the main reasons for his success.
"He was not a highly-rated player," Beilein explained. "He should’ve been. We certainly thought so, but others didn’t. He played with a chip on his shoulder in every game that he was going to prove to everybody that he was a high-level, as good a point guard as there was in the country."
Burke finished his two-year collegiate career with 416 assists, which ranks ninth in U-M history, as well as 1,231 points, coming in at No. 36 in program history.
But, even with all the wins, accolades and records, the best part of his experience at U-M is the relationships, Burke said.
"The people that I met — Coach Beilein, all of the players that I played with, Coach Bacari [Alexander], Lavall [Jordan], Coach [Jeff] Meyer and all those guys, the fanbase, just the University of Michigan. "Just building a connection and a relationship with those guys is what means the most to me," he said.
Burke, in his seventh NBA season, is currently a free agent.
Burke Talks Top Moments
Burke was asked about two of the top highlights of his career, one of them being his steal and breakaway layup that gave the Maize and Blue the late lead in a one-point victory over Michigan State in February of 2013.
"The end of the game, everyone was tired," Burke said. "Keith [Appling] was tired, I was tired. A great player just made a terrible mistake. He left the ball right there, and I just stayed right there. And I remember just having free access to the ball, and I just dunked the ball.
"It was just a testament to us just playing our heart out, giving it our all, just pulling out a great victory."
The second play was, of course, Burke's 30-plus-foot three-pointer with the clock winding down in the Sweet 16 against Kansas to send the game into overtime en route to a thrilling victory.
"My mentality was to get the best shot that I could get," he said. "So, I came across half court, Mitch McGary set a great screen. His man fell, and I was like 35 feet from the basket.
"If you remember Coach Beilein’s face, you could tell by his face he didn’t like that shot at all, which any coach wouldn’t. I just raised, I shot it with faith. Hours and hours of practice, and just confidence and wanting to come through big for your team."
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