The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/116680
men's basketball lass] were very helpful last year. He is just a really special player. "We just love what he's brought to the team. In practice, everything — it's special." Trey Burke Makes Final Five For Bob Cousy Award Sophomore guard Trey Burke has been selected as one of five finalists for the 2013 Bob Cousy Award, given to college basketball's top point guard as determined by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Burke joined Syracuse's Michael Carter-Williams, Saint Mary's Matthew Dellavedova, Miami's Shane Larkin and Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart in the elite group. Burke averaged a career-best 19.2 points during the regular season, while averaging 6.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game. The Cousy Award winner will be announced as part of the Final Four weekend in Atlanta. Earlier, Burke was named to the final 30 for the 2013 Naismith Men's College Player of the Year, presented by AT&T and the Atlanta Tipoff Club. The Naismith Trophy competition gets narrowed down in late March to four finalists. The award will be presented in Atlanta April 7. Fans can text in votes for the player of their choice beginning March 25. ❑ Five Questions With Assistant Coach LaVall Jordan How satisfying is it for you to see Trey Burke become Player of the Year in the Big Ten? Jordan: "He's good. He's worked, and he's invested, and he's learned how to be a coach on the floor. It's a proud moment for him and his family. The one thing I know about him — if he could trade it for a championship, he would, because he's so competitive in that way." He had to fast-forward from the regular-season-ending loss to Indiana like everyone else. What do you see in him that helped him transition to tournament time? Jordan: "A maturity. Last year, he might have dwelled on that maybe a little too long. Us having a couple of setbacks during the season and having to overcome — the Big Ten has been a grind — everybody in the locker room had some reference points. From the Michigan State game to the Penn State game, we had to overcome. "There's nothing you can do about it now. They understand that." Can you talk about the guards you've worked with this year as a group? Jordan: "I think they've learned a lot. They've soaked it up. Their cups, we might have thought at one point they were full, but there is more to go in there. You can still keep pouring it in. As a coach, you try to figure out, okay, how much is too much? You want them to be good at what they do without having