The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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that in that moment, right there at the end of the game, he lost the game for us. It was a team effort, and no blame goes to him. He just felt like he wanted to take that responsibility and put it on his shoulders." Beilein put plenty on Burke's shoulders, almost from the moment he came to town. The coach knew Burke carried tremendous talent, even though he'd been largely overlooked by a lot of big-time basketball schools. Beilein also saw some intangibles that eventually played out in striking fashion over the course of the past two Michigan basketball seasons. "We really loved his talent, and I could see it, especially in high school," Beilein said. "I could see it in AAU. I saw a winner in high school." The head coach did not know he was looking at his starting point guard from day one. That was supposed to be the veteran Morris, until the allure of the NBA drew him away. Morris' departure left Burke as the man, and Beilein wondering — despite the rookie's obvious skills — what it meant for the Wolverines of 2011-12. "When Darius left to go to the Lakers, to go to the draft, we're sitting with this freshman point guard," Beilein said. "I'm saying, 'This is going to be a heck of a year for us to win with a freshman.' After that Maui Invitational, I had no doubt he was going to fill in beautifully, and he has ever since." Burke filled in well enough to help deliver Michigan's Big Ten champi- onship. He did not move into the leadership of the team right away, even though his position demanded assertiveness. Burke himself acknowledges the huge value in playing on a team with seniors Zack Novak and Stu Douglass. Those two guided him on the journey toward taking over the squad this season. "I had an opportunity to learn leadership skills from them my first year and that allowed me to become the leader I am today," Burke said. It's a process, Bartelstein observed. He witnessed it in his old roommate, Novak, as well as in Burke. "Everyone has that crazy image of Zack, but Zack wasn't like that his freshman and sophomore years," Bartelstein pointed out. "As the season has come along, Trey has been a lot more fiery and talking to people. It's a maturation process. "You don't just come into a college program as a leader. You might be a natural leader, but you can't just start talking when you have seniors and juniors on the team. That's not natural. Trey has done a much better job." He's also helped build the program by welcoming in, and setting an example for, the hugely talented freshman class that played a key role in carrying Michigan to the national championship game. The freshmen all give a nod to learning from how he plays. At least one of them, in fact, felt a greater assurance about coming to Michigan because of what he saw in Burke. Glenn Robinson III didn't lack for choices about where to play bas-