The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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ends of the court. He can beat you with 30 points and five assists, or he can beat you with 12 points and 10 assists. "He also is really mature in his approach. I talked to his high school coach, and he said the one thing that really surprised him about Trey is that he just really doesn't care at all about numbers. He would never grab a stat sheet and really care about how many points or assists he had. He only cares about winning." Burke certainly checked the "winning" box in his two seasons at Michigan. Over that time, the Wolverines Burke burns with a competitive passion, not just for his own accomplishments but also with regard to teammates. He felt shattered over getting to the final regular-season showdown with Indiana at Crisler and seeing it — and a second straight Big Ten championship — slip away. He also blamed himself, although no one joined him in that regard. "After the Indiana game, we were walking away and he was devastated," senior captain Josh Bartelstein recalled. "I said, 'Trey, I couldn't think of a better teammate I'd ever want to have.' He's that good of a guy. ESPN college basketball analyst and former U-M standout Tim McCormick "Trey Burke is so unique to me. He's done everything you want as a player. He is a leader. He has improved his game. He's diversified. He plays both ends of the court. He can beat you with 30 points and five assists, or he can beat you with 12 points and 10 assists." won 55 basketball games, along with their first Big Ten championship since 1986. They clawed to their first Final Four and NCAA title game since 1993. In short, achievement at the highest league and national levels came back to Ann Arbor right along with Burke. "He's a winner," McCormick said. "I would imagine if you total up the number of games he's lost through AAU, high school, elementary school, middle school, this guy wins nine times out of every 10 he steps on the court, regardless of who he's playing against and the stage. He just wins." "We were walking to the press room. It was an unbelievable loss. You could just tell, he wanted it so bad for all of us. He apologized to the seniors after the game, that we couldn't pull it off. "It meant a lot for him to say that, but he needs to know, and I can speak for myself — I love that kid." His teammates echo the sentiment, right down to the freshmen. Rookie Mitch McGary remembers well the crushing end to the Indiana game, and the telling moments afterward. "He took the blame, in a sense," McGary said. "We all did, but he felt