Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 26, 2024 47 BY JACK SOBLE M arkus Burton won't keep the head- band into the season, he said as he sat down with Blue & Gold Illustrated during Notre Dame men's basketball media day Oct. 1. It's just for picture day. That's not the only thing that's dif- ferent about the budding superstar, though, as he enters his sophomore year. Burton is more confident. More com- fortable. He doesn't crave the spotlight, but he doesn't run from it, either. When- ever he's with his teammates, he's laugh- ing, chatting and carrying a relaxed de- meanor. He doesn't act like he owns the place, but he knows the Irish go as he goes. From the moment Burton arrived at Notre Dame, he was the best men's basketball player on campus. The Irish knew it after their first practice, and ev- eryone else knew it after he dropped 29 points against Niagara, setting a school record for a debut. He only got better as the season progressed, finishing with 17.5 points per game en route to being named the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year. On the court, he's always been that dude. Media members around the league agree, naming him to the pre- season All-ACC first team. Opposing coaches raved about him last season, and internally, the Irish would not trade him for any other guard with the "ACC" logo patched across their chest. Now, he's embracing his role as the face of the program off of it. "I wasn't used to doing it," Burton said. "I was just a freshman coming in, learning new things. But now that I'm so used to doing it and I did it so much last year, now I'm able to understand what you guys [reporters] are talking about and be more confident in my voice." Burton worked this offseason on be- coming a more vocal leader in the locker room. He wants to be someone his teammates remember outside of bas- ketball. He's doing it with his actions, too, not just words. Burton's routine, Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry explained, is to shoot after every practice with fresh- man forward Garrett Sundra and junior forward Tae Davis. Later each night, he comes back and shoots some more. "He's been phenomenal this fall, this summer," Shrewsberry said in late Sep- tember. "You can tell he's worked. He's put some time in." One of two gripes from Burton's 2023-24 season was his three-point shooting. He was not a liability, going 30 percent from beyond the arc, but many expected more from the freshman who shot 42 percent from three-point range in his final year down the road at Mishawaka (Ind.) Penn. Expect that 30-percent mark to rise in Year 2. "Coming to college is different, be- cause of the speed of the game," Burton said. "But also, just me having the ball in my hand so much that it's hard for me to find three-point shots and get three- point shots. "Now that we have the team we have now, I'm able to find my shot and be more efficient in shooting threes and be more confident. Getting that confi- dence back." Burton won't have to play on the ball as much because graduate student guard Matt Allocco can do that. So can fresh- man guard Sir Mohammed and, Burton made sure to point out, close friend and improved sophomore guard Logan Imes. During open practice Oct. 11, Burton fed graduate student forward Nikita Konstantynovskyi in the paint for buck- ets several times. He should raise his as- sists total and lower his ACC-leading 3.7 turnovers per game, which was the sec- ond major gripe from his freshman year. "He's OK coming off a pick-and-roll and throwing a pocket pass, because he trusts the guys next to him," Shrewsberry said. "He's okay not having to bring it down the court every possession. Some- times, he can push it down the court and Mush [Allocco] can bring it, right? The other guys can push the ball. "You can see a little sense of relief in how he's playing." Burton finished the 2023-24 season with the highest usage rate among all high-major players, just ahead of Pur- due star (and former Shrewsberry pupil) Zach Edey. That will change this year. "It's definitely been a refresher," Bur- ton said. "I can't thank the coaches enough, because now it relieves a lot off me. They can help me, and I can help them too, so it's a blessing." With the season they believe he's about to have, the Irish feel blessed to have Burton, too. ✦ Preseason All-ACC Only The Start For Markus Burton Burton, who averaged a team-high 17.5 points and 4.3 assists in 33.8 minutes per game last season, earned a spot on the preseason All-ACC first team. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER MEN'S B A S K E T B A L L