Hoosac Alum Burke Nears End of Stellar College Career
 |
At New Hampshire's Colby-Sawyer College, Burke made a big impact his freshman season.
But three years ago when he looked to his future, the Cheshire resident decided he needed something bigger.
"I didn't like Colby-Sawyer because it's so secluded," Burke said recently, referring to the small town of New London, N.H. "I felt I was just stuck there.
"I grew up in Boston. ... I moved to Adams in the third grade. I didn't even like Berkshire County at first, to be honest."
Burke knew he would be more comfortable spending his college years in a bigger city, and he found his niche at Springfield College.
On Saturday, he played what likely will be his final home game in a Springfield uniform, and it was evident that Burke made the right choice for him and the Pride.
The 6-foot-4 forward has scored nearly 1,200 points and grabbed more than 700 than in his college career. He helped Springfield win 19 games and go to the NCAA Division III tournament a year ago, and Saturday's win over Coast Guard gave the Pride an 18-6 mark heading into next weekend's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference tourney, where the Pride is seeded third.
.jpg) |
"To be honest with you, we fashioned the offense because of his game. We had really good guards, and we knew it, and the addition of Tim [Swenson], a big guy, certainly didn't hurt."
A 6-7 center, Swenson spent his first two years at Springfield concentrating on academics and recovering from three knee surgeries. This season, fully healthy, he has combined with Burke to give Springfield a formidable front court. The pair is averaging 24.4 points and 18 rebounds per night.
It's made for the kind of season Burke had in mind when he transferred in -- not that he would not have won games with Colby-Sawyer, a traditional power in its conference with three NCAA tourney appearances to its credit.
And as a freshman, he was a big part of the Chargers future. He was named third-team all league and New Hampshire's Division III Rookie of the Year after averaging 15.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
"I did like the basketball there," Burke said. "It was tough leaving because when you're with a group of guys a full year, it becomes a second family. ... But I knew I had to do it.
"It had nothing to do with basketball. That was the hardest part -- telling my coach. he felt he did something wrong, but he had nothing to do with it."
Like a lot of first-year college kids, Burke realized that the place he chose was not the place for him.
Fortunately, he remembered Brock and his efforts to lure Burke to Springfield directly from Hoosac Valley, where he scored nearly 1,400 points and helped win a Western Massachusetts title.
"Springfield College was the first school to recruit me," Burke said. "The beginning of my junior year, they had a grad assistant at a Hoosac game, and that was before I did AAU or anything.
"I did a day tour here my senior year [at Hoosac]. At the time, it didn't seem like a good fit. But now I obviously wish I'd come from the start.
"Everything worked out the way it should."
Burke had to do some work to establish himself as a sophomore with the Pride. That first season, he made just 11 starts and scored 7.5 points per game, less than half what he averaged as a freshman with Colby-Sawyer.
"Honestly, at first it was pretty hard for me," he said. "I always felt I could help the team by scoring and leading the team with that.
"I realized that if I just worked hard on the court, I could help my team in many ways. I think I became a better passer. I've been getting doubled in the post a lot this year, and I've been able to kick it out.
"We have some 3-point shooters this year that we never had. I had seven assists [against Emerson]. That's not attributable to me."
Burke's pride in his Pride teammates is obvious. And if he thought leaving his first college team after a year was tough, the end of this season figures to be even worse.
"I honestly didn't realize next Saturday was Senior Day until I was doing an interview last night," Burke said last week. "[The questioner] said that, and it hit me.
"I don't want to even think about not playing basketball anymore. That's why we have to make this tournament run as long as we can."