|
By Kent Larsen
Burgess Keeps Trying To Start His College Career
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- When he chosed Duke over BYU, then BYU coach Roger
Reid told him he was letting down the Prophet, the Quorum of the Twelve, and
all 10 million members of the LDS Church. Since then Chris Burgess has tried
to keep from letting down fans at Duke, and now at the University of Utah as
teammates in both places have moved on to the NBA. So far, however, he has
continued to disappoint.
The 6' 10" Burgess, son of onetime BYU player Ken Burgess, was a star player
at Irvine Woodbridge High School in Orange County, California, where as a
senior in 1996-97 he was considered one of the top high school players in
the nation. Ken Burgess claims that his son could have gone straight to the
NBA.
After choosing Duke, Burgess played in a high school all-star game against
Elton Brand, who told him "When we get to Duke, I'll play forward and you
play center." But at Duke, Burgess couldn't make the grade. Brand
flourished, won the Wooden Award and was drafted into the NBA after two
years. But Burgess languished, getting little playing time after starting
poorly, and falling out of favor with Duke fans by scoring just 7 points in
six games against Duke's archrival, the North Carolina Tar Heels.
At the end of two years, as Brand moved on to the NBA, Burgess transferred
to Utah, after seeing the school's recent success and hearing many times
that Utah's coach Rick Majerus was the best "big man" coach in college
basketball. "We wanted to fix his career," Ken Burgess said. "We asked who
the best big-man coach was. One name kept coming up over and over, [Utah
Coach] Rick Majerus." But after the transfer, Burgess developed a bulging
disk, which sidelined him for the season.
Now, Burgess is bent on filling his potential. He spent the summer at boot
camp, working on strengthening his back and cut his weight to 236, as
Majerus required. But he still looks rusty to Majerus. In Utah's opener
against Idaho State, he was only 2 for 6, scoring 4 points and getting just
2 rebounds. After the game, Majerus worried that Burgess might still be
injured. "You can see the robotic quality to his gait," Majerus said. "I
admire him because he's trying very hard in what looks like to me to be a
lot of pain."
But in the end, what ails Burgess may not even be physical. Instead, he may
simply be the victim of too high expectations, "The greatest disservice we
do is put guys on pedestals early in life," Majerus said. "I tell everyone,
nobody heard of Van Horn and Doleac and Miller out of high school. They were
all first-round [NBA] picks. Only a handful of players never have a ceiling
to their game. Even Wilt Chamberlain couldn't shoot free throws."
Source:
Sprucing Up
Los Angeles Times 29Nov00 S2
By Chirs Foster: Times Staff Writer
His Career at Duke Failed to Take Root, So Now Burgess Is Trying to Resurrect NBA Dreams at Utah, a Place Where Tall Timbers Grow
|
