What top ACC honor did a Notre Dame men's basketball player earn?
Tom Noie
WASHINGTON — Nobody did it better in his freshman year in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season than Notre Dame men's basketball guard Markus Burton.
The former Mishawaka Penn High School all-state choice and the reigning (at least for a few more weeks) Indiana Mr. Basketball has another title/honor to put before and after his name. Forever.
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The 2023-24 ACC Rookie of the Year, which Burton was named Monday afternoon in a vote of league head coaches and media. He’s the first player in program history to earn top freshman honors in Notre Dame's 11 seasons in the ACC.
Former Irish Troy Murphy (1998-99) and Chris Thomas (2000-01) both earned Big East rookie of the year honors. Burton’s 535 points (and counting) this season broke Murphy’s freshman record (519) that stood for 25 seasons.
“We feed off his energy,” said Irish head coach Micah Shrewsberry, who put the ball in Burton’s hands on Day One. “What he’s done this year, man, he’s been circled at the top of the lists as A Number One from Day One. He’s handled it exceptionally well.”
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Burton and the Irish had just wrapped up their 45-minute shoot-around/walk-through/practice at Capital One Arena on Monday when the announcement of his award went live. With Burton's honor combined with Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo earning ACC women's basketball freshman of the year, it marked the first time since 2013 and fourth time in history that the league's top freshmen for men's and women's basketball have come from the same school.
It may not have been a special season in terms of wins for Notre Dame, 12-19 heading into Tuesday’s first-round league tournament game (2 p.m., ACC Network) against Georgia Tech, but it was special for Burton.
Everything he was asked to do, and he was asked to do just about everything, Burton did at a successful rate. He led the Irish and was sixth in the ACC in scoring (17.26 ppg.). He led all league freshmen in scoring. He finished sixth for assists (4.26), 13th in free throw percentage (.802), fourth in steals (1.97) and seventh in minutes played (33.5), all for someone who maybe — maybe — stands 5-foot-10 on a good day and is listed at a generous 166 pounds.
He played far bigger, and right from the start.
Burton scored 29 points in the season opener against Niagara and kept on scoring. Kept on getting the ball to his teammates. Kept on competing. Though he looked completely gassed in some games, he seemingly never hit the proverbial freshman wall, where all the games and practices and demands of major college basketball catches up to kids just out of high school.
As the season wound down, Burton never seemed ground down. He scored a career-best 31 points in the late-February home win over Wake Forest. He earned league rookie of the week honors three times in a four-week stretch. He also was an easy choice for the league’s all-rookie squad.
Burton also was named third team all-league, which meant he was among the top 15 players in the ACC.
He was the only Irish to start all 31 games. He scored double figures in 28 of those, including a run of 22 straight. Only Pittsburgh guard Carlton “Bub” Carrington earned more league rookie of the week honors (five) than Burton (four).
“You can’t stop him,” said North Carolina coach Hubert Davis, whose Tar Heels limited Burton to nine points, three rebounds and four assists in last week’s win. “You just hope that you can slow him down, contain him somewhat, but that’s very difficult.
“He’s just a gifted basketball player.”
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact: (574) 235-6153.