Burke Revealed As Finalist For Cousy Award For Top Point Guard
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Sophomore guard Trey Burke (Columbus, Ohio/Northland HS) of the University of Michigan men's basketball team was named a finalist today (Monday, March 11) for the 2013 Bob Cousy Award, given to college basketball's top point guard as announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Along with Syracuse's Michael Carter-Williams, Saint Mary's Matthew Dellavedova, Miami's Shane Larkin and Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart, Burke is among five finalists for the prestigious award named after Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtics guard Bob Cousy.
Burke guided U-M to a 25-6 regular season record with a 12-6 Big Ten mark. With postseason at hand, he is averaging a career best in points (19.2), assists (6.84), field goal percentage (48.5), three-point percentage (39.6), free throw percentage (78.4) and steals (1.6).
He is the only Wolverine to score in double figures in all 31 games this season, including 12 20-plus point games. He was the only Big Ten player to score 15-plus points in every conference game and became the 47th Wolverine and just the seventh U-M sophomore to eclipse 1,000 career points. He currently has 1,098 career points.
Burke leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.59) and currently has 212 assists on the season, helping him become just the fourth U-M player to have 200-plus in a season. He leads the Big Ten with 6.83 assists per game, which ranks ninth in the country, and could become the first Big Ten player to average more than 17 points and seven assists since Magic Johnson.
An original list of 80 candidates was trimmed down by a nationally based committee to 20, down to 10 and now five candidates. Each of the final five candidates in contention for the award will be presented to Mr. Cousy and the Hall of Fame's selection committee. The Hall of Fame committee is made up of top college basketball personnel, including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.
The winner of the 2013 Bob Cousy Award will be presented at the Hall of Fame's Class Announcement on Championship Monday in Atlanta as part of NCAA Final Four weekend.
In addition to the Cousy Award, Burke is a finalist the John R. Wooden Player of the Year Award, the Oscar Robertson Player of the Year Award and Wooden All-America Team. He remains a top-30 finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year Award as well.
2013 BOB COUSY AWARD FINALISTS
Trey Burke, Michigan
Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse
Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary's College
Shane Larkin, Miami
Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
