With Trey Burke returning for his sophomore season, the expectations will continue to grow for the Michigan basketball team over the next 6 months. I have to admit, next season could be something special for us Wolverine fans, but I am still left with a bad taste in my mouth from the whole Trey process.
The week before he officially announced he was going to return to Ann Arbor, several reports claimed he was entering the draft. With so many different news outlets sharing the news, it seemed all but certain. During that week I, along with other Michigan fans, likely went through the stages of grief. There was intense anger, even with multiple people on social media telling Burke what a stupid decision he was and people rooting for an injury in his first NBA appearance. There was sadness. There was the hope for the future, and while Burke makes Michigan a Final Four or bust preseason team… there was still going to be more than enough talent in Ann Arbor to field a good team. We all turned our eyes toward this no name kid from Indiana (Spike Albrecht), we watched his game films, and we hoped he could be a band aid. Coach B got him on campus and offered him a scholarship the same day, within minutes of the offer Spike was our 4th recruit in the 2012 class. By about this time last Friday I would guess most Michigan fans got to a point of acceptance of Burke’s decision. While we might not agree with it, lost respect for him as a boy, we accepted that the program we love had to move on.
Then Monday morning came and the reports made a 180 turn. Trey Burke has made a final decision, and he wants to come back for his sophomore year. Now what do we do? We were moving on without him as fans, we were ready to fall in love with the over-achieving backyard dog Spike. We knew he wouldn’t possibly leave after one season. We accepted that while we wouldn’t be a Final Four team, it is light years ahead of where we were just a few short years before. But not so fast. Trey has decided to stay. Our leader and All-American was coming back, if only for one season.
It is a weird situation. It is all but certain that Trey will enter the draft after next season. I guess we will experience a little of what Kentucky fans do every year. When they get the top recruit in the nation, they all know and have to accept he is not there to be a Kentucky legend, but merely use their facilities and coaching for a year to then take his talents to the No Basketball Association. Trey is the same way. I will never agree with this decision. Even if I was a lock to be the number 1 overall recruit, I have been brought up with the mindset that nothing can top a college education. What a blessing these kids have, they get a world class college education for free, but somehow this does not compute. I would try to let my own son make his own decision with this process, but I would certainly let him know how I felt about it. Yes there will always be risks in returning to school. I understand that injuries could happen, and millions of dollars could be lost. But injuries could happen in the NBA as well, and without a college degree to fall back on… these kids are back to square one. Part of it is that I experienced college. I know that it only gets better after your freshman year. I know that it is a time that you can never replicate or enter into fully after your early 20s. I learned how to become a better student, a leader, a friend, and a man in my time in Ann Arbor. It is a place that I met people that will be in my life for many years, my closest friends, and my wife. I would NEVER trade that experience for anything. But Trey doesn’t get it, and I guess he never will.
So while I will never embrace or fully understand his decision to leave early if/when it happens, I will learn again how to cheer for #3. I will be a crazed fan again, and I will be excited with every win; upset with every loss and constantly hoping for a trip to Atlanta come the first weekend of April 2013. Until then I guess I have to learn how to accept this new age college basketball.
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