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Markus Burton sat in Clowes Hall at Butler University, awaiting the results of the 2023 Indiana High School Sports Award Ceremony. Then a standout point guard at Penn High School, he was nominated for the IndyStar Mr. Basketball award, given annually to the best senior in Indiana. Burton’s cousin and former Purdue point guard Brandon McKnight anxiously watched alongside him.

McKnight had been in his shoes 22 years earlier, finishing as a runner-up after averaging over 28 points during his senior campaign at South Bend LaSalle High School. He had long felt that Northern Indiana, where Burton was from, was unfairly overlooked in favor of the Indianapolis area during award season. So, when Burton was announced as the overwhelming choice, McKnight couldn’t contain his joy.

“It felt good, especially for me because I got Mr. Basketball runner-up,” McKnight said. “To have someone in my family actually win Mr. Basketball was one of the best days of my life, and I know it was for Markus, too.”

Now a sophomore at Notre Dame, Burton has become a star in the ACC. Last year, he won the ACC Freshman of the Year after starting all 33 games and scoring 17.5 points per game. This season, he’s played in 10 games for the Fighting Irish, averaging 19.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game. After missing Notre Dame’s first matchup against Syracuse due to a knee injury, he’ll lead the Irish into the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday.

Burton was always destined to don navy and gold. Born in Mishawaka, Indiana, he grew up 20 minutes from South Bend, in the shadow of the campus he’d eventually call home.

The oldest of five siblings, Burton, told Rivals he began playing basketball as a 5-year-old, developing his skills with his father, Markus Burton Sr. Six years later, he played on the AAU circuit as a fifth grader. Burton started with the Sky Digg Soldiers, a South Bend-based team sponsored by WNBA star Skylar Diggins-Smith.

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With the Soldiers, Burton met current Air Force forward Josh Gatete, who became one of his closest friends. The two continued playing together in the following years at Penn. Gatete always recognized Burton’s talent, but he didn’t realize the extent of his potential until they were in middle school.

“Honestly, it was around eighth grade when I saw him take a step with his jump shot specifically,” Gatete said. “That’s when I knew he had all the pieces to his game, and he could definitely be an All-American caliber player.”

Penn went 10-14 in Burton’s freshman year, but he quickly became the starting point guard. In former Penn head coach Al Rhodes’ decades-long career coaching Indiana High School basketball, Burton was one of two athletes Rhodes coached who started every game. The other was former Los Angeles Lakers forward Rick Fox, who only spent two years with Rhodes at Warsaw Community High School.

After that freshman season, McKnight took Burton under his wing, realizing South Bend had never seen a guard of his caliber.

“Once I watched Markus play, it reminded me a lot of myself,” McKnight said. “But he was way more advanced than I was at his age as a sophomore, junior in high school. That’s when I knew he was special.”

With McKnight in his corner, Burton blossomed as a junior. He was recruited to the Chicago-based Mac Irvin Fire on the Nike EYBL circuit, forming a strong backcourt duo with current Virginia point guard Dai Dai Ames. Despite facing stronger competition, Burton regularly showcased his scoring ability.

“He would get the ball, make a play. I’d get the ball, make a play,” Ames said. “I’d never had a backcourt (partner) who could score the ball with me at will like that, so it was pretty fun.”

Burton averaged nearly 27 points per game with Penn that year. He led the Kingsmen to a 24-3 record, ending the season with a regional championship loss to Chesterton High School. He also became a three-star recruit, receiving offers from mid-major Division I programs such as Appalachian State, Ball State and Drake.

But Rhodes knew Burton was destined for more. Throughout Burton’s Penn career, Rhodes repeatedly told then-Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey if he offered Burton a scholarship, he’d commit to the Irish without hesitation. Brey obliged in July 2022, and Burton committed three days later.

The freshly-minted Notre Dame commit became the best player in Indiana as a senior. Burton averaged over 30 points per game and steered Penn to a 28-2 record. In the postseason, the Kingsmen avenged his season-ending loss to Chesterton, carrying a 22-game winning streak into the Indiana Class 4A state semifinals against Kokomo High School.

Markus Burton is averaging a team-high 19.0 points per game ahead of Notre Dame’s matchup versus Syracuse on Saturday. Courtesy of Fighting Irish Media

“By the time he was a senior, he did so many things well,” Chesterton head coach Marc Urban said. “We knew we weren’t going to be able to stop everything. So it was like, ‘Alright, we’re gonna focus on this (aspect) and we’re just going to hope for the best.’”

In the semifinals, Burton faced consensus five-star recruit Flory Bidunga. Despite Bidunga’s imposing frame, Burton drove to the rim all night, pushing the eventual Kansas commit to the brink of defeat. Despite Burton scoring 27 points on 46% shooting, Penn narrowly fell to Kokomo 58-57.

The loss came less than two weeks after Brey’s final game at Notre Dame. Following an 11-21 season with the Irish, Brey resigned and took an assistant coaching job with the Atlanta Hawks. Yet Burton never wavered. He knew he wanted to be in South Bend, no matter who the coach was.

“Brey is a really good friend, obviously we never wanted to see him go. But Markus is a local kid,” McKnight said. “He was pretty much locked and set to play at (Notre Dame), because that’s where his family is.”

His faith in the program was rewarded when former Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry took the job two weeks after Brey’s departure. Working with a depleted roster that had lost its entire starting five, Shrewsberry needed an elite scorer to rely on. He chose Burton to fill the role.

After his standout freshman season, which saw him named to the All-ACC Third Team, Burton entered the 2024 NBA Draft. However, he withdrew his name from the pool less than a month later.

But Rhodes doesn’t think it’ll be long until he’s in the NBA. In his eyes, Burton has the potential to be an all-time great.

“Being from New York, I worked a long time at Five Star Basketball Camp,” Rhodes said. “I had Chris Paul, Stephon Marbury in camp … and I put Markus right up with them in terms of basketball savvy, toughness and the things that he can do on a court.”

Published on January 15, 2025 at 11:58 pm

mjpalmar@syr.edu | @mpalmarSU