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EXCLUSIVE: 'You want to leave your legacy' — Trey Burke discusses jersey going up at Crisler, journey at Michigan

Screenshotby: Clayton Sayfie01/22/26CSayf23

Legendary former Michigan basketball point guard Trey Burke will see his No. 3 jersey raised into the rafters at Crisler Center when the Wolverines take on Ohio State Friday night.

The 2013 national player of the year, Burke is one of six Wolverines to have his jersey honored, joining Cazzie Russell (No. 33, Dec. 11, 1993), Rudy Tomjanovich (No. 45, Feb. 8, 2003), Phil Hubbard (No. 35, Jan. 11, 2004), Glen Rice (No. 41, Feb. 20, 2005) and Bill Buntin (No. 22, Jan. 7, 2006). Of that group, Russell’s No. 33 remains the lone number officially retired by the program.

A Columbus, Ohio, native, Burke spent two seasons at Michigan from 2011-13 and led the Wolverines to the 2013 national championship game under John Beilein, the winningest head coach in program history.

Burke, a top-10 NBA Draft choice in 2013, currently plays for Astros de Jalisco, a professional Mexican basketball team that competes in the Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico and Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional.

TheWolverine.com had an hour-long conversation with Burke this week ahead of Friday’s ceremony for the Q&A below.

The Wolverine: The big night is on Friday. What’s your plan for the game, and who all will be with you?

Burke: My whole family will definitely be there. I got my grandparents flying in on my mom’s side; they live in Texas. My grandparents on my dad’s side will be there, as well; they live in Columbus [Ohio].

It’s a huge thing for me. Definitely like a bucket list thing for me, and I think for all athletes. You always want to leave your legacy, and what greater way than to have your name in the rafters forever, especially at a university as prestigious as Michigan?

I didn’t know how soon it would be. I was hearing that it would happen. Over the last year or two, there were talks that it would happen. I just didn’t know how soon it would be.

I’m super excited, man. I don’t really know how the night will go. Well, they gave me an itinerary, but I’m just as excited as everyone else, and I’m just waiting to see how it goes. I don’t know exactly how I will feel. I’m just going to try to stay in the moment and really soak it all in.

The Wolverine: So, Warde Manuel calls, and whose idea was it to have this against Ohio State?

Burke: I think [the options] were USC, UCLA, another game and then the Ohio State game. Obviously, I picked the Ohio State game. I just think it resonates with, obviously, me being from Columbus. I just thought that would be the best game to choose to retire my jersey. It’s going to be a memorable moment. What other game would you want it retired in? I chose the Ohio State game. So, I’m excited, man.

The Wolverine: There are only five other guys with their jerseys up there at Crisler — Cazzie Russell, Rudy Tomjanovich, Phil Hubbard, Glen Rice and Bill Buntin. You’re joining an exclusive club.

Burke: Man, it’s a surreal feeling to me, to simply put it. It’s Michigan. It’s Michigan. The University of Michigan, and you get your name put up in a university like that, you’ve done something. You’ve left your mark there, and that’s always what I’ve wanted to do.

I always played with a chip on my shoulder ever since I was young. I was pretty much a late-bloomer. I really didn’t get a lot of attention until my senior year.

Michigan welcomed me with open arms. That’s home to me. A lot of people are like, ‘Hey, you’re from Columbus. You were supposed to be a Buckeye.’ Nah, I was supposed to be a Wolverine. I feel like that was always my path. Because if that was the case, [Ohio State] would have recruited me harder and made it known that they really wanted me the way Michigan did.

Coach Beilein and Coach [Jeff] Meyer and Coach Bacari [Alexander], Coach LaVall [Jordan], all of those guys, really invested time with me and my family during that process of me deciding where I want to go to school — and that means a lot.

When I got on campus, I felt at home. I wasn’t too far from home. I never really wanted to go far from home when I chose a school. That’s just me. Some guys do want to get away. I didn’t really want to go across the country. I wanted to still feel somewhat like I was around my family, to give them the opportunity to see me play.

The last two programs were Cincinnati and Michigan in my recruiting process. For those that know, I was committed to Penn State early, as like a sophomore in high school, because it was my first big-time offer, and I was just super excited. ‘Man, I’m going to Penn State.’ And I committed to Penn State, but Coach [Ed] DeChellis and those guys ended up getting let go, and it was a new coaching staff that came in. That’s when I reopened my recruiting process, and Michigan came and the rest was history.

The Wolverine: Since your jersey will be in the Crisler rafters, what is your favorite moment at the arena?

Burke: My freshman year, playing against childhood friend [and Ohio State big man] Jared Sullinger. That was my first time really on that stage against Ohio State. I had a vendetta against them — mainly because of him — the love I had for him and have for him. At the time, ‘had’ for him, playing with him my whole life.

The Wolverine: What was it like being an Ohio kid going to Michigan?

Burke: If I was to go to Ohio State, it was going to be because of [Sullinger], really. It wasn’t like I was a big Ohio State fan growing up. I’ll be honest, I was an Ohio State football fan growing up; I can admit that. But basketball, I was a Duke fan growing up. I liked Duke, and I don’t think a lot of people know that. I liked Jay Williams, their point guard, and Chris Duhon. It was weird, but that was my team growing up.

So, I didn’t really watch a lot of Ohio State basketball until I got to Northland [High School], and Coach Satch [Sullinger], Jared’s dad, would take us to the games, because Jared’s older brother, JJ Sullinger, played at Ohio State. So I would go to the games sometimes with them and see the games, and that’s when I started seeing Ohio State. And then Jared committed there.

Obviously, his story, he was the No. 1 player in the country at the time in high school. I’m just looking at this like, ‘Bro, this is possible. Yeah, he’s 6-9, I’m not going to be that size, but it’s possible. I’m seeing someone I grew up with actually attain everything that an athlete wants.’ So, that was cool, but once I really started thinking seriously about where I wanted to play at and I knew that Coach Satch was going to [former Ohio State head coach] Thad Matta himself and telling him, ‘Yo, I have a point guard for you in my program’ …

They recruited me, don’t get me wrong. They called. I think people just think they never called. They called and things of that nature, but this is a serious time for athletes. This is serious. I’m really trying to see who wants me for me, and a situation where I can go right in and play. I could just tell that wasn’t Ohio State. They weren’t interested. My interest wasn’t super high with them, but I would have loved to play with Jared. We had just had massive success in high school.

So, once Beilein and the staff came, that’s when I started hearing, ‘Michigan?! Michigan?! Like, what?’ Just friends, things of that nature. ‘Oh, you can’t go to Michigan.’ Just that rivalry, bro. Just growing up in that rivalry. I’m looking at it like, ‘No, I can. This is like a villain-type story. I can go here.’

Not to mention, Darius Morris, rest his soul, was on his way to the league. He brought me out to LA. I’m getting goosebumps talking about it right now. He put me under his wing. I met his family. I had a really good time with him out in LA. We worked out together, and he was just really pouring into me and helping me know what to expect coming in. We ended up developing a relationship.

It was Cincinnati and Michigan, man. Those were the last two. And, to be honest, I was leaning more toward Cincinnati, because I’ve always watched guards go to the league out of the Big East — the AIs [Allen Iverson]. AI is my favorite player. I always thought I was — just like any other kid — Iverson growing up, as a small guard.

Once I started really taking it into consideration and taking it seriously, I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to go to Cincinnati. Cincinnati is right here; it’s the Big East.’ But, they had a junior at guard that was starting. I probably wouldn’t have played until my sophomore year, and that’s why I think it’s super important to have the right people in your corner during those times. My dad was really the one that was like, ‘Man, you need to take a look at this Michigan situation. It’s the Big Ten.’

And the reason why I wasn’t super high on Michigan at first is because it wasn’t a basketball school. I think that’s why a lot of people love that 2013 team, because we brought them back to relevance. It wasn’t really a basketball school, so I couldn’t really envision going there and accomplishing the goals that I wanted to accomplish. Those goals had everything to do with winning. I always won. I always wanted to at least be on a team that got wins, just coming from my high school team, where we were winning state championships, city championships, No. 1 team in the country as a public school.

I wanted to win, and I didn’t know if I could do that at Michigan. But once my dad really sat me down and put the big picture in front of me, he’s like, ‘Man, look. They’ve got Darius Morris. They’ve got such and such. He’s thinking about going to the league. Trey, you want to go somewhere where you’re going to have an opportunity to play right away.’ That’s when I was like, ‘Michigan, we’re going to go to Michigan.’ The rest was history.

The Wolverine: You mentioned the chip on your shoulder. I remember ‘The Journey To Ann Arbor’ video series you posted on YouTube of you working hard and getting up at 5 in the morning while in high school.

Burke: ‘The Journey To Ann Arbor’ was after my senior year, going into my freshman year [at Michigan]. I have that footage still. We took it off of YouTube just for this time. I’m going to start putting it back out now, just for the next generation and the youth to see.

But that changed my life, man. That changed my life, because it was so much deeper than basketball. It was faith. I put a plan together, and I presented it to God. I literally wrote a plan out. I prayed over it with my mentor, Dr. Anthony Rhodman, who still is prominent in my life right now way outside of basketball. He helps me in life. He helps me keep my faith and my relationship with God. That’s a person that’s huge in my process, just like my dad.

Everything the world has seen — because there are so many people that have seen that, that I didn’t know was watching until I started doing all the things that I was doing at Michigan — we lived it. We lived it. We did that every day.

The Wolverine: Is John Beilein one of the best coaches of all time? What was it like playing for him?

Burke: Definitely one of the best coaches of all time.

It was tough at first, to be honest, because I was coming from a coach that was similar to him. Coach Beilein and Coach Satch did it their way, and they had their standards. It doesn’t matter who you are, you’re either going to abide by those standards or you’re not going to play or you’re going to be off the team.

With Coach Satch, I had a relationship with him because of Jared, if that makes sense. Jared was always over at my house. Always. I knew Coach Satch since I was little. So, he would be a little bit more lenient on me in high school, but still was on me hard. Once I got to Michigan, it was the same with this coach, but we didn’t have the relationship. I had to build that with him. I had to build that trust with him.

And I was being a knucklehead when I first got on campus. First time with real freedom away from my mom and them. I’m just getting caught up in the campus a little bit. I just wasn’t focused the way I should’ve been when I first got on campus. A lot of people don’t know that Coach Beilein was threatening to send me home. He had my mom and dad come up, and we had a really serious meeting. I saw my mom cry in that meeting, and that’s when I snapped out of it. I got it all together. I was like, ‘Man, now I’m about to lose all this, and I’ve put too much work in to get here.’

I just got my act straight. I refocused. I think a lot of athletes go through that. Some guys never get back. Some guys never recover from that, they just can’t handle the access and the freedom that you have at a big-time university.

Yes, to answer your question, he is one of the best coaches ever because he really held his players accountable, and he was squeaky clean, when it comes to dealing with his players. There was nothing given to me under the table. He was abiding by all the NCAA rules. He knew the hours that we could practice. When we were over the hours, he was snippy, ‘Hey, get out the gym. We can’t be in the gym right now!’ He did everything the right way, and he held you accountable.

When I would get in trouble, then I’m running The Big House stairs early in the morning. Super early. PDP — and I forgot what PDP stands for. He’ll remind me on Friday. But it was basically the punishment. I think I had more PDPs than anybody. [Former teammate] Corey Person, my guy, would say, ‘At first, he stayed in trouble.’ I’m not proud to say that, but it molded me and taught me how to handle my business when no one was around. He really helped teach me integrity.

Dr. Anthony Rhodman — he was doing it, as well, but he wasn’t around. When I was around him in Columbus, I wasn’t doing knucklehead stuff. Now, I’m not around him. I’m on my own. I have to uphold these principles, and I have to uphold this way of life, to make sure that I’m at the top of my game. I wasn’t doing that at first, and [Beilein] held me accountable. I didn’t like it. I’m going to be honest — there were certain things I just didn’t like. But then I grew up quick and started realizing he had my best interests and was really helping me become a real, real student athlete.

The amount of respect I have for him, I really can’t put it into words.

The Wolverine: I remember your first game as a freshman against Ferris State, you didn’t start.

Burke: Man, you just reminded me. I forgot about that.

I had gotten back on track. We had the meeting with my mom. I was back on track. Man, I was doing great. Squeaky clean. I was practicing. I was doing my extra work. I was locked into my school stuff, and I was doing everything the right way.

This was the first game — literally the first game. I take a nap, and when I woke up, something just didn’t feel right. I didn’t look at my phone right away, but something just didn’t feel right. I’m moving a little slow. I think I might’ve heard a vibrate from my phone. I’m looking and seeing like, ‘WYA? Where you at?’ I’m like, ‘What?’ Now, I look at the time. I’m like, ‘Oh, shit.’ Boom, I hurry up and put my stuff on.

I literally ran from North Quad or South Quad — whatever one I was in. They’re literally across the street from each other. I ran from North Quad all the way to Crisler Center. In the car, it’s about five minutes, but walking and running, it’s a good 15 minutes. Twelve, 15 minutes. I sprinted. This is like movie talk right here. I was sprinting.

Once I got to Crisler, they were already in film, so I’m already late. I tried to open the door to the film session, and it’s locked. So, I had to knock on the door. I already was going to be embarrassed. Even if I could open the door, I was going to be embarrassed, but I would rather open myself and come in and say, ‘Sorry, I’m here. I’m sorry.’ Somebody had to come to the door and open it for me — ‘Alright, come in.’ I’m like, ‘Ahhhhh. I can’t get right, right now.’

He didn’t start me. Another PDP. Just growing up, man. Just growing up and being able to handle my business when no one’s around. Mom isn’t around. You don’t have anybody over your shoulder tapping you, waking you up, ‘Hey, let’s go.’ I learned a lot early once I got on campus. And, like you said, he didn’t start me, so I had to answer that to the media.

The Wolverine: One of my favorite, most underrated plays was in the Wisconsin game your first year, Beilein’s first win over Wisconsin. Stu Douglass and Zack Novak dove on the floor for a loose ball, Zack came up with it and flipped it to you, before you had a breakaway layup. What do those two guys mean to you?

Burke: Man, they meant everything. They meant everything to that program.

I gained a lot of respect for those guys really early, just seeing the way they were leading. They put their foot down. They were super vocal. They didn’t care who you were — you were either going to buy in or you had to get off the team or not play. They were serious. Once I got on campus, I’m like, ‘OK, these are the type of leaders you want to play with, you want to go to war with.’

What a lot of people don’t know is, when I first got to campus as a freshman, we were playing in the open gyms. Come to find out, they both went to Coach Beilein and told him, ‘Yo, he has to start.’ That meant a lot to me. I’m a freshman. These are four-year seniors that literally have been battle tested in the Big Ten. I was really honored for that, and I didn’t take that lightly. I continued to make sure I was getting better and growing. I loved playing with them.

That Wisconsin game was huge for me, because Jordan Taylor was one of the best point guards in the country at the time, from Wisconsin. I was hearing a lot of things like, ‘I don’t know if he’s ready.’ Jordan Taylor was doing a lot at that time, and I took on the challenge. I think that was one of my real bursts, outside of Maui. Maui was really when people really realized, ‘OK, Trey Burke can be something.’ But when we played Wisconsin and I really went head-to-head and outplayed Jordan Taylor as a freshman, that’s when even my confidence rose. That was a big moment for me.

But with Stu and Zack, man, I can’t talk about them enough.

The Wolverine: After your freshman season, you were almost out the door but decided to come back. From the end of your freshman year to the national title game, what was that whirlwind like?

Burke: That was a crazy time, because I definitely was on my way out the door. I always wanted to play in the NBA. That was my ultimate dream. Some guys’ dream is just to make it D-I and play high-major — which is a hell of a dream. That’s very hard to do, super hard to do. But, my dream was I always wanted to see if I could get to the NBA. I know I can. That’s the best of the best. You grow up watching NBA. You grow up literally being that kid watching NBA on NBC.

It was an ultimate goal of mine, and once I started seeing and hearing late first, early second round. They’ve got you the fourth, fifth point guard in the draft right now. It was Dame Lillard and a few other guys in front of me, but I was right there.

It was hard for me to look at my sophomore year at Michigan. I didn’t grow up in a rich family. I was like, ‘Man, this is my opportunity. I can change my mom’s life. I can change my dad’s life. I can change my situation. It’s here.’ That was my mindset. My mind was set on the league.

That game we lost, it was tough. Now that I think about it, I’m glad we lost to Ohio [in the first round of the NCAA Tournament]. Not for Zack Novak or Stu, or for the seniors. I don’t mean it that way, because that was their last game. But I think if we go further in the tournament my freshman year, say we get to the next round, the round of 32 or to the Sweet 16, I think it’s even that much harder to see Trey Burke come back that next year.

Losing that first game in the tournament against Ohio University was a sour feeling. I can still go to the league. I’m kind of forcing myself to go to the league now, because I knew that we underachieved as a team and I knew that I’m really trying to go prematurely. I knew that deep down in my heart. But I’m also hearing late first round, late first round. What more do you want? Late first round, early second. You’re going to be a first-round pick, or worse-case scenario, the 32nd, 33rd pick.

But it’s great to have people that have your best interests in your corner. I had a conversation with Dr. Anthony Rhodman. He said, ‘TB, you know God’s always going to do his part. But did you do everything you said you were going to do with your agreement?’ And I could honestly say I didn’t. He was like, ‘Then you need to come back.’ I was like, ‘Alright, I’ll come back.’

I go to Beilein and tell him I’m coming back. And, another level of respect I have for coach, he said, ‘What do you want?’ Not in money terms, nothing in that nature. Meaning, what are your goals? Let’s come to an agreement. What do you want? I said, ‘Coach B, I want to win a national championship, I want national player of the year. I want to win a Big Ten championship. I want it all.’ I said, ‘I’m hungry. You know the type of worker I am.’ And I put the team goals, obviously, before individual goals, but I let him know and was clear to him the type of year that I planned on having.

I was Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year, splitting with [Indiana’s] Cody Zeller, so I was already seeing fruits. I was confident going into my sophomore year, and I laid it out, ‘This is what I want.’ Boom.

And everyone knows what happened. We got to the finish line, came up short. And I believe a lot of that had to do with … I was the leader of that team, and I fell short throughout the year in certain areas. Obviously, people talk about the blocked shot. Yeah, of course. That game [against Louisville] was changed because of that call, I think. But I also believe that I fell short a little bit with how I led the team. Sometimes, let the team do certain things. Certain nights, we should’ve been more focused. I believe all of that really plays a part in ultimately getting the full harvest in comparison to 90 percent. I think we got 90 percent harvest. The full harvest was if we won that game.

The Wolverine: Well, respectfully, the refs didn’t help out too much.

Burke: Nah, they did not.

The Wolverine: Your second foul on [Louisville shooter Luke] Hancock in the corner, you didn’t touch him.

Burke: Yeah, I know. That was one of the times I was a little upset with Coach B. I’m sure he knows. In his defense, we were up 11, 12. We got off to a really good start against Louisville. But if you go back and watch that game, I was going back to the bench and I was livid. I was mad. I was venting to Bacari, I was venting to Coach LaVall, because I was upset with Coach B. ‘You know I can play with two fouls.’

As well as Spike [Albrecht] played — and Spike played phenomenally — Luke Hancock kind of offset that by hitting those threes. He hit some big shots going into halftime, and they went in with momentum.

I think with me out there, I don’t take away from Spike. Some people probably say I would’ve taken away from what Spike did. No, I don’t think I would’ve taken away from Spike. You have to understand, I was the furthest from selfish. I was never a selfish player. There were times they would have to tell me to be more aggressive, because I averaged close to 7 assists that year.

I always would make the winning play, and I always knew who had it going. That was my job as a point guard. I was going to get Spike the ball, but I just felt like with me out there we overpowered that line that they had in comparison to him offsetting that run, Luke Hancock hitting those shots.

They went into halftime with more momentum. Everybody knows what happened in the second half.

The Wolverine: The block…

Burke: That call, man. It was just like a needle in the ball — it just took the air out of us. We were already down three, and I blocked it. Tim [Hardaway Jr.] was right there. You watch the film, he was right there, and the ball was right in Tim’s hands and it’s four-on-four going the other way. I think the game changes if that call is not call. We played from behind, from that point on.

The Wolverine: How often does ‘The Shot’ against Kansas pop up on social media, and can you describe the adrenaline going through your body in that moment?

Burke: Another divine intervention moment. But, before that, there were some huge plays that I have to shout my teammates out for. Jordan Morgan made some big-time plays down that stretch. Glenn Robinson [III] made some huge plays down that stretch. Big time, huge. I think what was super overlooked was my 10-second call on Elijah Johnson.

All of those plays just showed the togetherness that we had. It showed the willpower that we had as a team. We were down 10 with like two minutes and 30 seconds left, two minutes and 45 seconds, whatever it was. Those plays, I have to mention, because there is no shot. What they call ‘The Shot,’ it doesn’t even transpire without that effort of my guys.

About 25 percent of the people in the Dallas [AT&T] Stadium had left. I heard people say they turned the TV off, went to bed and woke up the next morning and saw.

When Elijah Johnson went to the free throw line, we were down three. Obviously, it was a one-and-one. You know God is real. I knew God was real. I was seeing what he was doing in my life at the time, and I’m seeing these results, but I remember literally asking, ‘If he misses this shot … please. If this shot goes off, I know what time it is.’ I’m having a conversation. Most people would be like, ‘He was talking to himself.’ I was literally saying, ‘If You exist — which, I know You exist — let me see Your power right now.’

That ball came off, and the rest was history. I blacked out. I knew I just needed to get to a spot where I could see the rim and get my shot off. The issue I was having is when I was coming over half court, [Kevin] Young was right there. He had the big afro from Kansas. I saw him, and I’m like, ‘That’s not who I wanted to attack.’ He’s long, he has the wingspan. That’s not who I wanted to attack. And I still go that way. Why? I don’t know. I crossover, go left.

But Mitch [McGary] set a screen, and he fell. I saw him fall and said, ‘This is the shot.’ Now, Beilein was like, ‘Terrible shot.’ They tell me that to this day, ‘Oh, you’re just that player. Big-time players make big-time plays.’ Coach LaVall used to always make me laugh because he’d be like, ‘Aye, I’m going to be honest with you, there’s nothing I can do for you in that moment. You just have to be Trey Burke in that moment.’ I laughed about it, because I knew what he meant.

There was literally no play call we could call. Somebody had to have the balls to shoot that shot. I already made my mind up, if this shot comes off, I’m shooting. So, I come over half court, I crossover, Mitch sets the screen, Young falls. Still, I step back a little bit, and I remember hearing, ‘Elevate but release early.’ I jumped so high … if would’ve held onto that ball, it would’ve been flat because I was so deep. It wouldn’t went short and gone off left or right. But I remember telling myself — not telling myself, divine intervention. I just believe I was so tapped in, so locked in and focused during that time period, that whole tournament run, I was locked into all my spiritual principles. All of that stuff plays a big part in how you play on the court, I don’t care who you are. I literally heard, ‘Get the ball up, and release it early.’ I released it, and everybody’s like, ‘Did you know you were going to make it?’ From the time it left my hand, I knew that shot was going in.

Once it fell, I can’t really explain that feeling. I still haven’t experienced that feeling again. I experienced it a little bit in the league, because I hit some game-winners in the NBA, but that feeling I have not ever experienced ever again. Once I hit it, everybody was celebrating. And when we went to the huddle, guys were crying — myself included — because we knew what we were about to do in overtime. We knew they were pretty much defeated. We just knew. It was a feeling.

You can see Eso Akunne behind the huddle — go watch that clip now. We’re in the huddle after the shot, and he’s behind the huddle with his shirt over his face. He wasn’t even in the huddle. He’s five, six steps behind the huddle crying, still in disbelief. We were in the huddle with tears in my eyes. It was just an amazing feeling, to share it. Yeah, I hit this shot, but it was an amazing feeling because they were a part of it. Nothing short of amazing.

I always relive that memory. People always post it and tell me about it. But … ooooh. That was a wonderful, wonderful memory, man. I can’t describe that feeling.