Markus Burton wins Notre Dame-record fourth ACC Men’s Rookie of the Week

On March 11, one week from today, the Atlantic Coast Conference will announce its end-of-season honors. It could be a very fruitful day for Notre Dame freshman guard Markus Burton.

Burton won ACC Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season, the conference announced Monday, for his performances in wins over Wake Forest and Clemson. The Mishawaka, Ind., native has done it twice in a row and three times in the past four weeks. His four total are tied for the most of any player this season with Pittsburgh guard Carlton Carrington, and they’re the most a player has won in program history.

As Notre Dame pulled off two upset wins at home, Burton continued to take his game to another level. He scored a career-high 31 points on 9-of-15 shooting and a perfect 11-of-11 from the free throw line against Wake Forest Feb. 27, and followed it up with 21 (going 8 of 16 from the field) against Clemson March 2.

“No one can guard him,” freshman forward Carey Booth said after the Wake Forest game. “He just gets wherever he wants, effortlessly. It’s crazy.”

Burton also averaged 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals for the Irish. He leads all ACC freshmen with 17.3 points per game this season, strengthening his case for the conference’s Rookie of the Year award.

As Burton’s numbers keep rising, his scoring keeps getting more efficient and his efforts lead to more wins — Notre Dame has won five of its past six games — Irish head coach Micah Shrewsberry sees what everyone else sees. His freshman point guard has become a star and is still improving as the season goes through its home stretch.

Many freshmen hit a rookie wall by this point in the year. Burton ran through it.

“He’s been circled on the scouting report since Game 1,” Shrewsberry said. “He has to do it every single game, and he’s just rising to the occasion. And he’s getting better. He’s seeing the game. The game’s slowing down for him. He’s making his teammates better. He’s guarding and competing on the other end. He’s doing a lot for our team.”

Burton’s play has also drawn praise from opposing coaches all season, particularly this week. He’s widely considered one of the best freshmen in the country and already, as Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes put it, one of the better guards in the ACC.

Forbes pointed to Burton’s ability to change speeds with the ball in his hands, which is well past what one would expect from a freshman, as the main reason he’s playing as well as he is. Clemson head coach Brad Brownell had designed his defense around No. 3, but he scored 17 points in the first half anyway.

“Markus Burton is an elite player,” Brownell said. “He’s just hard to handle for every team in the league. He puts so much pressure on everybody that he makes everybody else better, and that’s what great players do.”

Burton himself said he’s working on playing off two feet more and using his shot fake as a weapon, which are paramount for a smaller guard. That’s a big reason why he was able to get himself to the free-throw line 11 times against the Demon Deacons.

Beyond that, he’s just having fun.

“This is basketball,” Burton said Tuesday. “This is what we do. This is what we do for fun. This is what got me here.”

Burton and the Irish are back in action at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, when they’ll face their toughest test yet. Notre Dame (12-17, 7-11 ACC) travels to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on No. 7 North Carolina.