Spirit's Take: Here's what Ole Miss is adding in four-star small forward Jordan Burks
Thursdays are now apparently for Ole Miss basketball commitments.
A month to the day since Ole Miss landed On3 Consensus four-star power forward Rashaud Marshall, the Rebels and now-fifth-year head coach Kermit Davis have reeled in four-star small forward Jordan Burks.
Burks announced his verbal commitment to Ole Miss through his personal Twitter account, which promptly followed a recent Ole Miss Spirit prediction for Burks in favor of the Rebels.
The 6-foot-8, 190 pound prospect who is originally from Decatur, Ala., chose the Rebels over additional finalists Mississippi State, Missouri, Eastern Michigan, Texas Tech, and the G-League Ignite.
Burks has played in 12 games (so far) with the Atlanta Xpress on the Under Armour UAA Circuit.
He’s averaging 12.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. Burks, who is ranked as the No. 88 overall prospect in the country by On3, is also shooting 52 percent from the field and 42 percent from three.
He’ll soon begin his senior season at Kingsmen Academy in Gainesville, Fla.
On3’s Jamie Shaw called this one earlier in the week, dishing out kudos to new Rebel assistant coach, Brock Morris.
He built an early relationship with Burks, and the program was able to check all the boxes on his official visit.
They took him through their plans of development for Burks and how he would look in their system, but the most significant piece was how natural he felt around the players.
Morris really dug in on this one and established a relationship early. Jordan Burks’s comfort level with the coaches is evident when talking with him. This was huge in landing the four-star.
“The staff felt like family on my visit; coach Brock (Morris) has been great,” Burks said.
On his visit, the only official visit he took, sources say Ole Miss did a great job answering any questions about the style of play and their plans for Burks’ development.
Intel suggests that Burks got a feel for head coach Kermit Davis and Davis for Burks on the visit. The two had an understanding of one another.
Shaw also had an opportunity to catch up with Burks.
“The playing style and relationship with the coaches were great,” Burks told Shaw. “They play fast-paced, getting up and down but also having sets when the game has to slow down. That’s all they talk about, cutting the floor, cut the floor.
“The staff felt like family on my visit. Coach Brock (Morris) has been great. The players were great, and that really touched me on my visit. I like coach KD’s (Kermit Davis) playing style and their plans for me.”
On3’s Joe Tipton caught up with him, too. The industry-generated On3 Consensus has Burks as a three-star and the nation’s No. 126 player. He’s the No. 24 small forward and the No. 15 recruit in Florida.
Burks joins Marshall and Parklane Academy (Miss.) small forward Jacob Gazzo in Davis’ 2023 class, a group that is now ranked No. 25 in On3’s 2023 Consensus Basketball Team Recruiting Rankings.
SPIRIT’S TAKE
Burks is a rangy wing player who has the ability to score in bunches from several spots on the floor.
His length is something which cannot be taught, but he will need to get in the weight room to get stronger in order to be more physical for the much-improved SEC opponents he will face in the future.
The newest Rebel commit moves extremely well and is more than capable of hitting a mid-range jump shot. Several national analysts believe he has big-time upside and could really develop into an All-SEC caliber player at Ole Miss.
