Wildcats' Burries Set To Be Immediate Contributor

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound five-star recruit out of San Bernardino, CA, is a large guard with the skills to be a three-level threat and the potential to immediately start as a 19-year-old coming out of high school.

As a senior at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, he averaged 29.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.9 steals on 29 minutes played per game.

He was a finalist for Gatorade Player of the Year in California and the 32nd McDonald's All-American to play for the Wildcats.

He chose Arizona over other schools such as Tennessee, Alabama, Oregon and SMU, noting the coaching staff and the closeness to home being big factors in his choice to become a Wildcat.

"He (Tommy Lloyd) said to me that he's gonna push me to be the best version of myself each and every day," Burries said. "He's gonna help me be great, and my goal is to get to the NBA. He said he's gonna help me get there."

Burries shows a great sense of maturity coming out of hgh school, as he is ready to push what he did there to the side and fouc on becoming the best player in college that he can be.

"I feel like that's just in the past, it's just that's in high school," Burries said. "Now I feel like everything restarts now that you're in college, so everything you did in high school doesn't really matter anymore."

As a freshman, he still has a lot to learn when it comes to the rigorous schedule of Division I college basketball. Despite this, he has a tremendous amount of teachers, Jaden Bradley, Anthony Dell'Orso, and others, to help him grow into the player that he hopes to become down the line.

Throughout practices, Burries is becoming a better player and retaining information by "just being a sponge" and "learning the difference in physicality when the veteran leaders and coaches are showing him new things.

When talking about Bradley, he added, "He's a senior now, so he's been here for four years. Well, three years, but it's gonna be his fourth year. So he's been there. So I'm just learning after him and Evan, great guys."

Something that freshmen must adjust to is the demanding training outside of the court. Performance enhancement coach Christopher Rounds puts his athletes through a set of workouts to benefit their game for when the season is in full swing.

"It's gonna be a big part of my game, because honestly, when I was in high school, I didn't lift at all," Burries said. "I didn't really lift. I just did push-ups and pull-ups. But now being able to get a facility and have somebody help me and guide me over summer, the four workouts we're doing for strength only can get me better."

A demanding weight-lifting and training schedule is important for a freshman who hasn't experienced the physical toll that the Big 12 conference puts on a player.

Despite not having played in the tough conference, Burries is ready for what may come and expects it to be a hard winter on the road to the 2-25 Division I NCAA National Tournament.

"I heard that it's real, it's more physical," Burries said. "You don't get as much calls. So I feel like, honestly, we got to play through the contact. You got to get ready to get hit and get up."

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