Climate Change
Not even freezing winters could keep Alexis Burke from Illnois.
Glenn Nelson Alexis Burke joins Jolette Law's 2010 class.For Alexis Burke, this year was about coming in to her own. It won't culminate until next month, when she and all the other committed seniors sign their National Letters of Intent, but Tuesday evening she decided that the University of Illinois was the place for her.
Burke, a 5-foot-11 wing from Bainbridge, Ga., cut her list to five -- Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Rutgers -- in early September and completed official visits to all of them. Earlier this month she made it a final two, choosing Sherri Coale's Oklahoma program and Jolette Law's Fighting Illini.
With all the pressure to commit early and colleges pulling out all stops during visits, it is becoming increasingly rare for a prospect to make all five visits, as she is entitled. But the confidence and strength to take control started with a conversation that Burke had with her Essence club basketball coach Kimberly Davis-Powell earlier this year.
"Going into this year, she and I had a long talk and I needed her to become a leader," Powell said.
The two have been together in basketball dating back to middle school, so Davis-Powell knew that her silent protégé was ready for the next step in her development.
"The thing I'm most proud of is she embraced that," Davis-Powell added. "All our 2013's and 2014 kids, you ask them who is your basketball role model and they'd all say Alexis."
Burke, the No. 50 prospect in the ESPN HoopGurlz Hundred, arrived at her final five based on her relationship with the coaching staffs and the campuses, and she contends those same five were the coaches who showed they wanted her the most.
The relationship with Illinois' head coach took off in August following her team's final tournament of the summer, Nike Nationals. Burke made an unofficial to the Champagne, Ill., campus where Law made an impression on the Georgian.
"Coach Law is a great person and I believe in her vision," Burke said.
Among their common goals are conference championships and trips to the final four. Burke isn't expecting a starting spot when she steps on campus but intends to go hard and fight for time regardless.
Burke is the second player from the 2010 class to pledge Illinois, joining Centrese McGee, a 5-8 guard from Calumet City, Ill. The two will come in on the heels of Law's first recruiting class in 2009 which included six players and was ranked the third best class in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz.
With Burke, who has never seen snow in her life, joining the program from Georgia, Illinois has reeled in four out-of-state recruits under Law's watch, making a strong statement that the program's recruiting reach is definitely national.
Burke brings a lot to the program at the wing position but believes her defense must improve and she must add strength to play at the level she wants to in college. Coach Davis-Powell points to her smarts more than her athleticism as a key to her success on the club circuit. She has guarded small guards as needed, as well as elite front court players like Kelsey Bone, now a freshman at South Carolina who was the No. 2 player in the 2009 class.
In the meantime, Burke and her Bainbridge High School team have unfinished business. Last season they were regional champions in class 4A, an accomplishment Burke believes they must duplicate in her senior season. They also reached the state's final four and she intends to take it a step further this year, even if she has to put the team on her back to do it. But with the confidence there now, she is up to the challenge.
With three seniors and only 14 players on the roster for 2009-10, the Fighting Illini could feasibly sign two more players in the class. With no juniors on the roster, it is also possible they will roll one or both of those available spots into the 2011 class. Illinois is a finalist for another wing-forward prospect, Lynette Holmes of Chicago, who is No. 83 in the class.
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Chris Hansen is the national director of prospects for ESPN HoopGurlz and covers girls' basketball and women's college basketball prospects nationally for ESPN.com. A graduate of the University of Washington with a communications degree, he has been involved in the women's basketball community since 1998 as a high school and club coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. Hansen can be reached at chris.hansen@espn3.com.
