Burgess Can’t Hide His Talent or Confidence

His position in the local hoops scene already established, Chris Burgess could let up now. But trust us, he wouldn’t think of it.

Not with so much still undone. There are tougher opponents and places yet to play, and mountains aren’t conquered unless you reach the top.

Believing he’s second to none is Burgess’ big thing, which he offers willingly and without a hint of humility because he’s prepared to prove it. Why hide his confidence, Burgess figures, when he has worked so hard to break free from the pack?

Let the other guys fight for second place, the slot Burgess is intent on avoiding. Youth and success can be a foolhardy mix, but Burgess’ jumper hasn’t let him down so far.

Next stop: the national stage--beginning now.

The Woodbridge High star is among the nation’s elite prep players attending the Nike All-American Camp at Indiana-Purdue at Indianapolis. The camp, the top showcase for players on the intense summer recruiting circuit, began Sunday and ends today. What happens in between helps determine whom college coaches will covet most in the upcoming recruiting class.

Guess who expects to leave town wearing the crown?

“That’s the biggest thing to me,” Burgess said. “To come out of here the No. 1-rated guy out of the Nike Camp, and hopefully [nationally], that’s my biggest goal right now.

“I know whether I do good or bad [colleges] are still going to recruit me. But I want to be No. 1.”

Yeah, well, so do 164 other campers. Burgess, though, is on the short list of guys with a legitimate shot, recruiting evaluators said.

The reasons are as obvious as they are impressive. At 6 feet 10 and about 240 pounds, Burgess possesses the size and skills to dominate games, which he usually does. Even mixed in with the nation’s best, Burgess isn’t faceless.

Bob Gibbons, among the most respected recruiting evaluators, thought highly of Burgess before the Nike Camp. He hasn’t changed his mind.

“He’s the best all-around big man I’ve seen in this class,” said Gibbons, of North Carolina-based All-Star Sports Publications. “In a lot of ways, he’s a combination of Christian Laettnerand Don MacLean in that he can score inside or outside.”

Already considered one of the top two players in the best California recruiting class in at least a decade, Burgess has mostly helped himself at the camp. In fact, Burgess played so well at forward during the first session of games that his status among the best of the best anywhere was secure for good. Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, one of the universities Burgess is considering, watched as he made a major impact in several games.

NCAA rules prohibit coaches from speaking with players at the camp or commenting on their play. But word gets out to the recruiting evaluators. The word on Burgess is consensus--a rarity in that line of work.

“I don’t know if there’s a big man in the country who runs the floor better than he does,” said Joel Franciscoof Socal’s Finest Scouting Service. “He knows how to play and he’s fundamentally sound, and obviously he’s developed his game each year. Now he’s added a jump-hook to his game as well as he can nail a jump shot out to 20 feet consistently.”

Unfortunately for Orange County coaches, they were the first to find out.

Burgess emerged as a sophomore at Woodbridge after spending his freshman year on the Mater Dei bench. He averaged 21.9 points and 11.4 rebounds, tops in the county. He led the county in scoring as a junior, averaging 26.3 points, and finished fourth in rebounding at 10.6.

He was selected to all the annual all-county teams, and endured the obvious comparisons to former O.C. prep legends Adam Keefe (Utah Jazz) and Cherokee Parks (Minnesota Timberwolves). That was fine, but Burgess had his eyes on a bigger prize than county immortality. Burgess, considered a better prospect than Keefe or Parks, wants college and NBA stardom, which is why the Nike Camp is so important to him.

“You’re just not going to get this type of competition in Orange County,” Burgess said.

So committed is Burgess to his hoop goals that he left Mater Dei. That’s right, he left one of the nation’s renowned prep athletic powers to become a better basketball player.

Here’s where Schea Cotton comes in. Actually, this story can’t be told without including Cotton, who has been among Burgess’ biggest sources of motivation and frustration since childhood.

Burgess and Cotton, who is rated the state’s other top prospect, have grown up in basketball together. They first met while playing on a youth team in the fifth grade coached by former Mater Dei assistant Pat Barrett.

As children, Cotton overshadowed Burgess on the hardwood. And Burgess reluctantly admits that Cotton was the more advanced player at the time. But times change.

When it was time for high school, Burgess believed his time had arrived. He thought he had escaped Cotton’s shadow because he attended Mater Dei and Cotton attended Bellflower St. John Bosco.

Ah, not so fast.

Cotton transferred to Mater Dei, and all those old feelings of inadequacy returned to Burgess.

“I was worried that maybe I wouldn’t get all the offers I wanted,” Burgess said. “I wanted to get recruited by big schools. I thought if I was just another player, maybe I’d only have a lot of West Coast schools recruiting me, and there’s nothing wrong with them, but I wanted to be a national guy. I didn’t think I could do it there.”

So it was off to Woodbridge. There, Burgess would undoubtedly be the best player in the program. In his first season as a Warrior, Burgess led Woodbridge to the Southern Section Division II-AA semifinals.

“There isn’t any question that Chris left because of Schea,” said Burgess’ father, Ken. “If he had stayed in Schea’s shadow, could he and Schea have been competing for No. 1? No, I don’t think so. I think Schea would have been the man.”

Which brings us to today. Cotton and Burgess are among a handful of players competing for that top spot nationally. Most recruiting evaluators now rank Burgess ahead of Cotton, a source of pride for Burgess.

Burgess and Cotton recently played on the same team in a prep all-star tournament in Boston. Burgess hopes the experience made Cotton a believer.

“Playing with Schea in Boston was important,” Burgess said. “I think I really showed Schea I can play and that all this stuff, all these people raving about me and putting me higher than him in some evaluations, isn’t crap. Maybe now he does think I’ve gotten better.”

For his part, Cotton, also at the Nike Camp, says all the right things. He downplays any rivalry between the two.

“I don’t get involved in stuff like that. I give every player his credit,” Cotton said. “Chris is a great player and he has great talent.”

Although Burgess is on everyone’s most-wanted list, facets of his game need polishing. Nothing major, coaches say, just a little fine tuning.

“Among the power forwards, he’s as good a prospect as there is,” said Jeff Fellenzer, who focuses on Southland recruiting for Ultimate Hoops Scouting and Recruiting Service. “But he will clearly need to become a better perimeter player because I think he sees that as being his ticket to getting to the NBA. He still needs to develop the [shooting] touch for that level.”

Burgess is considering scholarship offers from BYU, Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA. The word in recruiting circles is that Burgess already has committed to Duke. Burgess and his father deny it, but Burgess says he has “always loved Duke. It’s my favorite school.”

Along with all of his success has come criticism that Burgess is becoming increasingly cocky. One recruiting evaluator said “he might be believing his clips a little too much.”

He admits his confidence swelled after transferring to Woodbridge and that he does feel “real good” about himself. But he believes he has earned that right.

“I was out shooting at Long Beach City College and lifting weights on Friday nights when other people were out doing stuff with their friends,” Burgess said. “I’ve really dedicated myself to getting better and better.”

Which begs the question? Is Burgess good enough for the NBA after next season, or rather, does he think he is?

“I don’t agree with Kobe Bryant,” Burgess said of the high school star from Lower Merion, Pa., who was the 13th player selected in the NBA draft and whom the Lakers acquired Thursday in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets.

“Kobe said he would have wondered if he could have made it in the NBA. But a lot of guys wonder that. To me, college can only help you.”

Like Bryant, Burgess has qualified academically to play as a college freshman. But the NBA is tempting.

“I played with Jermaine [O’Neal] in April in Europe and, honestly, since he was picked 17th [by the Portland Trail Blazers] I think I could have made the draft this year.

“When we went to Europe, I felt I was just as good as him, but he was a little bit quicker. Give me a year and I think I can. But maybe I could get in the top five after college.”

Burgess still has work to do and he knows it. But that’s OK. He doesn’t plan to quit any time soon.