Promising sophomore Deonte Burton leaves Marquette
The breakout year many projected from Marquette guard Deonte Burton hasn't materialized so far this season.
As a result, the former top 100 recruit will leave school at the end of fall semester
First-year Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski announced Tuesday that Burton and fellow sophomore John Dawson both intend to transfer. Their departures leave the shorthanded Golden Eagles with only eight active scholarship players once Indiana transfer Luke Fischer becomes eligible for the team's next game against Arizona State on Dec. 16.
"We appreciate all that Deonte and John have contributed to the program since our staff arrived in April," Wojciechowski said. We will do everything we can to help them make the next step in their respective careers and wish them nothing but the best in the future."
Whereas Dawson has only appeared in one game so far this season for Marquette, Burton is a significant loss. The 6-foot-4 wing was Rivals.com's No. 52 recruit in the Class of 2013 and scored efficiently enough in limited minutes as a freshman that it appeared a huge jump in playing time and production was inevitable this season.
For whatever reason, that did not happen. Wojciechowski brought Burton off the bench in his guard-heavy rotation and he averaged 6.4 points and 1.6 rebounds in 16.1 minutes per game, a slight dropoff from what he accomplished last year.
One reason it's hard to blame Burton for only showing flashes of his potential is that he lost his mother to breast cancer in October.
Perhaps a fresh start and a year away from basketball will help Burton finally achieve what he's capable of in the future.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
