From Charles Barkley to Lil Wayne, Trey Burke's family in awe of national attention he's receiving

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Michigan sophomore point guard Trey Burke has become a national name this season, and he's taking his family along for the ride.

ATLANTA -- Trey Burke's always been a big deal in Columbus, Ohio.

But throughout the Michigan sophomore point guard's meteoric rise as a college basketball player this season, Burke's name, face, jersey and look have gone national.

He's not just Trey from Northland High School anymore. He's the best college point guard in the country, and his name seems to have somewhat transcended the sport.

"This has been crazy," Burke's father, Benji described. "People tweeting, Facebooking and talking about him -- Jalen Rose, Charles Barkley, Bob Knight, Kenny Smith, Greg Anthony.

"Lil Wayne."

Wait, what? Lil Wayne?

"It's been like 'wow,' " Benji added with a laugh. "He's known all over."

Burke's white-hot rise as a basketball player has been both good, and somewhat overwhelming, for he and his family at times.

While he never wanted to be the player that flew strictly under the radar before arriving at Michigan, that's exactly what he was.

And after putting together one of the single-best seasons by a point guard in Michigan history, Burke finds himself as a finalist for every major national player of the year award, and on the first team of basically everyone's All-America list.

He's famous, quite frankly.

And it's been somewhat of an adjustment back home.

"It's been good and bad," Benji said. "There's no rest, there's never any rest. But I guess I'd rather have this than any other way, Trey has worked so hard and, to us, his family and his inner circle and the people that are real close to him, he's always felt that he was never appreciated (as a player).

"He never got the McDonald's All-American stuff, he never got the things that came with becoming a high school All-American. He says it doesn't bother him, but I know it does. And now, it's like he's getting rewarded -- he's showing people he belongs."

This week in Atlanta, Benji guessed he'd have roughly 50 people from Columbus coming along with him and his family to support Trey at the Final Four -- Michigan battles Syracuse on Saturday (8:49 p.m., CBS) for a spot in the national title game.

On top of that, he's got more support coming from family and friends already living in Atlanta, and even his grandparents from Texas.

To a degree, this is all still surreal for the Burke family. Benji and his wife, Ronda, watched their son hit one of the biggest shots in Michigan basketball history from inside Cowboys Stadium last week -- knowing full well that two years ago, they expected their son to enter college as a backup plan to former point guard Darius Morris.

"We never even thought that far," Benji said. "Back then, we were just hoping he could contribute. Just hoping he had a chance to contribute, to back up Darius.

"And now, he's there with the team on the big stage. He'll have an experience most kids will never, ever, ever, ever get."

Trey Burke's run at Michigan has been a whirlwind for almost everyone involved.

There's no promises on where he'll play next season (he'll be a high first-round NBA draft choice if he wants to), but for right now, he's got at least one more game as a Wolverine.

Maybe two. Maybe more.

It's been a wild ride, but Benji says he and his family wouldn't trade this for the world.

"It's crazy, but we love it," he added. "He went to the right place at the right time with the right coach -- and we believe that. (John) Beilein is a stickler for grooming players into young men. And that's what we really want out of Trey.

"We want him to be a good young man, not just a good basketball player. And he's becoming that."

Actually, he's becoming both.

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