Solidifying the point guard position was a priority for the IU basketball coaching staff in the transfer portal this past spring.
The Hoosiers graduated Conor Enright and Tayton Conerway following an 18-14 season, the first for Darian DeVries in Bloomington.
The coaching staff prioritized one of the best point guards available in Notre Dame’s Markus Burton, who averaged 19.1 points, 3.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals for the Fighting Irish in 69 games over the last three seasons.
There was a pre-existing relationship between DeVries and Burton, which helped the Hoosiers pursue the All-ACC performer.
DeVries was the first coach to offer Burton a scholarship when he was at Drake. The Mishawaka native signed with Notre Dame, but never forgot the first offer from DeVries.
After a visit to Houston in early April, Burton made a trip to Bloomington and committed to the program shortly after.
“I’ve been knowing Coach DeVries for a very long time and it’s just the trust that he’s seen in me and he believed in me,” Burton said last week. “Just when a coach trusts you and believes in you to lead his team, that means a lot and that shows who he really is as a person. So, I can’t wait to play for him.”
Now several weeks into IU’s offseason workouts in preparation for an upcoming trip to Lima, Peru, to play in the 2026 FISU America Games, Burton is embracing his new home.
Burton is one of seven transfer portal additions for IU basketball. The revamped roster includes 11 new scholarship players. The early returns are promising, according to Burton.
“The biggest takeaway for me is, you see a smile every day,” Burton told Inside the Hall last week. “Somebody’s smiling every day. There’s always great vibes, everybody’s coming in, everyone’s laughing, it’s just a family.
“You can’t ask for anything better than that.”
In observing IU’s 90-minute workout on June 18, Burton stood out in the revamped Hoosiers’ backcourt.
He missed all but 10 games of the 2025-26 season at Notre Dame with a foot injury but appears to be 100 percent healthy. His speed and quickness make him tough to keep out of the paint. Burton, who has a polished mid-range game and can also get to the rim, doesn’t need much space to get his shot off.
He also displayed the tremendous pace he plays with and didn’t speed up or slow down based on what the defense threw at him.
“That’s just me. That’s gonna be me every single day,” Burton explained. “That’s who you guys gonna see in the game. That’s who you guys gonna see out in Assembly (Hall).”
What IU fans should expect from Burton is improved point guard play and a leader who can score and distribute.
The scoring numbers for Burton at Notre Dame stand out, but he also dished out 259 assists for the Fighting Irish and had the second-best assist rate in the ACC back in the 2023-24 season.
He’ll have to strike a balance between scoring and looking for teammates as he adjusts to a new roster. For IU basketball, having a point guard who can both score and consistently look for teammates should pay dividends next winter.
“Just reading the game, playing the game, taking what the defense gives you, not overthinking it, playing off your skills,” Burton said of the keys between balancing scoring and playmaking for others. “So if I’m a scorer, score the ball, but if they stop you, then that’s the time to find teammates. But it’s very easy to balance it once you know what you’re doing and once you pick your spots, you know who to get involved and stuff like that.”
Despite winning Indiana’s Mr. Basketball Award in 2023, Burton is used to being overlooked. Listed at 5-foot-10 out of high school, he had all mid-major scholarship offers until Notre Dame signed him out of Penn High School.
He was considered a three-star prospect and the No. 169 player nationally in the final 247Sports Composite rankings for 2023.
Even with those modest expectations, he made a major impact immediately, averaging 17.5 points and 4.3 assists in 33.8 minutes per game as a freshman. He started all 33 games for Notre Dame.
Now preparing for his fourth season of college basketball, Burton has something to prove as he hopes to lead IU basketball back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2023. It’s a challenge he’s embracing with open arms.
“I have to have some sort of chip on my shoulder to keep going and keep me level-headed but also keep me competitive,” Burton said. “So obviously, yeah, I’m going to have a chip on my shoulder. I want to win. I want to get IU basketball to where it’s been at and I feel like I can do that.”
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
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