“It was time for a change.”
That’s how new IU basketball point guard Markus Burton describes his decision to enter the transfer portal following three successful seasons at Notre Dame.
Any college athlete could use that explanation, but for Burton, it meant something more. It was time to leave home, and what to that point had been a very tight radius in his young life.
Set to turn 22 before the start of the 2026-27 season, the South Bend, Ind. native who attended high school at nearby Penn in Mishawaka, and then Notre Dame for three years, realized he needed to challenge himself.
“It was definitely tough leaving my family because I was around them my whole life, but it was time for me to grow up, and see truly who I am and get outside my comfort zone,” Burton said.
At IU, Burton is taking advantage of an opportunity he wasn’t offered under the prior Hoosiers staff.
Despite being the 2023 Indiana Mr. Basketball following a senior season in which he averaged a state-best 30.3 points along with 5.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.6 steals, Burton says he never had a conversation with former IU coach Mike Woodson.
The prior IU staff and most other high major programs underestimated Burton due to his size.
His choice to attend Notre Dame wasn’t so much about staying that close to home as it was his best opportunity to live out a childhood vision.
“I grew up wishing I could play Division I basketball somewhere,” Burton said. “I was just a young kid dreaming.”
Many young kids grow up in Indiana dreaming about playing for IU. That wasn’t necessarily the case for Burton, but he knew about the program, and watched their 2022 and 2023 NCAA Tournament appearances from afar.
“I knew all about the Hoosiers and IU,” he said. “I never thought I would do it. This is a great place to play. It has a lot of history behind it, a lot a great people and fans. It’s what I came here for.”
When Burton entered the transfer portal, he heard from a lot of schools, including the first Division I head coach to give him a scholarship offer. That came in July of 2022 when then Drake head coach Darian DeVries gave Burton the opportunity to live out his childhood dream.
“Me and Coach DeVries go way back,” Burton said. “That was my first Division I offer. If you were me, how would you feel about it? He trusted me, I trusted him.”
DeVries’ instincts about Burton were on point. The 6-foot point guard has been one of the more productive players in high major college basketball the last three seasons.
In three years at Notre Dame, Burton played in 69 games with 68 starts. He averaged 19.1 points while shooting 43.8% overall including 33.2% from three. Burton has made 84.7% of his free throws. He has added 3.8 assists and 3.4 rebounds per contest.
“His numbers speak for themselves,” DeVries said. “It’s his ability to score at a high level against really good competition. The thing that is impressive, though, is he can play-make for people. He’s not just a scorer. He makes a lot of really good decisions with the ball and the pick and roll. I’m excited about that.”
Note: Burton had ankle surgery in December and only played 10 games in 2025-26. He says he was fully cleared “long before” he arrived in Bloomington and is practicing this summer without restriction.
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