From having zero scholarship offers coming out of high school to becoming an ASUN champion, and all ASUN second team Terrell Burden has emerged as one of KSU’s top players.
Burden has been with the Kennesaw State Owls since 2019, and throughout the years, fans have witnessed his improvement not only in his numbers but his leadership. This season, Burden has averaged 13.5 points per game, 4.2 assists per game, and almost 2 steals per game. Even at 5’10, he has still been able to make a valuable impact on the defensive side of the ball.
As a freshman, Burden was known to be a quiet individual who wouldn’t really say much.
“I’ll never forget, Terrell Burden would not talk as a freshman. Like I’m not exaggerating. I would give him a play call. ‘Hey Rel, we’re running this’,” Kennesaw Head Coach Amir Abdur Rahim said. “He’s just dribbling the ball up the court. The other four guys are like, what are we running? And I’m like, Rel, you gotta tell the team what play we’re running.”
This was a turning point in regard to Burden’s leadership.
Coach Abdur-Rahim continued saying, “So we get back to that practice and Terrell, uh, somebody didn’t die on the floor, right? We’re big on being first to the floor and Terrell jumps in, I’m talking about jumps in, like get on the floor, that’s part of the PR and he just goes for a guy that wouldn’t talk three years ago, that was the moment for me.”
The senior has learned how to embrace being a leader.
“Looking back at or looking at it now, I could say it’s had a huge impact not only on myself, but I can see it in others,” Burden said. “Like it’s an expectation for me to do this every day. Now, being that when I was a freshman, he would tell me that I would have to be more vocal and stuff, and me being young, I’d be like, yeah, okay, it sounds good.”
“But as I’m growing older, as I fought into the program and the culture, I feel like I’ve accepted my role and I understand what it means to not only, the team, but like everybody around me,” The senior continued. “And so now that I know that I feel like I have to be like every day I have. Stand 10 toes on the expectation and it’s going to thrive through all 16 people.”
Burden has made a major impact for KSU this season with his production and leadership, and looks to make a statement as the Owls look to go on a Cinderella ride as March Madness approaches.
The Owls will travel to Greensboro, NC for Round One of March Madness to play against Xavier University on March 17 at 12:40 pm.
