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JAY BURSON - 1988-89
Older fans might not see Jay Burson's 1988-89 season as underappreciated but in my view, the totality of his performance doesn't get enough run. People immediately bring up his injury and focus on that but few could tell you many details about the special season he was putting together before its abrupt end.
Coming off a junior campaign that saw him average 18.1 points per game, Burson kicked it up a notch in his final hurrah averaging 22.1 points while nearly doubling his assists per game with 4.0, to go along with 2.0 steals and 87.6% shooting from the stripe.
All those marks led the team and landed the captain first-team All-Big Ten honors alongside Glen Rice and Nick Anderson, among others. Burson beat out guards including Steve Smith, Kendall Gill, B.J. Armstrong, Rumeal Robinson and Roy Marble for his spot in what was a loaded conference.
Burson's 22.1 points were second only to Glen Rice in the league. He he ranked sixth in free throws and ninth in steals despite missing 10 games.
Burson opened the season with 38 points and five assists in a Maui Classic loss to No.5 ranked Oklahoma and continued his Hawaiian dominance with 28 points and eight assists in a win over DePaul before adding 19 points in the final consolation.
Over the three-game stretch, Burson averaged 28.3 points and 5.0 assists.
He continued his prolific shot-making on the mainland throwing in 21 points against Lafayette before a 24-point, seven-assist night against Dayton.
In a five-game stretch overlapping the 1988 and 1989 calendar years, Burson torched Florida for 37 points and eight assists, went for 23 and six assists against St. John's, threw in 25 points with six rebounds in a loss to Indiana, tallied 21 and five in a win over Wisconsin and capped it off with a 29-point, six-assist performance versus Radford.
Ten days later in a home win over No. 7 Iowa, Burson outdueled Armstrong with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting with six assists in a 102-91 win improving the Buckeyes to 13-4 on the season.
Ten days after that, he list up No. 3 Louisville with 29 points and seven rebounds in an 85-79 win on the road in Freedom Hall.
With Ohio State returning to conference play, Burson went for 26 points and five dimes in a win over Purdue but just a week later his magical season would come to an abrupt end.
On the road in Iowa City to take on the No. 8 Hawkeyes, Burson poured in 25 points with six assists in an 83-75 loss. With 12 minutes left in the opening half, Burson, in transition, drove the lane hard against Iowa's Ed Horton. The foul by Horton wasn't an overly rough play – though his arm hit Burson's head forcing the guard into the basket support – but Jay, despite immediately grabbing at his neck, still shot his free throws and went on to play 36 minutes.
Three days later it was revealed that Burson suffered a compression fracture in his neck and would be fitted for a halo traction brace which he wore for three months.
A truly historical season was cut short and the Buckeyes felt the pain of Burson's absence, going 2-8 over the final 10 games, after winning 17 of 24 with him at the controls.
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