Trey Burke reacts to win over Ohio State

I think that whole game, you know, resembles the type of team that we had. Resilience, you know, never resilient, never like giving up down 10 points with 2 minutes and 40 seconds left. No one wants to be in that situation. Like, a lot of people left, a lot of people turned the TV off.

We never stopped believing. And I say this all the time, everyone talks about the shot, but— but it's all of the small plays before the shot that led up to Elijah Johnson missing the front end of a one-on-one that gave us the opportunity to just send it into overtime. Everything had to just be one step at a time. You know, we couldn't look towards that shot.

We couldn't look up and be like, look at the score. No, we stayed in the moment, made one play after another. Jordan Morgan made some huge plays. Glenn, Glenn made some huge plays.

Everyone played their part. And I just remember being at that line, and one thing you all would know about me is I'm big on faith, big on— I believe in divine intervention. If you are living right, I believe that you will get blessed in what you do and what you love to do. And I just remember him going to that line, and I wanted to have a conversation with, you know, this God that we all believe in, that we know exists, we feel his power.

And I'm like, man, if you could just have him miss this one shot. I know, like, you got a lot of things going on up there, but if you could just have this— have him miss this one shot for me, I do the rest. I know, I know what that means. If he makes it, it's out of my control.

But that ball came off and I just blacked out, man. And once I came over half court, I crossed over And I kind of realized I made a mistake because now I'm going towards, uh, 6'9" Young. I forget his first name, um, for Kansas, but I'm going towards length now. And I knew I had to somehow create space to get my shot off at least.

But I knew if I see the rim, it's gonna go in, I'm gonna make it. And I think just hours and hours of belief using your imagination when nobody's watching. Like, I used to do crazy stuff, and I think that, you know, guys who are really comfortable in crunch time learn how to use their imagination. I used to do that so much growing up, just 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, imagine somebody guarding me, you know, just getting lost in the game as a kid, getting lost in the art form of basketball.

And it presented itself that game. So I cross over, Mitch sets the screen, and he falls. Best thing that could have happened, you know. I don't think I would have got the look that I got if he hadn't set that screen.

Um, if you see me step back and you see his face— if I would have looked at his face, I probably would have passed. Luckily, I didn't look at his face. You know, and I shot that shot with confidence. And I, you know, encourage every young kid out there, you know, in those moments to stay in that moment.

You know, don't think about the results if you miss. Don't think about the results if you make it. Enjoy that moment. Stay in that moment.

And I feel like if you can figure out how to really stay in the moment, I think that shot, it goes beyond basketball. It just teaches you lessons in life on how to stay in the moment. I still use it for myself. I'm grateful that I hit that shot, but there's just so much that went into me making that shot than just it going in.

Great question. Again, Having strong male figures in your corner, people that really love you and care for you and for your future. This man right here didn't tell me what I wanted to hear. He told me what I needed to hear.

Like the level of respect that I have for him, my dad, Dr. Anthony Rodman, who played a huge part in my journey. My high school coach, Coach Laval, Coach Meyer, Coach Bakari Alexander. My mom, that was who was— everybody was in my ear, you need to reconsider, you need to reconsider, because I was out the door. And it's because that was always my dream, was to play in the NBA, just like any other kid.

So when you see a name at the end of the first round on draft boards, early second, you know, late first, you're like, oh, I'm in the NBA. And it's like, nah, that's not how that works, you know. That's just where you have me projected. I started learning more the business side of it and understanding what that really meant.

And I made one of, if not the best decision in my life to come back and play for Coach Beale my second year with a great freshman class that was coming in. And we made some magic, made some memories, fell a little short, but I still think we champions. We champions, that's for sure. On your left with Drew.

Many accomplishments you're being honored for here tonight happened in this building that we're in.

Yeah. I mean, it's levels. It's levels from high school to college, college to the pros, you know, from when I made that jump from high school to college, I remember like thinking like, man, can I keep up this, ethics of work, the amount of work that I have to put in to translate from being a high school player to a college player. Can I keep that up?

Prove that to myself. And then same thing with the league. Once I got to the league, you know, I dealt with more life things in the league. You know, you don't have as much structure as you do in college.

You know, you got school, you know what I mean? You have study table and things of that nature. League, it's like, you know, everything is really at— you're getting tested with everything because you have so much free time, things of that nature. And, um, that's why I— my message to young— don't be in a rush.

I mean, I see comments all the time saying he should have came back another year, and when I used to hear that, I used to get mad. But now I think about it, it's like, I mean, I should have reconsidered it, you know what I mean? But you think about it, you win all the national Player of the Year awards, you know, you get to the big game, didn't win it.

You know, I kept hearing you have nothing else to prove, but the mental side of it and continuing to develop as a person before you go into that highest level is pivotal. It's pivotal because I, you know, I dealt with some things that, you know, crept on the court, off the court. And you have to be accountable with that. You have to hold yourself accountable before you point the finger at anybody.

And that's why I felt like I had a roller coaster career in the NBA. Could play with the best of them, being on the court with Stephs and the LeBrons and having 30s against guys like that and proving it to myself that I could play with the best of them. It was always the consistency of it. And that is how you live in your life.

Life, you know, the consistency of how you playing on the court, how consistent are you, um, and living your life. And I believe I made it to the league and made it to the NBA, you know, through faith and through glorifying God. And, you know, at times I lost that, I lost that faith. I'm back now, um, you know, deep in my faith, um, walking the walk.

But there's been times you get off that path, and I'm sure we all do. You know what I mean? But until you can admit that and hold yourself accountable for some of the mistakes you made and why things went the way they went, I don't think you can grow. I think that's why I can continue to grow today, is knowing that my first couple of years in Utah, I should have took that more serious.

I should have locked in even more. There's times I locked in and I showed great strides in the league. Same with New York situation with the Knicks. I mean, with the Mavericks, but there's times where I would disappear because of just battles I was facing off the court, you know, strongholds that I was facing off the court that I had to get in alignment with.

Like I said, having that faith in God, he's not going to give you what you're not deserving of. And that's why I'm grateful for my legacy. I'm grateful for my career. I'm happy for the man that I've become. And go blue. I'm gonna keep talking if y'all let me.