burries back

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Bobby Burries Returns To
San Bernardino VC--(Aug. 31, 1999)

In our attempt to catch up from our brief vacation, we scoured some of the local papers to see what the regular print media had been covering for the past few weeks, and we discovered a very nice article written by Danny Summers of the San Bernardino County Sun about Bobby Burries (6'-2" Fr. SG) who graduated from San Bernardino's Pacific High in 1997. Bobby has been on an interesting journey, originally intending to play D-I ball, but when he didn't qualify, he enrolled at Fresno City College, which likewise didn't pan out. He returned to San Bernardino and sat out last year, basically spectating. Burries is now back, and he has enrolled at SBVC and will play for the Indians and new coach Jeff Oliver. It's an interesting article about a player we'd almost forgotten about. We saw Burries play several times and he's an exciting ball-handler and shooter who will certainly be an impact player at SBVC. Here's the story:

Burries chooses SBVC
Enigmatic former Pacific standout to play for Indians after two seasons away from organized basketball.

By DANNY SUMMERS
San Bernardino County Sun (August 13, 1999)

Burries is back. And he hopes to be better than ever.

Nearly 30 months removed from his last organized basketball game, the Pacific High School alumnus has resurfaced at San Bernardino Valley College where he hopes to lead the Indians to a Foothill Conference championship this coming season. "I've been wanting to play for a while, I just didn't have a chance to play," said Burries, a 20-year-old shooting guard. "I missed it, but not that much because I played every day. It went by so fast." Burries said he plans to go out for the SBVC basketball team when practice officially begins in October. He enrolled at SBVC on Monday and began taking classes. He said he's carrying 15 units, including classes in French, Spanish, speech and sociology.

The multi-talented Burries, who also was a star football player and sprinter in high school, became somewhat of a nomad after graduating from Pacific in 1997. That fall, he enrolled at Fresno City College along with former Cajon stars Louis Kelly and Javon Joe. But Burries' plan of playing basketball at Fresno City for former Cal State San Bernardino coach Denny Aye didn't work out. Burries packed his bags and returned to San Bernardino as the Inland Empire's No.1 basketball fan. "When it didn't work out at Fresno I came back and worked," Burries said. "I've been playing in church leagues and (recreation) leagues. I play all the time." Over the course of the past two-plus years, Burries was spotted at numerous local basketball gymnasiums. He closely followed the career of his younger brother, James, at Pacific. Burries also was a regular spectator last year at SBVCs Snyder Gymnasium watching Kelly lead the Indians to the best record in the 72-year history of the school. Kelly has since signed a letter of intent to play for UNLV. "I only missed basketball when I watched my brother play," Burries said. "We're close. I coached him. He's become a good basketball player." Burries estimates it will take him a few months to get back into basketball shape after sitting out for so long. He's maintained a good build 6-feet-2, 176 pounds "Of course (the layoff) affected my game," Burries said. "I sat around eating and stuff.

"But it's still the same people around playing the same game. They're getting better, but I'll still be able to do my damage. That's how I see it. Of course, everybody will have bad games." Burries ended his high school career with a memorable performance. He scored 44 points his final game, a loss to Woodbridge in the semifinals of the 1997 CIF playoffs. While at Pacific, Burries was named All-San Andreas League twice, including MVP his junior season. Kelly won the honor when the two were seniors. Burries was also a two-time All-CIF-Southern Section selection, as well as a three-year starter for the Pirates. Burries said he considered playing football at SBVC, but felt basketball was a better decision. Burries' older brother, Ernie, a former basketball star at Pacific and Fullerton City College, is playing football at SBVC this fall. Burries will be reunited with James on the basketball court. James is expected to battle for a guard position. Two other Pacific alums, Bobby Tossetti and Nate Terrell, also are expected to make the SBVC team. "It's not like we have our old team, but we know how each other play," said James Burries. "Bob has stayed in shape by lifting weights and playing pick-up games. He'll do fine."

Tossetti confirmed that Bobby Burries has not lost a step. "He can tear it up inside or outside," Tossetti said. "Bobby is awesome." "He's a complete player, a great basketball player," said Scott Smith, his coach at Pacific. "He averaged a triple-double for us for two years. "If you need scoring, he scores. If you need rebounding, he rebounds. He'll be a great asset for Valley, and if he gets his act together he'll be a good D2, D1 (major college) player. "As for competitiveness, I don't think I've ever had a guy who wanted to win more than Bobby. Pointblank." Burries said he plans on staying at SBVC two years and then transferring to a four-year school.

The final piece of the SBVC basketball puzzle is coach Jeff Oliver, who was hired as a physical education teacher in July but won't be approved as basketball coach until tonight. Oliver, 26, has worked with the basketball team since May. Oliver, an assistant to Larry Reynolds at Cal State last year, was also an SBVC assistant during the 1997-98 season. "Jeff Oliver put me in his office and told me how it would be when it came to my role on this team," Bobby Burries said. "I had to accept the way things are. That's the way it is. He's the boss."