burno

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Boy Were We Wrong About Rashon Burno;
He's Signed With DePaul--(April 20,1998)

Yesterday in doing our preview of some of the players we were told would be appearing we reported that Rashon Burno (5'-9" Sr. PG) Winchendon Academay, Massachussets, was "unsigned".

Oops.

Actually, Burno signed with DePaul and the school made the announcement public on April 13, 1998.

De Paul Coach Pat Kennedy's actual official statement was that "Rashon is undoubtedly one of the finest defensive point guards in the nation. His accomplishments attest to his ability as a leader. One of Rashon's greatest attributes is the same as all of our recruits, he is a flat-out winner. We are very excited that Rashon has signed with DePaul."

At Winchendon this last season, Burno averaged 15 points with 11 assists and six steals. However, over the last half of the season, he averaged over 22 points a game. Burno was named the most valuable player of a team that reportedly featured eight players who signed with Division I programs. We're guessing that's some sort of record, but hey, it's a prep school after all, not your average pretty good or even great state championship public or private high school team.

Prior to his one year at Winchendon, Burno played for Bob Hurley Sr. at St. Anthony's High School in Jersey City, N.J. At St. Anthony's, Burno was a three-year starter at point guard and earned first team All-State honors in 1997. St. Anthony's won three-consecutive state championships during his three years there and also set a New Jersey state record with 66-straight wins. In addition, in 1995-96, St. Anthony's finished 30-0 and was named national champions by USA Today and in 1996-97, they ended the season 31-1 and ranked second in the country.

Ranked as one of the top 60 players in the country by several publications, Burno has earned All-American honors from the Blue Ribbon College Yearbook, Athlon Magazine, The Sporting News, Dick Vitale's Magazine and Street & Smith's.

Burno joins a recruiting class that already includes 6'-1" guard Kerry Hartfield from Southeastern (Iowa) Junior College, 6'-9" forward Antonio Latimer from Miami (Fla.) Senior High School, 6-6 guard Quentin Richardson from Whitney Young High School in Chicago, 6'-7" forward Bobby Simmons from Simeon High School in Chicago and 6'-9" forward Lance Williams from Julian High School in Chicago. It could just be one of the best recruiting classes in the country this year.

Chicago's gonna be tough this year.

Burno played a pretty credible game last night, and he's no doubt a very talented point guard. He did have an incredibly quick and low handle, a great cross-over move, but maybe it was the travel, maybe it was the "all-star" quality of the game, but he seemed to lose the ball quite a bit, especially in traffic, and he doesn't really have the size to penetrate and finish well; he can dish though, and hit a few from medium range; but mostly he passed and dished. Very quick, not a bad defender, if last night was any indication, and a very nice young man.