Trey Burke will now forever hold a place in Michigan basketball history.

The legendary former Michigan point guard will be honored with a special ceremony and jersey raising when the Wolverines play Ohio State this season.

Advertisement

Michigan announced on Friday, Oct. 3, that they will hang Burke’s No. 3 jersey from the rafters when they play the Buckeyes on Friday, Jan. 23. It’s not a full jersey retirement (North Carolina transfer point guard Elliot Cadeau is currently listed as No. 3 on Michigan’s roster), meaning others in the Michigan program will still be able to don Burke’s No. 3, but it’s about as close to the honor as you can get.

Burke is now the sixth Michigan basketball player to have their jersey hung from the Crisler Center rafters, joining Cazzie Russell (No. 33, Dec. 11, 1993), Rudy Tomjanovich (No. 45, Feb. 8, 2003), Phil Hubbard (No. 35, Jan. 11, 2004), Glen Rice (No. 41, Feb. 20, 2005) and Bill Buntin (No. 22, Jan. 7, 2006), according to the program.

Russell’s No. 33 jersey is the only number that is officially retired by the school.

Burke had an illustrious career with the Wolverines, winning both the National Player of the Year and Wooden Award in 2013, two of college basketball’s highest honors, while taking Michigan basketball all the way to the national championship game in the 2013 NCAA Tournament before losing to Louisville.

Advertisement

For his career, he averaged an impressive 16.9 points, 5.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game, and also was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, but his sophomore season was truly one of the best in school history. The 6-foot point guard averaged 18.6 points and 6.7 assists while setting Michigan’s single-season assist record and helped Michigan not just make its first Final Four in 20 years, but the national title game as well.

After dominating college basketball’s award season, Burke declared for the NBA draft, where he was selected No. 9 overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves before then being traded to the Utah Jazz on draft night.

THE CURRENT WOLVERINES: Michigan basketball embracing lofty expectations in Big Ten during media day

His NBA career never reached the heights of his college one, but he was able to craft a role for himself in the league and stuck around for nine NBA seasons, averaging 9.6 points and 3.1 assists.

Advertisement

Choosing the Ohio State game to honor Burke was of course no coincidence. Burke was born and raised in Columbus before eventually landing in Ann Arbor with John Beilein and Co., so getting his jersey honored in front of his hometown school has some extra meaning.

Michigan also announced that as part of the celebration, the first 5,000 fans in attendance will get a replica No. 3 jersey banner.

Andrew Birkle is an assistant sports editor for the Free Press. Contact him at abirkle@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball to raise Trey Burke’s No. 3 jersey in rafters