NC State travels far to land Burke

The NC State women’s basketball program has travelled far and wide to find talent, including across the country to California.

Kody Burke of Sherman Oaks (Calif.) Notre Dame committed to NC State in late Sept. to be part of the Wolfpack four-women recruiting class.

The 6-foot-2 Burke officially visited Raleigh on Sept. 12 and met with coach Kellie Harper and the players. She enjoyed watching NC State host Murray State in football and came away knowing that she wanted to play in the ACC and attend college in Raleigh.

“Mostly, it was the coaching staff because I had a really good relationship with them,” Burke said. “When I went on campus, I had a gut feeling. I had a great visit and then made my decision a week later. I had a good feeling about them.

Burke was impressed with Harper and wanted to be part of her first recruiting class, which also consists of point guard Myisha Goodwin of Lorton (Va.) Thomas A. Edison High, shooting guard Devin Griffin of Lubbock (Texas) Coronado High and Durham, N.C., product Nashika “Breezy” Williams, a small forward from Northern Durham High.

Bret McCormick of All-Star Girls Report ranks Burke No. 192 in the country.

“I really liked her winning spirit and how good of a person she is,” Burke said. “It was what made me really want to check out North Carolina State in the first place.

“They have a great family atmosphere, so I know that they will take care of me being far from home. I’ve always wanted to go to the East Coast, so I guess my dream came true.”

Burke wants to major in business and like the academic advantages NC State offered.

“I knew they had a really good intern [program] and contacts after graduation,” Burke said.

The Wolfpack started recruiting Burke in late July, whereas some of the other schools on her list have been recruiting her since her sophomore season. Burke ended up picking NC State over Colorado, Arizona State, Boston College, and Notre Dame among others. She figures she’ll start off at power forward, but wants to eventually play small forward.

“They did have some catching up, but it all worked out for the best,” said Burke, whose father, Rogelio Burke played collegiately at UC-Riverside and Cal-State Dominguez Hills. “The ACC is one of the top conferences in women’s basketball, and that was definitely a help.”

Burke scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Notre Dame past Orange Lutheran 45-36 in the Division AA championship. Notre Dame returns three starters from last year’s 20-9 squad that lost in the second round of the Division IIAA CIF playoffs.

“It was our best season in school history,” Notre Dame coach Paul Gross said. “We won the CIF Southern Section for our division. We also won the league for back-to-back years, and in neither year were we the favorite.”

Gross said NC State will be getting a winner both on and off the court. He sent the coaching staff video of Burke to help give them a better understanding of what talent she could bring to the Wolfpack program.

“She can do a little bit of everything offensively,” Gross said. “She can handle the ball. Whether club ball or us, she has played a lot of different roles. She can shoot the three. She has brought the ball up a lot of the time. She is a great passer and has real soft hands.

“She is a great kid, and kind of a quiet soft-spoken girl, who is really responsible and has great grades.”

Perhaps her best skill is her ability to chase down rebounds.

“A lot of the big girls don’t go after the ball like she does,” Gross said. “She is a great rebounder and doesn’t quit on anything. She averaged double-digit rebounds.”

Burke will be a four-year varsity performer, starting from her sophomore-year on. She was named the conference MVP the last two years, and was named first-team All-California by CalHi Preps.

Burke averaged 21.5 points, 15 rebounds, 5.4 blocks and three assists per game last year. Gross can’t imagine her improving too much, but did note she has been working hard on her jump shot.

“As a freshman, she came in, and like a lot of freshman, she was shooting the ball underneath her chin,” Gross said. “She didn’t have the arm strength. Now she shoots the ball up over her head and she has range. She really enjoys shooting three-pointers, but she doesn’t do that a lot for us. We use her a lot on the inside. She is also an excellent free-throw shooter.”