EP #8 | 7 ft Tall Michigan St. Walk-on - Braden Burke | - WalkieTalkieZ Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Walkie Talkies is a presentation of I Heart Radio and
the College Athletes Network. Hello, Yeah, what's up, Walkie Talkies?

(00:24):
You're listening to episode eight Milwaukie Talkies podcast on the
College Athletes Network, featured on I Heart Radio with the
coolst walk on in the Country. I'm your host, no bono.
As always, before we get into the episode, please make
sure you are subscribed to the show and maybe even
leave a review. Those help the show a ton. They
help a get found by other people who may also
enjoy hearing stories such as these, So I thank you

(00:45):
in advance. Now for today's episode. Our guest today is
Brandon Burke, who has beyond an interesting story as he
started his college basketball career on scholarship at Robert Morris
in two thousand seventeen and then chose to walk on
at Michigan State under head coach Tom Izzo for the
next three years. Brandon left Michigan State after graduating to
pursue more minutes and a bigger role and was put

(01:07):
on scholarship as a postgrad player at Central Michigan due
to a life or death situation, he was actually forced
to opt out of the rest of that season and
this past season he enrolled on scholarship to Oakland University
and was again forced to opt out due to family emergencies.
Now being brief because I want to let Brandon explain
that whole story on what happened to him after leaving

(01:28):
Michigan State. Also keep in mind that throughout the episode,
when Brandon refers to his time at Central Michigan, that
that's during the season and his time at Oakland was
spent in the summer and fall of two thousand twenty
one heading into this past two season. And if you
get confused, it's because you skipped that friendly tip. So anyway,
aside from that, the episode is jam backed that talks

(01:49):
about coach Tom Izzo, their conference championships, their final four
roun beating Zion Williamson and Duke in the Elite eight,
Brandon's big time teammates like Miles Bridges, Xavier Tillman, and
Aaron Jackson. Braden goes into depth on his close friendship
and relationship with jarn and how much that's meant to
him and how much his relationship with coach Izzo has
meant to him as well. Brandon was super open throughout

(02:09):
the entire conversation about battling his insecurities when he got
to Michigan State and growing up and what the path
of being a walk on in the Michigan State program
did for him, and just the real life struggle that
he had to go through after graduating with himself and
within his family. He also has really interesting perspective on
what it's like to go from being a scholarship athlete
to a walk on athlete and what changed for him

(02:30):
within that dynamic. It was a really interesting and different
thing to hear because normally we go walk on to scholarship,
but he actually in a sense got demoted or you know,
demoted himself. Not really a demotion when you go to
from Michigan State, but just what that dynamic was like.
Really good stuff all throughout the episode. So please, I
ask again, be sure to stick around for the full

(02:50):
episode to hear my outro to update you on where
Brandon is at now a few months later, even if
you have to listen to it and bits and pieces. Listen,
I have some respect for Brandon's story and form my
damn podcast. I mean, seriously, you think I edit these
things to be an hour long on purpose. Now there's
just so much juice in them that they can't be
condensed to be any shorter. And do you like juice.

(03:10):
You probably like cranberry juice, apple juice, grape juice, whatever
kind of juice, whatever, you could like any type of
juice in the world. Well there's juice in this episode.
And that's why I'm saying you can't just listen to
the first ten minutes. You've got to give it more
of a chance. Just let that thing run in the
background while you go do your laundry, drive your car,
whatever the hell you're doing with your day. If you're
reading a book, then yeah, probably shouldn't listen to a
podcast at the same time. But I bet many people

(03:32):
aren't reading books nowadays. So yeah, let's go. Let's listen
to these podcasts, find some inspiration, drink a little bit
of the juice, have a good time. You won't regret it.
And seriously, I love all my committed listeners that Walkie
Talkies currently has, but it really is stories like this
that I believe deserve to be heard by even more people.
And that's not to negate any of the past episodes
that I've already come out. All of those stories are

(03:54):
just as brilliant as this one. You know, it's just
as more and more episodes come out, um for me
at least putting together, they they hit harder and harder.
So again, if you enjoy this episode, please feel free
to pass it along to someone else that you think
might enjoy it as well. And with that being said,
it is finally dying for me to shut the hell up,
And here's my full conversation with former Michigan State basketball

(04:14):
walk on Brandon Burke. But first, are you are you
at another school right now? Because I was online I
saw you're at Central Michigan, Like, I don't know if
you're Are you there? No, So I was supposed to
be playing at Oakland this year, but I just had
some stuff happen like about around how Halloween where I
actually ended up coming home and having to just take

(04:34):
a step back from that. So I'm not I'm not
anywhere right now. I'm just at home. I'm supposed to
be at Central. That's bro. I was hoping to finish
grad school, but actually my first year there, I got
I got COVID like within three weeks of in there,
and I was actually in the hospital for like three
weeks and then uh, I was out for like three
months because my heart was all funked up from like

(04:56):
having COVID really bad. And then I was gonna come
back and play there this year, and then like a
month after the season they fired our whole staff. Holy ship, man,
that's a roller coaster storry to hear that. So I
was gonna at the end of the interview probably kind
of go into like a three stage thing like Robert Morris,
Michigan State, Central Michigan. So if you want to kind
of go back into that as we as we get

(05:17):
through the interview, that will be cool. Um, So let's
start with the school journey. You've been at three different schools.
You started as a scholarship player, Robert Morris four Okay,
staying corrected, we'll get in. We'll get into all that.
So four different schools. You started off at Robert Morris
your freshman year as a scholarship player, and then you
walked on to Michigan State the next three years we
got your degree, and then last year at a brief
stint at Central Michigan and a postgraduate before opting out

(05:39):
with their four games. So we're going to dive into
all that. Piece by piece, we'll go through each school
and the journey at each of them. So, after your
prep year, you average nineteen points twelve rebounds, got a scholarship,
went to Robert Morris. You ultimately decided to transfer to
Michigan State for those next three years. What kind of
went into that decision to leave the scholarship and go
be a walk on at Michigan State. Oh, well, I

(05:59):
just I grew up a Big Ten basketball fan. I'm
I'm from like southern little mid mid southern Indiana, and
so I grew up an Indiana fan. And then I
moved up to Michigan when I was four, and so, like,
obviously everyone up here is either Michigan or Michigan State.
And I I always enjoyed watching Michigan State. When Indiana
would come to Michigan State, well I would go, I'd
go watch, and uh, Honestly, when I when I got

(06:21):
in the portal and everything was happening, I would have
never never thought in the world I would have ended
up at Michigan State. Like, that wasn't a plan that.
I just didn't see myself. I didn't like how practices
were ran. I didn't see myself developing a lot at
Robert Morris. It just didn't feel right, and uh, I
just didn't like the atmosphere. I guess it didn't feel familish.
It was just really kind of messy at the time

(06:42):
when I was there, but that was that was the
main thing. And then I got in the portal and then, uh,
you know, I had a bunch of like everything was
mid major, mid major, mid major. And then I got
a phone call one day and it was Dane Fife,
the assistant coach at Michigan State, and uh, he has
a relationship with one of my old just this uh
older guy that he played au for for one year

(07:05):
when I was in high school, and uh, I guess
they had talked about me. And basically that year in
Michigan State was sixteen and Michigan State kind of dealt
with a lot of injuries that year and they didn't
have a big man that could play. Nick Ward was
supposed to red shirt and he ended up starting almost
every game because they had a bunch of guys go
down or something. So five called me and he was like,

(07:26):
you know, I talked to so and so about you,
and he said, you're a great kid, blah, bah, but
like right now, at this moment, we don't we have
Xavier Tilman and Jaren Jackson coming in, and we don't
have any more scholarships to give out. But I think
you'd really like it up here. We could use you.
You'd be on scout team, you'd help us a lot,
and you'd eventually have the chance to you know, like
we have a good history here with walk Ons, like

(07:49):
ultimately going into playing roles. You work hard enough, and
you know, I took a I took one visit up there,
and I instantly knew. I mean, I got in the
car Phim I was like, I'm gonna call him Tomorrowland,
like this is where I'm going. And I never even
like I was worried about it because you know, like
paying for college was something I never thought because I had,
like I almost had twenties scholarship offers when I was
a senior in high school, all all mid major, but

(08:10):
I mean I had pretty good options, like I was
gonna get my school paid for, and you know, my mom,
my mom and dad told me like don't worry, Like
we don't want you to worry about that, Like if
if this is really where you want to go like
we were definitely behind you, And so that was kind
of how that whole thing happened. I took one visit.
I remember that I walked in instantly Matt McQuade, Kyle Arnes,
and they were just they I could tell instantly, you know,

(08:33):
how genuine like they were. My coaches did a workout
with the g A there at the time, and they
loved my game, and uh, it was way different than
a whole another universe going from where I was in
Robert Morris the whole spring in winter and then I
come there and I walk in these facilities and it's
like it's just it's just a different atmosphere over there.

(08:54):
And I felt it instantly, and that's that's insane. I mean,
I can put that whole thing out and that'd be
the whole story. Like because Robert Morris, like it's in Pittsburgh,
I kind of know a little bit about it. Um,
but did you ever go in there with the idea
of like I'm gonna earn a scholarship here? You were
kind of content with, like, you know, I'm a ba
walk on and kind of see what happens. That was

(09:15):
definitely the end goal because I felt like I was
under recruited in high school. Like I had talked to
a lot of big time schools when I was in
high school, like really my sophomore year, and then they
kind of it kind of faded off into like more
mid majors. But when I was a sophomore, and like,
you know, my freshman year, I was talking to Big
ten schools, Like, you know, I don't think I was
the kind of freshman to come in and instantly played

(09:36):
the Big Ten. But I always thought in my mind
that eventually, like as a senior, maybe a postgrad like
I could put in quality minutes at the highest level
in college basketball. And that was kind of my goal.
I knew it was. I knew it wasn't gonna be easy,
especially the year I was going there. I mean we
had Miles Bridges, Nick Ward, Ben Carter, Gavin Schilling, Xavier
Tillman who never even played that year. We were so

(09:57):
deep with big men, and so I knew it was
going to be developmental. And you know, I was just
the whole I want. In another thing I left out
about the Robert Morris, I didn't I wanted more of
like the whole college experience like Robert Morris it was.
There was only like five thousand kids there. It was
kind of like it was in Pittsburgh. It was like
twenty minutes out, so you weren't really in a city.

(10:19):
You were kind of just in like it felt like
this ghost town that was an outskirt of Pittsburgh. And
like Michigan State, I just it was like the whole
college experience and everything like anything. It sounds like an
absolute no brainer to go there, even though you had
to pay four tuitions. Something I want to kind of
further touch on is um because I know you had
a teammate, Jack Hoiberg, who's the son of Fred Hoiberg.

(10:41):
He coaches at Nebraska, Nebraska right where where he used
to be at He was at Iowa State and then
he went to and then he was the Bulls, right,
So you had him as a teammate in the year
that Xavier Tillman left for like the NBA in the
middle of the year. They gave him that scholarship um
just for the remainder of that year. So you've had

(11:01):
like some good walk On teammates, and like you just
mentioned before, Michigan State has kind of a good rapport
with walk Ons that was kind of their pitch to you.
So what is it about you know, Michigan State that
makes their rapport with walk ons, the energy they give
walk ons, What is it about them that you know
makes it good, makes it healthy and positive for a
guy like Hugh and and Jack. Yeah, um it really

(11:22):
once I got over my own mental thing of being
a walk on, Like when I got there, I think
it was more in my head. I was like telling myself,
I've blown because I can't ever recall one time in
three years I was at Michigan State where my teammates
coaches really did anything or said anything or acted in
a way to make me feel less of myself like
I was a walk on. Like it was just like

(11:44):
I said, as soon as I stepped in the doors,
and just everyone was so welcoming, so so supportive, and honestly,
everyone just wants everyone there to succeed. And I think
anyone who's ever been around the program, like they'll tell
you everything that coaches oh does the stuff he's built there,
it's it's jay you, and it's it's wholesome, it's very
family oriented, and that that helped a lot. Like I said,

(12:05):
I never never really felt like a walk on. Like
I was in practices, I was getting rips with the two's,
like I obviously played scout team, but like I was competing,
and there was days, you know, like where I'd go
in and talk to DJ, who was our assistant coach
and also the bigs coach. He was like, you were
you were one of the best bigs on the court today,
like and like they would they would say these things
and like I mean, and it was so like I

(12:27):
think just the people in the atmosphere just made it.
I never felt less of myself. I never I never
really felt like a walk on. It was really just
my own personal like mental state of like, man, like
I'm a walk on. Like but once I kind of
got over that after like the first the first year
like it was, and then ever since then it was
it was good. You kind of put this little narrative

(12:48):
into your own head about being a walk on. Was
that from like talks that you've heard about walk ons
or was that from like, you know, just something that
built up that made you feel like, oh, like I'm
a walk on maybe lesser like I got like you're saying,
you had to get over this, you had to get
past this mental barrier for yourself, Like where did that?
Where did it even come from? Just I've always kind

(13:09):
of I'm not so much anymore. But when I was
eighteen and nineteen, whence was around the time this was happening.
I was nineteen when I went to Michigan State, I
really I really cared too much about what other people thought.
So it was kind of that thing, like like my peers,
like the students at Michigan State, and like the people
back home because you know, obviously I'm from a small town,
so it was a big thing when I was going
to be one school and then everyone heard like, oh,

(13:31):
he's gonna walk on, Like it was just kind of that.
It was just me, me thinking people were thinking less
of me, like like people back home or like friends
or outsiders. It was just kind of my own fault, honestly,
But I think that's where it kind of came from.
It comes with being young. Like when you're talking about
being eighteen nineteen, I was into care about the exact

(13:51):
same thing, like my hometown, and people are going to
think like, well, he's only a walk on, so as
if that, you know, negains the fact and I'm still
part of a Division Division one program. Like so what
you would say like that family oriented environment and just
the way that they all embraced you when like once
you got there, that was kind of the ultimate Like

(14:12):
all right, I don't really give a ship what these
people back home think, Like what was the moment where
it was like, Okay, I'm no longer insecure about this?
Was it you growing up a little bit? Was it
being there for a couple of years, Like what ultimately
helped that? Yeah? I think it was just definitely growing
up had a big part of doing like to do
with it. But also yeah, just like the time, like
developing over time, like like I said, in practices like

(14:35):
I really I really got in my head that I
could like I belong like once I felt like I belonged,
like basketball wise, They're like there wasn't really anything anyone
could tell me that was not there on a daily basis,
Like if you're not in those peices every day, if
you're not taking the trips, you're not doing the walk through,
is watching the film like people really don't know like
what's going on between the walls of an arena, like

(14:57):
when the games are none So I just I just
like I said, I felt so comfortable there. The coaches
were really encouraging, and my teammates are really encouraging, and
you know, like I said, that boiled up to me,
like just get in my head, like, Okay, I belong here,
Like I felt I held weight on the team because
of like how I practiced and how like our scout
team was pretty good there the years I was there.

(15:18):
I mean, when you got a foot her in the paint,
it's probably hard to be bad. You got a lot
to work with, so which is awesome. I mean, so
when you were there, you know, you just made mention
of one of your coaches saying, you know, Brandon, you
were the best big in practice today, Like you were
obviously competing now you're competing against Xavier Tillman and Jaren Jackson,
you know, obviously some really elite five star talent. But

(15:40):
aside from that helping your game and that making you
a better basketball player, Like, was there, ever, in your opinion,
any really good opportunity for you to maybe actually get
on the court there and compete for some spots, compete
for a small amount of minutes, even though you had
the walk on title, and even though those you know,
Uber talented now NBA players were the guys you were battling. Yeah,
my last year there, I never really I don't really

(16:03):
know the answer. It kinda I kind of left me
wondering a little. But I mean, my last year there,
we really didn't have a solid five because we had
X running the four and Nick Board had left early
for the NBA. So that whole year we kind of
had We're going between you know, Thomas kith here, Julius Marble,
Marcus Bingham. They probably all started like between Marcus and

(16:26):
Tommy and Malik Mali call uh, we're flipping those so much.
And like really no one really ever stood out to
the coaches, and no one really ever stood out in practice,
especially that year. Like I mean, there was days where
I was good, I could play, and I just remember
I remember specifically the Michigan game at Michigan my last
year and then home against Illinois because we had Kofe.

(16:49):
Cockburn coming in that you know, I met with coaches
and DJ before the game and they're like, you know,
be be ready, like because at the time, like if
X gets some foul trouble or Julius or like, we're
gonna throw you in there. To like to bang with
him because we were comfortable with you doing it. So
just be ready. And you know all those all those
times that happened, it would it would just didn't work out,

(17:09):
Like obviously I would have liked to play, but like
those games, just I was I wasn't needed. But like
that's kind of like I was definitely on the cups
of being in there. Like they were comfortably met with
me and told me that we're comfortable with you getting
in here. So make sure you go over the film
makes treat you, read read the scouting reports. It's just
a little extra day, so so you're ready if we
do need you. That's a big time. So you would say,

(17:32):
even though you know, you go from being a scholarship athlete,
the attention is very much on you. You're very much
involved in the coaches every day conversations and practice plans
and game plans. But you go over to Michigan State
and now you're pretty much bottom of the totem pole.
You're just treated great, which is what we would want.
But I'm saying that difference that you experienced like you
were kind of fifteen minutes a game that year at

(17:54):
Robert Morris and it just wasn't what you were looking for.
And then you go over to Michigan State and now
you're not really a focal point. You're not really probably
like I said, paid attention to as much as you were.
So what was that adjustment like for you, Like, was
there any adjustment at all? Did you did you take
notice in that? Did you not care about that? Like
what were those those differences from scholarship to walk on

(18:16):
And definitely like I definitely didn't notice it, Like I
mean there was a point where coaches was still learning
my name when I was there. You forget, you'd call
me Brandon or something like for the first couple of months.
And uh that I mean it was also just being young,
like going back thinking about it now, but like you know,
it's it's just hard. I think it's important to just

(18:37):
know anyone going into that situation, you just gotta think
of the bigger picture, you know, see the light at
the end of the tunnel. Like you definitely are like
obviously like coaches aren't like hyping you up as much
as you're used to being a scholarship player, you know,
and uh, you kind of gotta you gotta work extra
hard to get noticed, especially as a walk on, and uh,
I wouldn't say it didn't really affect me too much.

(19:00):
I mean there was days where I was like, obviously,
like this sucks, like because I'm I'm but and then
I would kind of step back, call my parents or
calling one of my friends or anyone. They will be like, well,
you're you're practicing against Jaren Jackson every day, Like it's
not it's not gonna be easy, like you're gonna have
these days Like I remember. I mean, I've played in
the y b L, so I played against some really
good kids, but I just remember practicing against Jaron for

(19:22):
that first month and it was like nothing I'd ever
done before. I mean I went to Robert Morris and
we had a we had some senior big men. But
I get there and Jared's seventeen at the time, and
he's just he's a full grown man on the court,
like he's he's whooping everything at the rim. He's you
can't do anything, he's scoring on you, he's strong, he's
shooting threes. It was an eye opening, but at the

(19:43):
I kind of took it as a grown experience. You know.
Every day I just kept reminding myself like you know,
iron sharp and iron and I'm practicing against some super
sharp swords every day, so no doubt. Man, that's awesome.
So you you mentioned briefly about it's sucking and like
you kind of on your parents some days, give me
a couple of things, like people listening, tell them why

(20:03):
it sucked, tell them what it described like a dog
day of being a walk on, and just why you know,
sometimes it does blow. All right. So my schedule my
first year when I got there, Coach five believed in
me a lot. He he was he was a really
good guy. So he he had me on his schedule
where I would be the first one in the gym
every day no matter what. So I would I was

(20:25):
working out my first year at Michigan State to like
six am every day with our g A. So in
Michigan State, if people don't know, it is the biggest
acre acre campus in the world, so things are far apart.
So I had eight am, so I work out six
to seven. I'd walk walk thirty forty minutes to class.
I'd have like two or three classes, two or three

(20:46):
tutors and by the time, like we practiced at three
every day, so I'd get to the gym around two,
get taped or do whatever I was doing before practice.
And a state we would practice for you know, three
hours was expected a regular day of practice. So we
we practice, get done at six, watch film for an
hour and then you know, but it's just the days

(21:06):
would be the days are tough. I mean, it's it's
tough being a Division one athlete. And you know when
you're getting up early to go train and it's pitch dark,
you know, that's tough. I was waking up at like
five to get to the gym and have my shoes on.
Then I'm going to class. I'm never like school, and
the class of Michigan State's a pretty good academic school too,
so my classes were tougher that that. It was just

(21:28):
the days would get so draining. And like as a
scholarship yeah, it's it's like a scholarship player, like you
kind of have that like a shield almost, like because
at least when you get the practice, you know, the
coaches might say some good things about you. Like it's
just different. It's just different because you're doing all this
And in my head sometimes I remember thinking like I

(21:49):
was like it was just really worth it, like because
I'm I'm doing I'm getting up before anyone. I'm going
to my classes, and then I go to practice and
then practice. You know, sometimes I would tell myself, I
would be like, I'm just a practice to me, Like
why am I here? Like I wou'd be. They'd be
like Brandy Night, go over there, set some screens and
roll with the basket and uh, you know, post try

(22:10):
to post up as hard as you can. And everyone's
doing these reps on the drill and all I'm doing
is you know, being basically, they're they're practiced on me,
they're hitting me there I'm getting them better. And so
like just days like that, when I'm tired, you go
to practice and like I said, you don't I don't
have a good practice, and I just feel like a
practice to me. And then uh, and then I'm beat.

(22:31):
You're beat by seven o'clock and you know, you're just
sitting in your room. I'd go back to my dorm.
I didn't have a roommate my first year, so I'm
sitting in my dorm alone. You know, it's just me
and my thoughts, and it's just like not today. It
was really long. It was not easy, and like and
I would just think to myself, like what why, Like
why am I here? Like I'm I'm paying, I'm pain
to be here, I'm paining to like go through this

(22:52):
every day and it's just it's just kind of just
the the hard days make it hard. I guess I
don't know, man, that was you know, I could completely
relate to you, not the forty minute walks around campus
and the six am workouts I've gotten blessed with not that,
but a couple of things I want to bring up
is one, I think like that monotonous grind that we

(23:13):
go through as walk on like every single day, and
you don't get that, like there's really no reward. Like
you said, no one's talking to you. In practice, you're
setting screens, rolling to the rim. People are just hitting you,
and you're just a practice to me. And yeah, it's
like can really weigh on you mentally. So how did
you embrace that role? Like there had to come up.
I had to come a point where you were like, well,
this is what it is. I'm either going to quit
or I'm gonna ride this out and make the most

(23:34):
of it. So it was like, you know, you gotta
make a decision once I kind of just buckled down,
and I said, I just kept going to those six
am workouts, and eventually I was getting pretty good where
they're like, all right, like X, you do break and
spot bread and you guard X, you get some reps.
You know, eventually it eventually turned turned into that, and
it was just I think they just saw that, you know,

(23:55):
I was I belong there, like I said in the beginning,
like I just kept working hard, and like I said,
I kept telling myself, like it's gonna be worth it,
Like I'm getting better here doing this stuff, better than
if I was still Robert Morris practicing like I was,
because the talent I'm getting coach better, I'm getting coached
by a Hall of Fame coach. I'm going against NBA

(24:16):
players every day, and you know, I just I always
try to just keep the long term goal and in
the back of my head, right and so and like
I said, eventually, eventually it came to light. But definitely
that first year was hard. I actually actually got a
triple sportstorney in my first year, so there was like
a three month period where I wasn't even practicing my

(24:36):
red shirt year, so that that kind of wasn't. Honestly
that at the time. I remember like I was like,
you know this, this isn't bad, because when I got there,
it was like, man, this sucks. Like all the stuff
I said, I'm doing it, and then when the injury happened,
it kind of just gave me time. I got closer
with my teammates, I got closer with the people around me.
You know, I'm not practicing. I'm talking to the coaches more,
but I'd say, just what got me through it is

(24:58):
just keeping the end goal mind. Yeah, when you were
doing like that kind of thing and then you finally
the coach says to you, like yo, Brandon and Xavier
like switch, you get a couple of reps like that
was probably your own little reward, but you're probably keeping
in mind the entire time, like you just said, like
the end goal, and that was what was helping you
ultimately power through those long days that by seven pm,

(25:20):
like you said, you're alone in your room with just
your thoughts and it's like, it's what I'm doing really
worth it? So was it was it that self talk
and that the stuff you were feeding your mind. It
was probably positive enough that kind of helped power you
through that, especially that first year that it was self
talk and and the people I had around me, like,
you know, my parents were really good. I had. I

(25:41):
had a bunch of my high school buddies that went
to Michigan State, and you know, I'd I'd go hang
out with them if I if I needed to, or
I mean my first me and Jared are actually Jared's
one of my closest friends, and me and him hung
out a lot, and you know, he always kinda I mean,
he was only there that one year, but he was
definitely the biggest, the biggest role as a teammate in

(26:03):
my career at Michigan State because he you know, he
was he was Him and Miles were our best player
that year. And for him to like, you know, I've
never met him in my life before and he kind
of open arms reaching to me, and you know, I
never contacted. I would just go back to my room
and I kept my own you know, I've always kind
of been a loner. And then I got Jaren's called

(26:24):
me like, hey, you want to go get some food,
you want to do something like or blah blah, I
do this, do that, and we we always we always
talked about you know, I told him my perspective and
my perspective was way different than his perspective, and he
was always really understanding. He was always really supportive, like, uh,
you know, like you can, you can do this. Like
just having good people around men and helped it made
the whole, the whole thing a lot easier. That's awesome.

(26:46):
I mean, especially like seeing where Jarn is at right
now in his career and for him to kind of
like just open up his arms and bring in but
like I'm sure you know those are in house conversations,
but like you and him, like he knew what you
were going through right like as a walk on that obviously,
you guys probably got to a point where the discussion
was like, man, like I'm going through it right now,
Like this ship is not easy. I don't know how

(27:07):
to make it out. Like so having him like that
big of a presence and you know, a smart guy
like him on your side probably was super super motivating
for you. But you know, he's one of many good
teammates that plays in the NBA that you've had you
played with, Like we've mentioned Xavier tilman Um, Jarn played
with Cassius Winston for a couple of years and Miles Bridges,

(27:27):
I don't. I think Myles Myles was there with for
one or two years with you, he was there for one,
but we played I played on the family with him
for two years in high school, so I I had
already know him Myles pretty good. And then in that
twenty nineteen years, like you guys, you won the Big
Ten Championship, you went to the final four, so I
mean like you were going through it. But like man
like for someone who's in a walk on position, you're
at a Big ten school, you're being coached by a

(27:48):
legendary coach. Like I'm sure now that you're out of
the mix a little bit with the walk on thing
that you know, you're probably looking back and I don't
want to speak for you, I want you to tell me,
but I would assume like you're pretty grateful for the experience,
like you get to go to you know, the final
four and literally experience. I don't know, I don't. I
don't regret the decision at all. I mean, it was
the best three years of my life there. Honestly, I

(28:11):
grew so much as a so much as a person.
I grew a lot as a basketball player. I Uh,
like I said, the experiences. I was there for three
years when the Big Ten three times I went to
the Final four. Probably was going to go to another
Final four if COVID never happened, honestly, and uh yeah,
it was the best decision of my life. I loved

(28:32):
every every bit of it, even the hard times, like
I said, because I just grew, i know, like you said,
like being out of the mix right now, Like I
grew so much as a human and it taught me
a lot, you know. Yeah, And that's you know, one
of the biggest things about the show is like what
being a walk on does for you, how it helps
you grow in that role specifically because you know you
mentioned earlier about you know, people are not around, they

(28:54):
don't know what goes into it, like when you're in
the thick of it, and you know, I always just
like when I get people on the show, like to
hear what has helped them grow, what has made them
who they are, because I think that embracing that role
of like being super selfless, having to work really really hard,
if not harder than a lot of the scholarship guys
and see decreasingly less reward than they see. Like, you know,

(29:18):
those are all like they battle test you. Those are
all moments that you know, test who you are as
a person. But I just enjoy like hearing the you know,
you know you were going through. But I enjoy hearing
what you were going through because I think about how
much discipline like that structured, restive routine gave you. It
sounds like depressing, almost like bad man. I don't think
I like that at all, honestly. Honestly, was like, you know,

(29:41):
it was supposed to happen. That's how I look at it,
Like it was I wouldn't be who I end the
day without it, and I think I'm a just night
and day different person from when I got there to
him when I left. You know, I told coaches that
when I left, I was like, I thanked them. And
remember our exit meeting because COVID hit and COVID ended
and everyone was good, I have to go home. So
we had like we had these quick exit meetings about

(30:01):
next year. Obviously, he was like, you know, there's a
real chance for you to be able to play on
this team, and you know, depending on what X does,
will have a scholarship open and everything. And I was
kind of to the point where I knew I could
play there my last year and probably would have been
you know, like five ten minutes a game if I
would have stayed, and I wanted. I wanted to go
somewhere and dominate. You know, I was kind of tired

(30:22):
of doing that. I just wanted to take what I
learned from there and go show the world what I've done.
And obviously it didn't work out that way because of
non basketball related things. But uh, I mean, like you know,
I'm almost want to say jealous of you, like being
around that environment because you know who the you know,
Hall of Fame coach, Michigan State, storied university. You got

(30:44):
all the alums coming back, Draymond Green, and you know,
all these big time dudes coming I'm I'm I'm only
naming him because he's the first guy came to mind.
But I know there's you know, Magic Johnson. He's not
hoping with you guys, but I'm sure he's been around.
So like, you know, you were in like literally right
in the mix of like the hard to college basketball.
Like that's one of the most storied programs ever. And
I mean it's just I appreciate hearing it because I'm

(31:05):
sure like what you're saying, like it, because I look
at my walk On experiences in the same light as like,
you know, I wouldn't be who I am had I
not go on here, then there, then here, because it
really does shape you, like you're in the growing phases
of the light. You start as an eighteen year old
and I'm assuming you're what four, like you get to
this point now you're reaching like young adulthood, and it's like, man,
if I didn't go through that, and you know, I

(31:26):
just stated Robert Morris like cool, I would have probably
got minutes, I would have probably played, I would have
gotten attention, But like what I have grown as a
person the way I grew at Michigan State. All Right,
just a quick break from Walky Talkies podcast. Stick with
us there. There's still so much good stuff to get into.
Coming up. Braiding speaks on beating Zion Williamson that loaded
Duke team on their way to the final four, his
relationship with coach Tom Izzo, and why guys choose to

(31:48):
play for him. Coming right up after this quick break.
This is episode eight of Walkie Talkies podcast on the
College Athletes Network. Featured here on I Heart Radio. Be
sure to subscribe to the show and also leave us
a review and tell us what you think. And let's
get right back into it with former Michigan State walk
on Brandon Burke. So, a moment to me from a
fans perspective that stands out is that crazy win Verse

(32:10):
Duke in the Elite eight when r J. Barrett got foul,
got to the line, made missed that first free throw
and then accidentally made the second one. But if he
made both, you would have tied it. So what do
you remember about r J Barrett missing those free throws?
That game? Zion Williams and the final four? Just that
whole little run, that run. That run was the best
time in my life. I mean that it wasn't by

(32:32):
so quick thinking thinking back now, but like it was
so fun. I mean, I just remember I remember beating
we beat l s U in the Sweet yeah, the
Sweet sixteen, and then we had to coming up in
the Lage eight, and I just remember, like there was
not a time when we knew we were playing Duke,
Like no one, no one in our locker room thought
we were going to lose, Like we were not going

(32:53):
to lose that game. It was just it was just
like the atmosphere like we were so we were so hot,
we were so welcome to did so well, coached, so prepared.
That's just I just remember. I just remember the confidence
we had. I mean, uh, we prepared. I remember the
scout teams to walk through where everything just kind of
seemed a little boosted, like it was like it's it's time,

(33:14):
Like this is you know, because at the time people
were calling it like one of the most talented rosters
in college basketball has ever had, I mean our R J.
Barrett cam Reddish Zion like Trey Jones. It was. It
was insane. I'm actually helping coach high school here because
I'm back home and I'm kind of waiting to see
my next step. But so I'm helping out here and

(33:35):
I'm kind of just getting into these guys about the preparation.
And that's what I learned about at Michigan State and
especially during that run, because you got you got like
to two day turnarounds, so like you're preparing for one
team while also you're kind of thinking in the back
of mind like okay, like we're gonna have to start
preparing and It's definitely different when you're on scout team

(33:56):
because you know, obviously it's a tournament. Like I'm not
worried about playing. I just I'm not worried about going,
and I'm like, I'm not gonna, I don't have to
worry about playing. But I was on the scouts, so
like we do walkthroughs and and practice. We do them
in the hotels the lobbies, like we do them like
three or four times a day. I just remember I
was like our scout team coaches like we gotta be
on our p's and ques, and I just remember everyone

(34:17):
was locked in. We're having great practices. It was just
it was just crazy. Like I said this the comments,
I never never felt like we were going to lose
that game. And then honestly, I was on the bench
during that game, but like I it's it's literally I
remember I remember the end like it was people of
coaches is crying, everyone's jumping around, We're on the podium,

(34:41):
and it was just like that that single moment was
like every that was. That was definitely the moment where
it was like it was maybe not it wasn't definitely
the only one, but it was definitely the most significant moment.
I was like, yeah, this was this was the right move.
I mean, it was were freaking We get on the
bus and go home. We we come home that night

(35:01):
and as we get home at like three in the morning,
they tell us to go out look at the breads
and we walk in the breads and they have a
stage put up. It's three in the morning, anas packed.
I mean there are people just screaming, yelling. There's people
the whole forts covered, not an empty seat in the arena,
and everyone's just yelling. Just it was a it was
a madhouse during that And that's what that's what we

(35:23):
do it for, is to hopefully experience moments like that.
So and being you know, we we've I've mentioned Tomzoe
a couple of times. I'm sure people are listening or
wondering why I haven't asked about him yet, But just
talk about him and his philosophy. You know, obviously he's
a great coach and his players speak so highly of him,
and there is that family oriented like culture there that
he has created. So just whatever comes to mind, like

(35:46):
how tom Azoe was to you as a coach and
what he did for you during your time at Michigan State. Yeah, coaches, uh, coaches.
Was I was excited to go there because I knew
his kind of coaching style was kind of well. I
was driving like I needed someone to push me. I
needed someone to yell at me to kind of get
me in an extra gear. I've always I was always

(36:06):
like that. So you know, coaches, he's got he's got
this rep. You know, you see when we're in the
tournament that one year when he yelled at Aaron Henry,
you know he's on the news because he was gonna
ask you about that. Next Yeah, he was yelling in
his face. And then the other year there's the gay
brown thing. But like it goes along the lines of
like people don't see what happens on the like when

(36:28):
the camera's not on, Like you know, we have that
relationship that that that stuff that they put on the camera,
that's like it's like every day, So that happens every day.
That happened every single That's what I was gonna say
to you, was like, you got a guy like tom Izzo,
Like obviously he's ferocious and he's a great coach, and
he's high energy. Like the ship that they were seeing
in the game or on TV, Like you guys are

(36:50):
used to that, and they made a big deal about
it on the media because they don't see it all
the time. But like, that's just how he is as
a coach. It's no knock on him. It's just that's
his personality. That's how it is. And I remember when
I was getting recruited from Robert Moore. It's like they
tell you these things before you're there, Like the people
that go there and play for coaches will go there
because they want to be coached like that. You know,

(37:10):
it's not he's not He's not sugarcoating anything in the process, like, oh,
you're gonna come here, we're gonna we're gonna treat really nice.
You might get yelled at once or twice, but you know,
we're gonna be really nice to you. It's not, it's
not like that. It's it's more of the I'm gonna
push you harder than you think you can be pushed,
and it's gonna make you a better person and player
because of it. And it's kind of it's kind of

(37:32):
that thing. And you know, if if anyone had a
problem with how he was, you know, like coaching them
like he was open. You know, he always told us,
He's like, my office is open, come talk to me.
Like every we had like a really open flour there.
So like if you had a problem, you got yelled
at the practice or at a game, you don't like it,
He's be like, come talk to me. We'll talk about it.
But you know, coach that just coaches just you know,

(37:56):
he he has a special way of getting the most
out of people. And I think the intensity and yelling
is just you know, it's a small part of it.
But you know what I was gonna say is people
don't see like how personal coaches is. Like I had
a close friend of mine pass away my uh my
second year in Michigan State, and I remember how it happened,
and like when I found out, I went to talk

(38:18):
to my trainer, I was I was not good, but
I just remember instant again on the training room. And
I didn't even think it was physically possible for him
to find out this quick, but coaches calling my phone
first first person to call my phone before I could
talk to my parents, And you know, he's and he
was just just so open, like I'm here for you, Like,
come talk to me if you want to stay at

(38:39):
my house, like come stay at my house, like you
want to go do something like, well, you can go
do things like He's so he cares about people a lot.
And I also think that's another reason why people white
people like you can take that coaching. Like if that
was if that was his kid, if he was yelling
at his kid like that, I don't think people would
think it was as crazy as what they think it is.
But like he thinks of it as like we are

(39:00):
his kids, Like we're He always told us every day
this program is the most important thing in his life.
And you know, obviously the players are a big part
of it. So he cares about us, and uh, you know,
he's just so he's so personal. You know, he called
me this year, like twice I've talked to him. He
calls me still to this day, you know, wondering how
Oakland was, wondering blah blah blah, what how Central was
when I left, When I told him I want to

(39:21):
get in the portal, He's he was my agent. I have, Uh,
I have this voicemail that I remember him leaving me.
I missed his call and he's like, you know, I'm
out here working, I need some agency fees from you know,
he's out there calling coaches like selling, trying to sell
me like, you know, really helping me out. He cares
about people, you know, and uh, you know, it's pretty crazy.
And I don't think he's ever had a player not

(39:42):
graduating that's ever been there. And I don't know a
lot of coaches, especially at that level, can say that
about people, but every player that he's ever had, he's
never had a player not graduate in his years. And
he just cares about people. He wants them to be
better people when he wants you to be better from
when he got you. And like I told him, like
he accepted me as a nineteen year old kid and

(40:03):
I left a two year old man, Like I really
feel like that, and he was a big part of it.
And just is just his outlook on basketball really shaped
like my outlook on the game. But in life, just
you know, how to deal with adversity, how to deal
with certain things, and how hard you really have to
work to be successful. That all comes from what coaches

(40:23):
oh talking about every day. Man shout out coaches, Oh,
because I've always been a fan, but hearing it from
a perspective of someone who's so fresh out of the program,
Like I only like him even more now because you know,
it's easy to separate. Like it is like if you
can understand where he is coming from and you take
all those good things that he said, then when he
has a couple of rough moments that are directed at you,

(40:46):
you just take it. It's just like it is what
it is, Like, I know deep down how this man
feels about me, what our relationship is. So it sounds
like YouTube, um speaking of you and Tom Izzo coaches,
like had a good, good relationship as a walk on
and a coach, regardless of the scholarship thing. Like it
sounds like you guys, really you know, he still hits
your phone, like really cares about you. So I mentioned

(41:08):
you had all these you know, pretty for the most part,
positive experiences. Um, even through the ups and the downs
and the and the bad stuff that you kind of
went through that was I should say, harder stuff that
you went through. Um, if there's one thing that you
could think of, what, what is maybe the worst thing
that happened to you as a walk on the worst thing? Uh,

(41:30):
I think I think the worst thing. I think the
n C double actually changes though but I remember my
when I because my first year I was red shredded
so because of the transfer, so I couldn't travel anyways.
But my second year, like we had we had a
big team, so we had like nineteen players or whatever,
and so some of the games, like we had to
choose like the walk ons, who we had to rotate,

(41:52):
who could travel and who couldn't, And just little things
like that kind of sucked at me, like, damn them,
I'm doing everything, but I can even go on I
can't even go with the team because the n C
double a limited how many people you could travel with
and on the bench. So just little things like that.
But I mean, honestly, like I don't have a lot.
I don't have much bad to say about the whole experience.

(42:13):
You know, I would hope not. I when I asked
that question to people, I I honestly pray that they
say nothing that they say like, no, nothing bad happened
to me. But I mean, unfortunately, there's plenty of places
people that have where people have walked on at where
you know, they don't get to suit up on their
last ever game day because of COVID or you know,
I've heard some weird ship, bad ship, interviewing people that

(42:36):
I don't really like. But I mean, as you were
explaining kind of the system at Michigan State, I kind
of figured that it wouldn't be anything too big. I mean,
you know, you don't want to miss out on the
trips and whatnot. But know my last year there, when
I because I had one more year, it was the
COVID year. I remember we're talking to coaches. They're about
the like they always made sure like we had a
walk on kind of he would start to walk on

(42:57):
the last game of the season, like you'd start but senior,
dam mean, it was fun. I think, I bro I
gotta get think. I think I think everyone kind of
had a good experience because I remember, because I had
that extra year, but I had been talking to them
like I think I want to go somewhere else next year.
So they're asking me, They're like, do you want to
do you want to start this game? Do you want
to have your senior night tonight? And I remember them

(43:18):
having having that conversation with them, which at the time
I told them, no, I don't want it because I
was going to come back. And then every everything happened
the way it was blah blah blah. But yeah, I
mean that that never happened there if anyone, I don't think. So,
what do you think? You know, as a three year
walk On, what do you think of walk Ons in general?
I know we talked about in the beginning you kind
of had a little bit of a barrier to get

(43:39):
yourself over. But do you think there's more of a
positive or a negative stigma around them? And just you
know how you feel about us walk Ons in general? Uh?
I mean, I think in the inner basketball community, like
if you go to Division one schools or whatever, like
a good Division one school that has a good culture,
like the stigma around coins is really positive. Like they're

(44:02):
very valuable, like like I said, we are. There was
days in practice we were cooking the ones and twos
on scout team. We're scrimmaging and we're up. We're up
by ten or fifteen and coach has to blow the
whistle and he's cussing out these guys because we're just cooping.
Like it can be a very valuable thing to a
basketball team. And I think people outside may they just

(44:23):
don't know, they just don't know how how it really is.
Like I feel like they think like these like these
walk ons aren't like real basketball players almost like not
real basketball players, but just are some bumbs off the
street that are they're getting ran over these guys by
these guys in practice every day. But it's really not
like that. You're really like helping these guys get better.

(44:43):
And uh, you know, I think it's a it's a
great thing to be walking Like I said, it made
me a better person and sculpted my my thoughts and
how I view everything way differently is from if I
would have stayed at Robert Morris or transferred to another
mid major and been on schul ship, I would be Uh,
I don't know. I feel like I would have took
taking me a little longer to grow up and mature.

(45:05):
And uh, I think it's a really positive thing. So
when you say you feel like it's sculpted your thoughts
and it helped you, like what it like? What about
being a walk on? What about that every day grind
was like the catalyst and just you know just the
whole thing about this you know work ethic, like like

(45:26):
it's a it's an everyday thing. Like I don't want
to say I was entitled as a scholarship player, but
you definitely have a little bit of a titlement. You
feel like, you know, you're kind of up on it
because these coaches they're recruiting you like they're they're putting
you on this podeum. They're like, oh, you're gonna do great,
Like I remember coach school Rob Morris said to me
in these letters with my face on the NBC Player
of the Year trophy, like you're kind of getting put

(45:49):
on this poteum. And then as a walk on, you know,
you gotta work to get that ship. You gotta work
to get compliments, you gotta work to do all these
things and prove yourself. And uh, I think I'm really
hard working and I'm kind of more of a I'm
kind of a light at the end of the tunnel
thinker now And before I wasn't. I was like I
was just so quick, quick to give up on things,

(46:11):
and quick to quick to get down on myself, quick
to do all these other things. And I think being
a walk on, you know it really it made me
tougher mentally, it made me it just made me a
better person. Just it's just different. It's hard to explain
really unless you go through it. Yeah, I understand your lingo. Um,
I know, you know people who don't go through it

(46:33):
and they kind of just look at us as like
practice to me. But you know, from that outside lens,
like it is hard to understand, like when all you
hear is, oh, well they just you know, they're just
on the team and they just practice Twitter. Girl. So
sucks about nowadays being a walking especially at like Michigan
State or like a school heads. Like you know, I

(46:53):
would get someone someone from my high school with just
like send me, send me a tweet. Someone would tweet
about me or something. You know that that part that
just makes it a whole lot worse. But it's kind
of funny. But yeah, people something I don't know, Yeah,
you know, like oh so and so and so can't
like Marcus being in sexist days, might as well throw Brandenburger.

(47:14):
I don't know, just some something crack like that. Or
I remember when I entered the portal from Michigan State
for my grad year, the first coach that called me
was he was like, yeah, we're really interested. Obviously you played,
but like we don't really know about your skill set,
like we haven't seen you. There was no film on you.
So I instantly I called the video guy at Michigan Stay.

(47:35):
I was like, I need the practice film from this year.
I need, I need everything, And I tweeted. I tweeted
out the practice like a two minute, twenty second just
clips from practice that year. If you frying, Jaren Jackson,
Bryan People and blew up, insulated, Barstool Sports posted and everything.
For probably I probably saw it. I probably just don't remember,

(47:58):
like a hundred and fifty thousand views. I'm on Twitter
crazy and that that really helped my process a lot.
But yeah, and then but I think, you know, like
the guy I was on the phone with the guy
from Barstool and they were just like, it's really it's
just a really cool way to you know, show people
that like you're really you're really out here playing, you know.
That was that was a cool moment. Even though yeah,

(48:18):
no doubt I do this thing with the show sometimes. UM,
I call it the wow moment. It's just stands for
walk on watch and I'll try to like find something
that someone did a walk on did in the game
and try to put it out there posted just for
people to see. UM. And I honestly it was like
I was thinking about doing it with my own practice
highlights because I've had, like, I've just had some moments

(48:39):
this year where I'm like, man, if I jumble these
clips together, like people are gonna think, oh, ship, like
that's a walk on um, But no, I think it
would be cool for all walk ons to do that
and just like post their ship on the scout team.
You're getting You're definitely getting in, You're definitely getting some
reps in and probably throughout the course of a thirty
game season having some good moments. Okay, one last break,
but seriously, don't go anywhere you've um this far. The

(49:00):
pen ultima of the episode is coming up Brandon. We'll
get into the last phase of his journey on attending
Central Michigan and Oakland and why he was forced to
withdraw from them both in each of the last two years.
You won't want to miss it. We'll be right back.
We're back on episode eight of Waukie Tucky's podcast on
the College Athletes Network, featured on iHeart Radio. Again. Be
sure to subscribe to the show and also leave us

(49:22):
a review and tell us what you think. Now, let's
bring back in former Michigan State walk on Brandon Burke. UM,
only a couple more questions for you. I just want
to talk about that last part of your journey. Uh,
you graduated from Michigan State and you transferred for a
graduate post grad year too, Central Michigan University. Uh, you
only played in four games last year before you decided

(49:43):
to opt out. Um, what ended up kind of happening
with that situation and where are you currently at now
with your basketball career. Yeah, so I decided to go
to Central through the whole portal thing. When's the whole
portal thing kind of sucked at the time. It was
during COVID and couldn't visit, couldn't go see any of
these places. So that was a big, big reason why

(50:05):
I chose Centrals because they they offered me in high
school and I already visited there. I kind of knew
the head coach, I knew the assistant, and I kind
of felt just comfortable there. So I chose to go there,
and uh, yeah, I was got there and like early August,
and by August twenty I caught COVID and the kind

(50:26):
of started as like, uh, you know, stay in your room,
stay away, it'll be good, and like seven days, we'll
come check on you again. You'll be good, kind of ordeal.
Seven days goes on and I'm having hallucinations when I'm sleeping,
I'm having like my thermometers reading like a hundred and
six degree fevers, and I'm in my room and I'm
I'm spitting up probably a water bottleful of blood to day,

(50:49):
and I was like, this isn't this is like they
kept telling me, like it'll go You'll be fine, You'll
be fine. Eventually, I I called my trainers like I
don't know if you don't want to help me, but
I'm going to the hospital. I'm checking into somewhere, like
this is not normal. And so yeah, we went and
checked in and yeah, they put the thing on my finger,
touched my UH test my O two levels that day,
and they were like almost deadly, Like I was almost

(51:12):
dead standing there. Didn't know. I was like in the sixties,
people don't know your O twos need to be in
the hundreds like for a normal person. So I wasn't
breathing good. I had a hundred and six degree fever
when I checked in, and my O twos were likely,
so they instantly put me in an ambulance took me
to a hospital like an hour away, and I stayed
in there for almost three weeks, and I thought I

(51:33):
was gonna die, and it was. It was a big ordeal.
Eventually they came in and I was one of the
first testers, test dummies of the antibodies that was really
early in COVID. And I left them, you know, basically
inject a bunch of ANI bodies and me to try
to save me. And it did. It helped, and it
worked and I got out of there. But I had

(51:54):
an enlarged heart from being in there for so bad
and having such bad fevers, so I couldn't play for
I couldn't do anything until my heart cleared those scans.
And that was in August when all this happened, and
they didn't clear those scans until November. So then November
happens and I hadn't moved an inch since August. Like
I'm in my bed, I've sweated, I lost I lost
fifty pounds. I was almost two. I went in the

(52:15):
hospital to fifty. I was almost I was almost up
two hundred when I got out. So this is November,
and so they basically asked me like, well, like do
you want to try to blah blah blah, And I
was like, yeah, I'm gonna. I want I want to
help this team. I want to I want to play.
So I work out. I work out for like four
weeks and then I try to play in our first
games and I do. But like at the time, like

(52:38):
they were still like I mean, I'm at with the
board of the n CUB, like they said I had
the worst case and at any student athlete in the
country that they know of, and uh so they were
really observing me making sure I was okay to play.
And one of the first things we're doing it was
like you can't. We're ten minutes a game like first,
like for ten games, like that's that's your limit. Like
we're gonna at a heart monitor around at all times,

(53:01):
like we're gonna take this thing slowly. And so like
we did that for like like you said, I was
in there for like four games doing that kind of thing.
But like at the this whole time, think when this
is happening, I'm like I don't feel good still, like
I something's wrong with me still, And so I go
back to the doctors and this is this is early December,
like We're like four games in, go back to doctors

(53:23):
and I tested positive for mono. I had mono. So
at that point it's when I opted out, because it
was an automatic four four to five weeks stay away,
and it's it's gonna be another month and a half
of doing nothing and then trying to work back and
playing these games against the Vision one athletes who have
been training all year and I'm in here trying to
just get my wind up and get my stride. Was frail,

(53:43):
had no strength, lost all my strength, all my conditioning,
and so at that point, I was like, I'm opting out,
and you know, I'll think about coming back for the
COVID year, but like there's no absolutely no way I
could have played the rest of that season. So that's
what happened and that and then I was called them
and I was like, yeah, I want to come back.
Let's get it in this offseason. I came when everyone
left for Central and so I was there for like

(54:05):
a month and a half working out in the off season.
It's just like April and then get a phone call
randomy one day. They're when my assistant they recruited me there,
and he's like, like they just fired all of us,
like we're done, like blah blah, And I was like
what and they're like, yeah, the A D. We got
a new A D. And they had a couple, you know,
rough seasons back to back, and she she fired our
whole staff. And then the new staff comes in and uh,

(54:28):
I meet with them. Then it wasn't very comfortable after
my talks with the new staff, how they were going
to play, how they were going to use me, what
they thought, didn't think it was gonna be best for me.
So I ended up leaving there and ultimately I had
to get a waiver from the n C Double A
to play this year. So and that that was a
that was a whole another process that was that was

(54:49):
a crazy process, just trying to get this extra year
awaiver because I had the extra year to play, but
because I'd already used my transfer, I couldn't instantly play,
but I only had one more year to play. So
we basically I had to go in front of the
Institute of LA board and like plead my case. So
like this is what happened to me last year at
COVID almost died, couldn't play, and now my whole coaching
staff gets fired and this these new people like it's

(55:12):
not gonna work, Like I need a new school, Like
let me go to the school. So that got cleared
and I committed to Oakland and then uh, oh, there's
some family when my dad got really sick, and it's
just a bunts of stuff happening and it just ended
up bomping out before this eating because because of some
family but basically family issues, my dad was severe. He

(55:33):
was in a coma, he was very sick. And this
was during I got to Oakland in September, because it
wasn't until like the end of August, like I I
got my transfer papers from Central and like April or
it was like it was it was before June because
I was with Jarring the whole month of June in
Arizona and I had I had had the papers before then,

(55:54):
so it was not until August that they cleared me
to be eligible to think about playing. So I had
to find somewhere quick, and Oakland was like Oakland. They
were my first scholarship offer out of high school. And
they were like, we don't have any big men. Uh,
we don't really know if we're gonna need a big
man like how we play. But if you want somewhere
to come, you know, try this out. Blah blah. So

(56:15):
I ended up going there, and then, you know, with
my dad being sick and everything at home and how
it was shaping up, they played a lot of small ball.
I wasn't really gonna be used. I hate I had
to switch mate. I finished my one year at school
at Central, but I had just switched my major because
they didn't have it at Oakland, so I wasn't gonna
be getting my master's or anything. And then just with

(56:35):
my dad being sick, I kind of just wanted to
be home and be around everyone, and it just wasn't
worth it. So here I am. Now. My dad is
good now and everything's good, and I'm trying to trying
to figure out what I want to do next. I'm
thinking I might go back to Michigan State and be
a g a next year. Man, let me first off
start by saying like, I'm sorry to hear that you
had to go through all that, from the COVID stuff

(56:56):
to your dad. It was for stuff like, Man, I'm
sorry to hear all that, but I'm glad that your
pop is doing better and that you are healthy. As well. Man,
that is that's crazy that probably it was insane. Man.
It was honestly, everything happened so quick. Like I went
from I was on a super high high horse when
I committed to the Essential because I was like, it's

(57:17):
my time, like I'm gonna go here, I'm gonna I'm
gonna average fifteen and ten, like I'm gonna play because
I ultimately wanted to play over see, like I know
my coach at Michigan State DJ, He's still trying to
get me to he wants me to come get in
shape and then go try to play somewhere. And I
want to and that was my goal. Like I said,
I was on a high horse. I was like I
went proved to people, it's in my home state. People

(57:39):
are gonna be able to come in like games. You know,
Central was a good school and then it just we
hadn't mean had a team practice or anything yet. You know,
it was it was August. I literally got there in
August and just boom him in a hospital. I'm freaking
two hundred pounds. It was. It was. It was bad man.
And yeah, and a lot of people that was another thing,
like people people just saw that I opted out and

(58:02):
like finally left. But like, no unless you're in my
family or you know, my coaches at Michigan State. And
it was another thing about coaches are like when I
when he I don't know how he heard I was
in the hospital, probably from my teammates that were still there,
but I mean he he called me before. Not not
throw any shade up Keno Davis or anyone in Central,
but he was the first one he called me before

(58:22):
Keno called me and check how I was doing. You know,
coaches called me crying. He was in tears on the
phone because he heard I was in the hospital. And
so that just shows you know, he does care about
people a lot. And but yeah, that that whole situation
was just so insane. Man. I hope you're kind of
back up. I hope the roller coaster is going back
up for you and like you're not. Yeah, it's good.

(58:45):
I mean Oakland, I actually got in but I ran
the fastest mile time I ever ran in my life.
This this uh this fall at Oakland when we did
our conditioning test. So I definitely got back into shape
and good, what what would you run? Yeah? I ran
a five forty damn it for you. Bro, that's a
big time man. That is you stumped me. Bro. I

(59:05):
like I, um, you know, I got sympathy for what
you went through. I feel terrible that you had to
grind through all that. Um. I'm first, like I said,
happy that your your dad is better. You're better, um,
and that you're you know, on the come up trying
to figure it out. You know, I saw I saw
you do some music engineer stuff and then you mentioned, um,
you know, maybe wanted to take a grad assistant position

(59:26):
at Michigan State. So you know, you take these three options,
coaching music or playing overseas. Where do you feel like
you're kind of leaning the most right now out of
those three? Music? Uh, It's it's funny. It's music is
what I think I want to do deep down and
what I'm really passionate about now. But basketball kind of

(59:47):
seems like the safer route to me, just because that's
what I know, and it's I've done it my whole life,
and I have endless connections in it from obviously being
at Michigan State. But like I didn't, I've always been
a really a big fan of music. I played the
guitar in my whole life, My dad was My dad
was a country singer when I was younger, and it's
always been a big thing. But when the COVID hit,

(01:00:09):
they sent us home and Jared called me. He's like,
come stay with me during the COVID break. Dude, Like,
you know, got nothing to do with blah blah either.
So I go down to Memphis. I'm staying with Jared,
and uh, he's like, that's how we really connected to
is we were both loved music a lot, and uh,
he's like, I've been I've been like low key going
to the studio and rapping bro and I was like,

(01:00:29):
I was like and he played me the stuff. I
was like this, this sounds crazy, Like this sounds like
some stuff out here on the radio. And he's like, yeah,
like cool. So he ended up taking me to the
studio when we went there, and that's that's the first
time I ever even heard of a music engineer. And uh,
I got really close with his engineer and like a
month I stayed there with him. He kind of put
me on stuff. I came home from that instantly like

(01:00:51):
I bought this laptapam on right now. I bought everything
and just kind of dove into it. And you know,
I kind of fell in love with it pretty fresh
for you that it's pretty new to you. Oh yeah,
it's not mainly been like I said, it's probably a
year and a half now. Damn, that's awesome. It's always
cool to like switch up. You know, you go from
basketball and now all of a sudden you're pursuing another
passion that you probably didn't even think you would would

(01:01:13):
be doing. Um. Yeah, so that's awesome. Um damn, bro,
I'm like, I'm just stuck on what you just told me. Man,
I feel so bad, like like that ship is crazy
manly in the in the in the gutter, like you
had to climb out. I mean yeah, and that kind
of just goes along. I think that kind of helped
shape me to just perspective wise and like everything. But

(01:01:35):
I think, you know, like I said, I'm just seeing
the light at the end of the tunnel. Like I
can still like my goal in Michigan State was to
ultimately get a degree and be in a spot to
you know, make money from playing basketball. Like and I
still like I've I've been talking to overseas scouts and everything,
like people still think I can play and I could
still definitely play. It's just a fact on me doing it.

(01:01:59):
You think it's more are mental for you now, like
getting back on the court, kind of trusting your body,
trusting you know that. Yeah, Like, yeah, it was very tough,
like even being at when I when I got to Oakland,
because I bet I didn't do twenty practice that Central
that whole year. Like I had less than twenty practice.
So like if you think about it, like in COVID,
losing fifty pounds, gaining fifty pounds back again, like all

(01:02:22):
this stuff like getting like losing all Like my bench
press when I got back to Oakland was less than
my when I left from Robert Morris. Like I had
worked so hard to you know, get in this shape.
It like when I when I got to the Michigan State,
I was like two twenty five. I left like two
forty five and like just real a lot day and
night stronger, And I worked so hard to do all

(01:02:43):
this and then to see it go like this. But
you know, Oakland, Oakland was. I know, I don't regret
going to Oakland. I kind of kind of wish it
would have worked out a little better. But they did
help me a lot too, because I kind of got
into practicing and like right at the end before I
ended up, you know, not not being there anymore, but
I was starting to see like like in the coaches

(01:03:03):
were telling me. It was like you know, like you're
you still got it, and it's just kind of that
thing like I hadn't played like a live five on
five game and its fucking two years probably, Like it's
just it's just so it's so different and not being
on that schedule anymore, like every day like every day
workout lift, every day workout lift, workout lift, workout lift,

(01:03:24):
Like I'm not no one's telling me to do that,
and I don't really have a reason to do it,
so yeah, it's making it harder. The biggest thing broke
because I had a had a nine month back injury.
It kept me out, and like what I learned during
that was like like what you said, nobody is there
telling you go lift at this time, go practice at
that time, Like you had such great discipline and like

(01:03:46):
such a great routine every single day for three years
and then when we kept to kind of you know,
funk off like on our own time, like it's so
easy to just do nothing. Um, it really probably just
comes down to like you deciding what you ultimately want
to do. Like, if you're it's in it and you
really want to play, I'm sure you're a dog you'll
get back into gym, get back in the way room,
and really start like locking in on the work again.

(01:04:06):
But it just comes down to like that decision of
like what do I really want to do? Yeah, there's
just a part of me the uh, you know, you're
you're only gonna be like I'm not gonna be able
to play pro when I'm fifty, you know, So like
there's a part of me that feels like my opportunity
was stripped on me. But at the same time, it's
like I still I still can't do it. It's just
like I want to do it now while I can,

(01:04:26):
you know, like at least say I tried, no doubt, man,
because that's that's just the That's just the biggest thing
that's kind of keeping me interested in this is you know,
having people like coaches and DJ from Stay calling me
and they're like, if you if you like want to play,
Like that's kind of why I want to g a
there because I ultimately we uh, they'd let me play
on Scout team, and when I go back up there

(01:04:46):
in g A. So I get to do that and
kind of get back into shape and hopefully, you know,
build another tape and send it out to some scouts
or something. But I actually feel like I have unfinished
business from in a basketball standpoint. It's just you know,
kind of getting back in the atmosphere. I think it's
the most important thing. So the Oakland thing was this
past August, what you were describing. So you've been out

(01:05:07):
of the mix kind of since the summer. I know,
I was at Oakland. I was at Oakland until about Halloween,
right before the games started out was there all preseason? Okay,
practicing every day. It's like, oh yeah, I was in
I was in good shape. I was back on It's
only been about two months. I've been out of it now,
all right. I mean, so you're not like entirely out

(01:05:28):
of it. You mean, you just I would look at
it as like a good little break. A good I
mean not that you didn't already have a sort of
a break, but that break sounded like it wasn't really
like you weren't able to Yeah, yeah, you couldn't be
chilling your your mind was probably in a thousand different places,
so at least now you get to kind of center
yourself and really figure out what you want to do.
But I think going to Michigan State, getting back in

(01:05:50):
that really good environment that you were in, and you know,
getting that tape, you wouldn't even have to go burn
that last year eligibility if you didn't want to get
enough tape with where you're at right now, and probably
go overseas just based off of that and like some
of your history and your career, plus the fact that
your seven foot like you're probably a hot commodity for
a lot of a lot of teams overseas for sure. Well,

(01:06:11):
first of all, I just want to say thank you
for sharing that, sharing it to me and the people listening,
whoever is listening, because that takes a lot to open
up about that, like we you know, especially come on
a random podcast and you share that. So I appreciate you,
you know, being open, being honest and just telling me
your story. Man. That's that's some real, real ship that
shows people like that the real like that's real life,
and that's what life hits you fast man. That's what

(01:06:34):
COVID has been doing to people and families and you
know you you show perseverance, you show great strength, and um,
you know that's what the shows about. Man, Just like
hear people with mindsets here their mentalities, and you know
you hear someone go through the stuff that you've been
through like that, Like that's no bullshit. That's some real
ass like trials, tribulations, hardship that you had to really
power through like life or death. So I do thank

(01:06:56):
you for sharing that. Um all right, well bro, that'll
wrap up this episode with Brandenburg. I appreciate you, know you,
like I said, man, coming on the show, sharing that story,
like just everything, your whole journey man, from Robert Morris
all the way to where you're at now four schools later.
I've been to three colleges, so I kind of understand,
you know, a sense of what the transferring was like
for you. But you know the other stuff. Man, I

(01:07:17):
wish you nothing but the best and nothing but good
health and uh, you know, I look forward to keeping
in touch with my man. Appreciate you coming on. Appreciate it, Okay,
And that's a rap crazy stuff, really good stuff, really
good perspective and inside info on Michigan State and that
historic program and just a gratitude from Brandon on what
the journey did for him as a man, as a hooper,
and just in life in general, how much being a

(01:07:38):
walk on actually helped shape him and his life in
early adulthood. I thought it was really interesting and fun
to hear you know how much respect he has four
walk ons and his time as a walk on because
he understands what it did for him. Uh. And just
a brief update on Branden since the recording of this
episode took place about two two and a half months ago.

(01:08:00):
He is currently looking to pursue his passions for music
and continuing to climb that ladder within the music industry.
He's actually also been back in the gym training and
is in talks to potentially join a TBT team this summer.
Really cool stuff. Glad he's been able to get back
on track and just continuing to pursue his passions. And
I'm glad him and his dad have regained their full
health and are doing better. Appreciate him coming on the

(01:08:20):
show and not hold him back, and I wish him
the best of luck going forward. As for the podcast, again,
if you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to share
it reposted retweet it from the Walkie Talkies socials at
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(01:08:41):
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(01:09:01):
I'm excited to share next week's episode with you all
and continuing to share the journeys and stories and inspiration
of walk on on athletes underdog athletes all around the world.
So thank you all again and just remember come. Walkie
Talkies Podcast has been a presentation of I Heart Radio

(01:09:23):
and the College Athletes Network.

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EP #8 | 7 ft Tall Michigan St. Walk-on - Braden Burke |

Episode Transcript

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Noah Buono

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