Deonte Burton gives ISU spark off the bench, honing long-range shot

AMES — Deonte Burton has been asked time and again by people he knows why he hasn't cracked the Iowa State starting lineup.

Instead of agreeing with the narrative he should be a piece of that first-five group, Burton has kind of shrugged off the comments he's heard. He's focusing on the bigger picture and how he can best help the Cyclones.

'I don't care to start,' Burton said. 'Starting is just starting. As long as I get out on the floor then I'm fine.'

Burton collected his second-straight Big 12 Newcomer of the Week award Monday after he had 19 points and four 3-pointers at Oklahoma. Three days earlier he had 17 points against Coppin State and shot 72 percent from the field in those games combined.

The Cyclones went only six deep in the second half in the loss to the Sooners and were missing offensive production from starter Abdel Nader, who had four points on 2-of-7 shooting. Burton quickly shot down any sentiments that he was trying to take somebody's spot in the rotation.

'I might be having a bad game and Abdel finishes the game,' Burton said. 'I might have a good game and then Matt (Thomas) might be sitting out so it just depends on how everyone is playing.'

Iowa State coach Steve Prohm doesn't envision a scenario right now that would move Burton to the starting group. Burton averages 18 minutes per game and Prohm is subscribing to the philosophy of, 'if it's not broken, don't fix it.'

'I think he just brings a lot of versatility coming off the bench and also we're looking at a three or four-game window right now,' Prohm said. 'I think our team is in a good place. We're averaging in the 80s (for points), we're 11-2 and I think things are going well.'

Burton is a physical specimen and built like a linebacker at 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, which makes his early success from long range almost surprising. He averages 13.8 points per game and is 70 percent (7-for-10) from 3-point range in four games.

When Burton sat out as a red-shirt transfer from Marquette, his shot was the first thing he knew he needed to work on. He studied his shot with former coach Fred Hoiberg and has continued that with Prohm and current ISU assistants, making minor tweaks along the way. Seventy percent shooting is a lofty goal to have, but Burton has an expectation about where he wants to end up at the end of the season for his long-range shooting.

'Hopefully anything above 50 percent,' Burton said. 'That would be great because my previous percentage was not good at all. I think it was like 22 percent so anything better than 22 percent.'

If Burton's offseason habits were any indication about the success he would have once he got into the lineup, Georges Niang wasn't necessarily surprised by what Burton has done thus far.

'He's just in here constantly shooting by himself just like you would old school at the park,' Niang said. 'He does a great job of coming in here at bizarre times where I've come in and he's just been in here shooting. Credit to him that he puts a lot of time in here.'

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