It's no secret that the past few months haven't been kind to college athletes and the programs and departments they play for. But for IUPUI senior Marcus Burk, the COVID-19 pandemic hasn't had any negative effects on his game — in fact, it's only made him better.
 
After declaring for the NBA Draft in the spring and getting analysis from NBA coaches about his strengths and weaknesses, Burk has used the solitude and serenity of quarantine to improve his game and sharpen his skillset. And all the progress Burk has made this summer, in conjunction with his insatiable work ethic and his dedication to being the best, has put him in the optimal position to conquer his ultimate goal: Marcus Burk is ready to play professional basketball. 
 
On April 13, 2020, just a few weeks after the COVID-19 pandemic had canceled or postponed college and professional sports, Marcus Burk took to Twitter to announce his decision to declare for the 2020 NBA Draft. 
 
"Since I was young, I've had a dream of playing professional basketball," Burk explained in his social media post. "After discussing with my parents and coaches, I have decided to declare for the 2020 NBA draft while maintaining my eligibility."   
 
Unfortunately for Burk, though, the pandemic had already drastically altered the NBA pre-draft process by the time he had declared for the draft. The NBA issued a memo to its teams on Monday, April 6 that specified new guidelines for conducting pre-draft workouts and interviews. The memo stated that teams could not conduct "in-person workouts or interviews with draft eligible players" during the COVID-19 hiatus and that, when poring over game film and workout footage of prospective draftees, they could "only study film that occurred before the NBA's suspension of play on March 11."
 
According to Burk, the news that the pre-draft process would be different didn't concern him much; he knew almost immediately that his dream of being drafted into the NBA wouldn't come to fruition this year. But he also knew that he could use the small amount of feedback he was able to get from NBA coaches to improve himself and make the most of a pandemic-dampened summer.
 
"I kind of knew early on that I was going to return [to IUPUI]," said Burk. "I really just wanted to go through the [draft] process to get the feedback that I wanted to get and just see what I had to do for this upcoming season to be able to make it to that stage."
 
The NBA teams that Burk spoke with were able to watch game film and suggest areas of improvement, explaining that Burk needed to tighten up his body, work on his playmaking coming off ball screens, and improve his ball handling. 
 
So that's exactly what he's done. 
 
For the past few months, while much of the world has been at a standstill, Burk has woken up every day singularly focused on putting in the work to become a better player and teammate. 
 
"I wake up at 7:00 [a.m.], like in between 7:00 and 7:20 a.m.," Burk said, describing his daily schedule. "I'll turn on music, and then I'll do abs real fast for like five minutes. And then I'll meditate for like 10 minutes."
 
After performing some quick abdominal exercises and meditating, Burk readies himself to head out the door and do more work. 
 
"I'm going to lift at like 10:00 [a.m], usually in between 9:00 [a.m.] and 10:00 [a.m.], and then lift for an hour. And then go work out on the court right after for an hour." 
 
Burk then goes about his day for a few hours before ending the day with another workout, heading back to the gym to lift again from about 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. After his second workout of the day, he heads home to relax and recuperate before doing it all again the next day. Despite the fact that productivity has decreased for so many people across the globe, Burk has adhered to this routine with an enviable stringency, becoming even more focused and motivated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
"It's honestly a little bit better because there's no distractions," Burk said of working out through the spring and summer months of quarantine. "And if you don't have any distractions, then you're just focused on one thing." 
 
In just a few short months, Burk has already dropped 17 pounds in his attempt to tighten up his body to be NBA ready. He's been working on his playmaking and ball-handling skills, incorporating drills into his everyday workouts in ways that imitate game situations. 
 
"When I work out I incorporate [playmaking and ball-handling] in the drill with another thing so I'm not just doing that," said Burk. "I have to do that and do it how it would be in a game because that's really the only thing that matters is how it is in a game." 
 
IUPUI men's basketball Assistant Coach Isaac Loechle, who has worked with Burk since he was a teenager, notes that Burk's quarantine routine is just another addition to his already impressive workload. 
 
"Marcus is the hardest working kid that I've ever been around," said Loechle. "I've been coaching AAU, coached high school, coached college three different levels, and Marcus is the hardest working kid that I've been around." 
 
Loechle says that Burk has always consistently pushed himself to outwork his peers and do whatever necessary to elevate himself above the field.
 
"There were times in high school where we'd be coming home late at night from a workout and [Marcus was] like 'man, I've got to get up early,'" said Loechle. "He's like 'Yeah, I've got to get up at 6:00 a.m. I'm going to get my lift in. Then I'm going to get some shots up before practice, and then I've got practice. And then, you know, then I'm going to go back later and just do a light workout.' So, he's always been a super hard worker." 
 
And what makes Burk's dedication and intensity so exciting — and what Jags fans can cling to with certainty in such a capricious time — is that they have the power to propel him to the next level of his career. They've already done it before. 
 
In the last four years, Burk went from barely making it to the Division I level to putting himself on the radar as one of the best shooters in NCAA Division I men's basketball.   
 
"My first Division one offer was Campbell [University], and it came April of my senior year of high school," said Burk. "I didn't think that anyone would call, but I just kept working. I just kept working hard and they called."
 
When his opportunity finally came in 2016, Burk didn't waste a moment of it. In his freshman year at Campbell, he averaged 8.0 points per game and connected on 67 treys; as a sophomore, Burk improved noticeably, averaging 14.8 points per game and hit 91 triples. 
 
Then, after transferring to IUPUI and sitting out the 2018-19 season in conjunction with NCAA transfer rules, Burk averaged an impressive 21.3 points per game and 1.9 assists per game during his junior year. He finished the season ranked No. 16 in NCAA division I men's basketball in points per game (21.3), No. 12 in total points (682) and No. 42 in 3-point field goal percentage (38.6%).
 
Now, heading into his senior season, Burk has again positioned himself to take advantage of his hard work and advance to the next step in his basketball career. With quarantine allowing him to perfect his weaknesses, and his ability to shoot the ball already miles ahead of his competition — Loechle notes that Burk is slated to be "a top shooter in the draft class next year" — there's not much standing in his way of becoming only the second player in IUPUI men's basketball history to be drafted to an NBA team. 
 
"There's no doubt in Marcus's mind or my mind," Loechle said in reference to whether he thinks Burk will be drafted in 2021. "He puts in the work to be a pro." 
 
There will be many things to look forward to when the COVID-19 pandemic comes to a close and life begins to circle back to normality — and Marcus Burk's bright future and potential to succeed might be one of the most exciting.