PEORIA — Demarion Burch knows he’ll need to rise to a major leadership role for the Bradley men’s basketball team in the 2025-26 season.
He’ll have no problem reaching that level, if his feat on the court is any indicator.
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The hugely talented 6-foot-4 junior guard put on a show Tuesday at the end of a session for elementary school kids in Bradley coach Brian Wardle’s summer instructional camp at Renaissance Coliseum.
Burch stood with the ball out at the left wing just above the 3-point arc. Parked in the paint in his path to the basket were newcomer Bradley teammates Gustavo Guimarães, at 7-0, and Kai Yu, at 7-1.
Those trees were conquered by Burch, who dribbled in from the left wing, went airborne and did the splits, soared over both big men, and delivered a monster left-handed dunk on the way back down to earth.
“Honestly, I was thinking of it the day before, what I could do for the kids,” Burch said. “Each group was giving me ideas for different kinds of dunks. Someone said, ‘Jump over Kai, jump over Gustavo.’
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“So I did. It was a fun moment for everyone.”
When Burch landed, he took off toward the right side of the court, chased by camp kids and teammates in a celebration.
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“My freshman year of high school, I would work out before class every morning, 6 a.m., and lift, do workouts for my legs,” Burch said. “I know what I can do, physically. On the day I committed to Bradley, our high school had a big event in the gym and the whole school came out to watch a five-on-five game and a dunk contest.
“I did that dunk over teammates who were 6-8 and 6-10 that day. This time, I had two 7-footers.”
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Burch has a 37-inch vertical — among the best on Bradley’s team. Braves big man Corey Thomas, by the way, has a 40-inch vertical, stunning for a 6-10 forward.
Bradley’s Demarion Burch goes to the basket against Northern Iowa in the first half of their Missouri Valley Conference basketball game Sunday, March 2, 2025 at Carver Arena in Peoria. The Braves won the season finale 73-56.
But Burch, the athletic guard from Milwaukee Hamilton, shot 56.3% from 3-point range and 55.3% from the field overall last season. He was a key piece in the guard rotation and took over the starting spot at two-guard during BU’s three NIT games.
He projects as a starter and must-have leader heading into 2025-26, and hopefully develop into elite status in the Missouri Valley Conference.
“I’m trying to be more vocal,” Burch said. “Lead by example, show my work ethic on and off the floor. I have a bigger role this year. I’m ready to work twice as hard to help this team.”
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And help kids connect with the game and the team as well. Who knows what he’ll come up with when Wardle’s instructional camp concludes with its third session June 23-24.
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Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley basketball guard entertains camp kids with dunk over 7-footers
