Jay Burson was a

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

and former player in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

Basketball career

High school

Burson attended John Glenn High School in

New Concord New Concord is a village in Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The population is 2,491 as of the 2010 census. New Concord is the home of Muskingum University and is served by a branch of the Muskingum County Library System. History New Con ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

from 1981-85. During his sophomore season, he led the nation in scoring with a 44 points per game average. In his four seasons at John Glenn, he scored 2,958 points earning him the record for most points scored in the history of Ohio high school basketball. He held that record for 22 years until it was beaten by Upper Sandusky senior

Jon Diebler Jon Keith Diebler (born June 22, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player who is the director of recruiting for the Butler Bulldogs of the Big East Conference. He played four seasons of college basketball at Ohio State Universi ...

(3,208 points) in February 2007.

College

From 1986-89, Burson played for

in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. He averaged 22.1 points a game for Gary Williams' Buckeyes in the 1988-89 season. During a late season contest against Iowa in his senior year, Burson's college career came to an end when he collided with Ed Horton. He was fitted with a traction brace that he had to wear for three months.

NBA

After his injury, Burson made an attempted comeback. In August 1989, Burson signed a three-year contract with the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. He was one of six players the Rockets invited back from a rookie tryout camp in July and he reported for pre-season workouts that October.Marysville Journal-Tribune. August 18, 1989 After playing just four preseason games, however, it appeared that his playing days had ended.

CBA

In 1989, prior to signing with the Rockets, Burson had been selected as the first round draft pick - seventh overall - of the

Columbus Horizon The Columbus Horizon is a defunct basketball team from Columbus, Ohio that played for five seasons in the Continental Basketball Association from 1989 to 1994. History Plans to bring professional basketball to Columbus were unveiled in Septembe ...

, a new

franchise. When it did not work out in the

, Burson joined the Horizon for their first season.CBA museum
/ref> Initially, Burson said he would not play in Columbus. However, after being released by Houston and clearing waivers in October 1989, he decided to sign with the Horizon.Marysville Journal-Tribune. Nov 27, 1989 "The Horizon is very pleased to have signed our No 1 pick," said owner Eli Jacobson. "Jay Burson was in the process of making future plans, and we're just glad the Horizon are part of his plans." Burson wasn't signed just to sell tickets, Horizon coach Gary Youmans said. "We want Jay as a player, not as a drawing card. He might attract some fans but we want him so we can win ballgames." He made his home debut in December 1989, scoring 15 points in a 132-123 loss to Pensacola in front of 3,272 fans. In 34 games with the Horizon in the 1989-90 season, Burson averaged 13.6 points a game. In September 1990, Burson was traded to the San Jose Jammers for a second-round pick in the 1991 CBA draft and a player to be named later.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burson, Jay Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Basketball players from Ohio Columbus Horizon players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players People from New Concord, Ohio Point guards San Jose Jammers players