Burton Declares for WNBA Draft
Three days after announcing her intention to enter the WNBA draft, the School of Education and Social Policy's Veronica Burton was named the best defensive player in the country by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
A stealthy defensive force known as the 'Backcourt Burglar", Burton is the first Big Ten player to earn the award. “Veronica is a fantastic student-athlete who has demonstrated determination, intensity, effort and teamwork at the highest level,” said Danielle Donehew, executive director of the WBCA.
The WNBA draft will begin at 6 p.m. CT Monday, April 11 on ESPN and the ESPN app. In 2017, SESP's Nia Coffey, now with the Atlanta Dream, was selected in the first round, the highest pick of any Northwestern University basketball player, male or female, in school history.
Burton, an academic All-Big 10 selection studying learning and organizational change in the School of Education and Social Policy, will leave Northwestern as one of the most distinguished players in program history. She was recently named the program’s first All-American. During her tenure, the Wildcats won a Big Ten Championship in 2020, and reached the NCAA tournament.
Burton was previously named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for third season in a row, and received her second straight selection to the All-Big Ten first team, with unanimous nod to the coaches team.
Burton also earned national recognition as a finalist for the the Nancy Lieberman Award and the Dawn Staley Award, both awarded to the best point guard in college basketball. She was also named as one of four finalists for the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second season in a row.
Burton's 2021-22 campaign was historically productive on both ends as she averaged 18 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals per game, and nearly a block a game as well. Before the NCAA Tournament, she led the nation in total steals and ranked second in steals per game. She also ranked in the top five nationally and led the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio, and ranked sixth nationally in assists per game.
Her 117 steals were the third most in a season in Wildcat history and tied for the seventh most in a season in Big Ten history. She finishes her career second-all time in program history in steals with 394, which is good for third all-time in Big Ten history. She finishes third in program history in career assists with 575.