Every four years during the summer Olympics, the WNBA takes a month-long pause to allow dozens of its players to represent their countries.
But the majority of the top women’s professional basketball league’s players don’t play in the Olympics, leaving them on their own to stay in shape for the home stretch of the season. For Connecticut Sun guard Veronica Burton, roughly a week of that time was spent in her hometown, Newton, visiting friends, family, and the Ron Burton Training Village.
“Technically we have a month off from playing, but it’s really not a full month off for any team,” Burton said. “We had a couple weeks. I was able to go to the Cape for a little bit, New York, and then I went home for four or five days.”
For the first time since graduating from Newton South High School in 2017, the two-time Boston Globe All-Scholastic Super Team selection is playing her basketball close to home. The 24-year-old Burton, a 5-foot-9 guard, joined the Connecticut Sun in early June after two seasons with the Dallas Wings and four years of college ball at Northwestern University.
The Sun play home games at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, a shade under two hours from Newton. Burton’s basketball journey will reach a climax even closer to home when the Sun play a neutral-site home game against the Los Angeles Sparks at TD Garden in Boston on Tuesday, August 20 at 7PM. It’s safe to say a large contingent of friends, family, and supporters will show up to support the reserve point guard.
Joe Rogers, who took over the Newton South HS varsity program during Burton’s sophomore year, recently reconnected with her for on-court workouts during the Olympic break at a gym in Newton. Last season, Burton spent a week coaching at practices with her former team.
“She’s certainly important to our program because she shows there’s nothing you can’t achieve through working hard and doing it the right way, obviously depending on the person and their talent level and other external factors,” Rogers said. “With the kids, there’s big-time from her in any way and that’s always been true with her. ”
The Burton family’s multi-generational athletic prowess includes Division I basketball, football, and swimming athletes at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities. Veronica, the 7th overall pick in the 2022 WNBA draft to Dallas and her grandfather, Ron, the New England Patriots first-ever draft pick in 1960, are the only two to go pro. Veronica’s older sisters, Kendall and Kayla, played basketball at Villanova and Lehigh respectively. Her brother, Austin, played football at UCLA and Purdue. Their parents, Steve and Ginni, played football and swam at Northwestern. Including extended family, the list of impressive athletes goes on and on.
Despite an incredible high school career at Newton South, Burton fielded just a few Division I college offers. She went to Northwestern, her parents alma mater, where she was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year three years in a row. As a senior, she was named the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s Defensive Player of the Year and an Associated Press All-America Third Team member — a first in Northwestern’s program history.
One of 12 prospects invited to attend the WNBA draft live in New York City, Burton made an impact soon after landing in Dallas. She played in 36 games as a rookie, including six starts. Though Burton started in 13 of the 40 games she appeared in with the Wings last summer, she got waived by the Wings. Not long after, the Sun called her camp. She signed a rest-of-season contract in early June, and through her first 14 games with the team, averaged a career-best 2.9 points and 2.2 assists across 11.4 minutes per game. Connecticut ranks No. 2 in the 11-team Eastern Conference with an 18-6 record.
“The system offensively and defensively fits me and was something I could get comfortable with really quickly,” Burton said. “It’s also just a testament to the players and coaching staff welcoming me in and getting me ready to go right off the bat. Obviously the W season is strenuous, and there’s a lot of games back-to-back, so you don’t necessarily have a lot of time to get settled.”
In the WNBA offseason, Burton plays for Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball, a smaller professional women’s basketball league that provides an opportunity for year-round play in the United States. She also played for a team in Lublin, Poland last winter, and she expects to play overseas following this WNBA season.
When Burton played at Newton South, she dreamt of playing on the famed parquet floor in the eastern Massachusetts championship. While she never got there as a Lion, she’ll proudly represent her community at the highest level just a few miles from home. And it’s possible her father, Steve — WBZ’s Sports Director — and Kayla, a reporter at NBC Sports Boston, will cover the family’s youngest.
“Definitely a full-circle moment to play in the arena where I grew up idolizing players,” Burton said. “I’m just really trying to soak it all in while I can because it’s just a blessing to do it in my hometown with so many friends and loved ones supporting me.”