Three years after Alec Burks didn’t even draw the interest of most major colleges, the former University of Colorado guard became a coveted NBA commodity.
The Utah Jazz completed Burks’ journey from high school to the pros.
Burks was taken by the Jazz with the 12th pick in the NBA draft on Thursday night. Decked out in the kind of suit he said he’d wear, charcoal on black, Burks is now part of the Utah Jazz reclamation project along with Turkish center Enes Kanter, who the team selected with the fourth pick overall.
Burks’ rise started his freshman season at Colorado, to which he was recruited by then-coach Jeff Bzdelik. After Bzdelik departed to go to Wake Forest, Burks struggled with the decision to stay with the Buffs or join the Indiana Hoosiers, where CU assistant coach Steve McClain landed.
New CU coach Tad Boyle convinced Burks to stay, and he flourished in the up-tempo system, averaging 20.5 points and 6.5 rebounds during his sophomore season in which the Buffs advanced to the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament.
In Utah, Burks will play for coach Tyrone Corbin, who took over for a legend — Jerry Sloan — midway through the season. The Jazz traded star guard Deron Williams are expected to lose other fixtures such as Andrei Kirilenko.
The biggest, and really only knock on Burks is his 3-point shooting, which he insisted will not be a problem in the future.
“I feel like if I just keep working on it, it will get better everyday,” Burks told The Post while working out in Las Vegas. “It’s not difficult at all. Everybody at Colorado knows I get to the rack a lot, so I didn’t really have to shoot the 3, so I’m just proving to people that I can shoot it when I have to.”
Also, former Palmer High grad Reggie Jackson was taken by Oklahoma City with the 24th overall pick. The 6-foot-3 guard left Boston College a year early for the draft. Jackson averaged 18.2 points and 4.5 assists last season.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
