Kaitlyn Burke

Classroom

Burke will be a nominee for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 2012, as she carries better than a 3.5 GPA as an advertising and business administration major at Nebraska. She is a two-time first-team academic all-conference selection and was a seven-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Outside the classroom, Burke and a few other NU students started their own advertising agency on campus.

Character

Burke is a fifth-year senior leader on a young Husker team in 2011-12. She is also a leader on campus, serving as the President of Nebraska’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Along with her leadership skills, Burke has displayed her dedication and toughness throughout her years at Nebraska. She has battled multiple injuries every season at Nebraska, including multiple breaks and dislocations of fingers on her shooting hand, a broken nose, and foot and knee injuries that required surgeries. Through it all, Burke has appeared in 101 career games with 48 starts entering her senior year. As a junior, she started 29 games despite undergoing knee surgery on Oct. 4, 2010 and suffering a broken nose on Jan. 10, 2011.

Community

Burke is one of Nebraska’s leaders in community involvement, serving as the President of Nebraska’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She was also a 2010 Nebraska Student-Athlete HERO Leadership Award winner - one of 30 Huskers to win the award as the most involved student-athletes on campus. She represented Nebraska at the Big 12 Conference Leadership Summit in 2010. She has served as a speaker and volunteer at numerous elementary schools during her career at Nebraska. Prior to pursuing a career in athletics, Burke was a childhood actress. She starred in a pair of films “Bear with Me” (2000) and “Ms. Bear” (1997) that were environmentally conscious films. She played the starring role in both films and acted opposite a live grizzly bear in both movies. She also appeared in Disney’s “Life-Size” (2000) with Tyra Banks and Lindsay Lohan and “A Song from the Heart” (1999). She appeared in National Lampoon’s “Dad’s Week Off” (1997) starring Henry Winkler, and appeared in the television series Millennium (1998, 1999).

Competition

Burke played in all 33 games for the Huskers as a true freshman, before earning a part-time starting role as a true sophomore in 2008-09. Her 2009-10 was cut short by multiple injuries and she ended up taking a medical redshirt. She returned in 2010-11 to start 29 games for the Huskers and average 6.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Her 89 career three-pointers rank in the top 10 in Nebraska history, and she has a chance to join the top 10 in NU history in career assists despite not playing point guard. She also has an opportunity to finish in the top five in school history in games played. Burke came to Nebraska in 2007 after spending one season with the Canadian National Elite Development Academy. She was a member of the Canadian Junior National Team in 2006 and 2007, and the Canadian Cadet National Team in 2005.