Ethan Burke’s lacrosse background led to being a national recruit

Austin, Texas – Ethan Burke has always been a tall, very agile, quick, flexible, long-armed leverage winner. It was just in lacrosse that his elite talent at over 6-foot-6 showed up. 

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Inside Texas wanted to see what some have dubbed as a potentially “generational talent” in lacrosse looked like in person. 

My thought watching him for over an hour in practice was this is what playing point guard at 6-foot-9 must have been like for Magic Johnson. He is the one player on the field that can see everything, and does so with tremendous athleticism for the sport. Defining Burke is pretty simple in one aspect, he’s a guy that understands sports. He was like the quarterback of the Westlake lacrosse team in practice, leading and calling all the plays. 

One comment I made to his dad was he could walk in a basketball gym, and you could say make every pass with your outside hand, and he would immediately understand why. Burke has a sports mind, period. And a sports mind with an over 6-foot-6 frame that can carry 270 pounds and look like he weighs 250-260. And then there is the quick feet, high-end reactive quickness, ankle flexion, 83-inch wingspan, 10-inch hands, balance, ability to bend and speed. Then comes the most important part of the equation, the physical mindset to tie it all together. 

Burke plays lacrosse for his father, Zack Burke. Zack Burke was a standout Division I lacrosse player that went on to play professionally for a decade. Burke now runs Westlake lacrosse from the youth league all the way up to coaching the high school team. 

The transition from lacrosse to football

Inside Texas spoke to Westlake lacrosse coach Zack Burke Thursday during practice. 

Ethan Burke went from top national lacrosse recruit committed to Maryland to a Michigan football and lacrosse commitment, to ultimately signing with the Texas Longhorns with a football only focus. 

“I think we knew we had lacrosse in the bag,” Zack Burke told IT. “We knew he could go to a really good school like Maryland, so we wanted to take advantage of that right away. Then when we had some success in football, we just started shifting gears to lifting. We had some serious conversations of if you want to do this, you have to live in the weight room.”

When it came time to make that decision and dedication to see where football can go for Ethan, he didn’t hesitate at all. 

“And he said, ‘I really love it, let’s go,'” Ethan said. “He hasn’t complained at all. He just gets up on his own, crushes it everyday. Then comes back home, we have breakfast, and make a big breakfast. His commitment has picked up, and his focus has picked up. Really, I think it’s just his mindset, man. It’s not something he has to do, it’s something he really wants to do to change from a boy to a man. He takes advantage of having this opportunity by not missing a day in the gym. It’s good to see as a dad because I think he’s made the right choice, and he has matured.”

Burke can come off as a laid back, Southern California dude having grown up in the San Diego area. But on a field, he’s a hyper competitive and physical athlete with otherworldly length and coordination. In an interview Bobby Burton and myself on the Bobby Burton’s On Texas Football, that came through. 

Zack Burke said the lacrosse background has plenty of similarities to playing defensive end. 

“He plays attack, and he’s going to the goal,” he said. “So it’s very similar to a defensive end going around a tackle. It never really crossed my mind until I saw him play that he is dodging out there. He looks like an attackman going to the goal. He transforms his body and gets smaller to get around those guys, and that’s from lacrosse. And goals and leverage man. That’s when you have to master as a defender. It’s all leverage. Those attackman, they are all so strong, and can leverage with a dip, hesitation and juke. I see his lacrosse at defensive end.” 

That skill set has led to averaging around six goals per game this season at over 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds with a goal of getting to 255 pounds by the time Texas practice begins in August.