Tennessee basketball is losing another piece of its Elite Eight team, but this time not to the transfer portal. Instead, first-year guard Ethan Burg is returning to his home in Israel after his lone season with the Vols.
“Vol nation, thank you for welcoming me, a guy from halfway across the world, and making Rocky Top feel like home sweet home from my very first day,” Burg said in an Instagram story. “It has been an honor to play in front of this incredible fan base and represent the University of Tennessee. I’m so grateful to all the coaches, staff and managers for the constant support. It was a privilege to compete alongside an amazing group of guys, my teammates, whom I’ll forever share a special bond with.
“Although I’ve made the difficult decision to return home to Israel to be closer to my family, I’ll always be proud to be a Tennessee Volunteer. This past year has been unforgettable and I’ll cherish the memories I made for the rest of my life. Go Big Orange!”
The 6-foot-3 combo guard had an extremely up-and-down season with Tennessee, finishing the year while averaging 2.5 points, 1.1 assists and 0.9 rebounds per game. Burg shot 44.3% from the field, 40.5% from three-point range and 81.8% from the free throw line.
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Burg arrived in Knoxville after the start of the fall semester as he competed with Team Israel in the FIBA EuroCup. His performance was mixed in non-conference play but he struggled badly early in SEC play. Rick Barnes moved Burg to the scout team, and he played just six combined minutes in nine games from Jan. 10 to Feb. 14.
But starting with an eight-point performance in 18 minutes against LSU, Burg began regaining trust and earning a bigger role.
“I understood how blessed I am to be here, how blessed I am to be around these guys, how blessed I am to be in this program,” Burg said during the NCAA Tournament. “I want to thank Gregg Polinsky for recruiting me. I want to thank all the coaches for believing in me even when it was hard. I know it was hard. I didn’t give them much reasons to believe. I was checked out. I was already checked out, man. But I’m happy that they believed in me.”
The turnaround was not a complete 180. Burg didn’t turn into a star, but he became a mainstay in Tennessee’s rotation and embraced his role— taking care of the basketball, playing good defense and shooting when he was open. Burg averaged 14.8 minutes per game during Tennessee’s run to the Elite Eight.
So far, Tennessee has added four players through the transfer portal. This includes Belmont’s Tyler Lundblade, Cal’s Dai Dai Ames, Loyola (Chicago)’s Miles Rubin and Notre Dame’s Jalen Haralson.
