University of Tennessee Athletics
Summer Of A Lifetime Precedes Final Act
November 18, 2014 | Women's Basketball
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Cierra Burdick stuffed a lifetime of memories into her final summer of college life.
A gold medal, a summer living in New York City, rubbing elbows with celebrities and newsmakers, working under a personal hero and mentor, any of these experiences would have made for an incredible off-season. Burdick just went ahead and did them all.
"It was definitely an awesome experience," Burdick said, putting it mildly. "I was all over the place, all over the country, all over the world. It was definitely an adventure-packed summer, but it was an awesome experience. I learned so much and grew so much. It was definitely an adventure in a couple months I will take with me for a lifetime."
Burdick earned an internship with ABC's Good Morning America to work behind the scenes on the top-rated national morning program. But before she could move to New York City for the summer, she had a bit of roundball business to take care of.
With fellow collegians Sara Hammond of Louisville, Jewell Loyd of Notre Dame and Tiffany Mitchell of South Carolina, Burdick qualified to represent USA Basketball at the 2014 FIBA 3x3 World Championship in Moscow, Russia. Her team was rarely challenged, and finished the tournament with a dominant 9-0 record. The gold medal game was a showdown with the home-standing Russians, which made taking home the gold even better.
With gold around her neck, Burdick was bound for New York and the rest of the summer at GMA, where she was assigned as an intern for anchor and women's broadcasting trailblazer Robin Roberts.
The opportunity to work directly with Roberts trumped any of the other memories made in New York. A former basketball standout at Southeastern Louisiana University, Roberts worked her way up from local TV to an anchor and play-by-play job at ESPN in 1990. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 for both her on-court career and her broadcasting work. Roberts has also become a hero to fans in all walks of life as a two-time cancer survivor and advocate for cancer research and awareness.
"The time I got to spend with Robin just at the breakfasts and lunches that we had, those were special moments because it was just me, her, and her assistant Sonny," Burdick said. "It was just so real, and she is such a humble, courageous, strong woman, and she's been a trailblazer for women in sports for a while now. I just have so much respect for and just the mentoring she did for me this summer. It was a true, awesome experience."
Basketball was never far from her mind. Burdick found plenty of time for basketball instruction and work in the city, known as a hoops hotbed. She also helped teach the game to young players by volunteering at the Girls and Boys Republic.
She brings it all back to Tennessee for her final season in a Lady Vol uniform. And she returns a different person, someone ready to face the challenges of the world, on the basketball court and beyond.
"I had some growing up to do," Burdick said. "I think this summer gave me a little taste of reality, to the life after college. I think I grew as a person, player and as a leader. That is just something I try to do every day that I try to make the most of every single day that I'm blessed with, and it's an unbelievable platform we have here. I'm just trying to make this last year my best year yet, on and off the court just appreciating everything that I have."
