Basketball
Favorite athlete: Chris Paul
Favorite memory competing in sports: Scoring a career high 42 while showing a great display of sportsmanship.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My shorts fell during a game.
Music on IPod: Old school music, R&B, hip/hop, I do not like about 95 percent of the music out today!
Future plans: Get my bachelors and Masters in Business and Engineering, minor in Real Estate
Words to live by: “Things happen for a reason.”
One goal before turning 30: Go to Disney World.
One thing people don’t know about me: I love kids and being silly.
By GORDON GLANTZ
Before Aaron Burton was even born, his father, Kevin, read an online article about the government giving out scholarships to people who are left-handed.
So, when Aaron was a baby, Kevin hatched a plan. He would gently get his son to switch hands whenever he took the bottle into his right, successfully making him left-handed.
But when the time came to follow his dad’s size 15 footsteps as a basketball player, he was shooting right-handed.
That was OK, but dad decided that Aaron was old enough, at 11, to start developing his weak hand by making 100 lay-ups left-handed.
And Aaron resisted.
He also recalls the drill not stopping for the weather conditions, even if it was in the pouring rain, and that tears were shed.
After trying, daily, for two weeks, the ball went through the hoop.
“To see the joy on his face, I’ll never forget it,” said Kevin, who played on Cheltenham’s powerhouse teams under coach Steve Daley in the 1990s. “To this day, I say ‘don’t fight me. Remember your lesson.’
“I put a lot of man-hours into him. He didn’t get good overnight.”
And even when he became good, new adversity seemed to face Aaron Burton.
An Old Soul
At nearly a six-feet tall at Cedarbrook Middle School, Aaron Burton was the equivalent of a 7-footer and his numbers, at around 27 points per game for a nearly unbeatable team, were the direct result.
Since then, he has only grown an inch or two.
Instead the growth spurt, as a basketball player and a person, came from within.
“He’s a young kid with an old soul,” said Kevin. “He is wise beyond his years. He gets it. He understands the big picture.”
And he is – according to his coach, John Timms – a survivor.
“I would agree,” said Burton. “I had a lot of trials and tribulations. I was a late bloomer (in basketball). I had to work twice as hard to surpass people.”
“He hasn’t peaked,” added Kevin. “He is still peaking.”
Adversity Knocks
Burton went from being a quiet kid no one knew to being the talk of Cedarbrook Middle School - where he was coached by Cheltenham basketball icon Brandi Butler - once he emerged in eighth grade as a hoops standout.
He went to La Salle High for two years, earning varsity letters but not consistent playing time, and he transferred back to Cheltenham for his final two seasons.
Although it didn’t go as planned, there are no regrets.
“You don’t know until you know,” said Kevin, himself a Charles Barkley type power forward who played college basketball at Delaware Valley College after one year at Cabrini College. “You have to take chances in life.
“Aaron battled through some adversity, but it helped him learn to persevere, and that was a good thing. Up until then, Aaron didn’t learn much about perseverance because he got by being Kevin Burton’s son. At La Salle, he wasn’t Kevin Burton’s son anymore.”
The Power of PIE
The road map to sorting it all out has come from Kevin’s self-devised Power of PIE strategy; with PIE standing for: Plan, Implement and Execute.
The theory is that some people can do one or two, but the truly successful ones are those able to do all three.
“It’s about being proactive and not reactive,” said Kevin. “Complete all three tasks. Be that guy. How many college coaches are going to tell you no?
“Maybe Ivy League – maybe – and that’s it.”
And when the choice is made, Kevin is fine with Aaron leaving the nest.
“I want him to go away, to be honest,” said Kevin. “The world is bigger than the Philadelphia metropolitan area. I want my children to experience life. I want the same for Aaron and for Justin.
“I’m looking forward to catching a plane and going to see him play.”
New Coach, New Life
Kevin explained that his son has constantly been told what he couldn’t do and they have worked on any perceived area of weakness to the point that he is a complete player hopeful of one more growth spurt to catch up to his 6-10 wingspan and shoe size of 15.
Under Timms, the Panthers got off to a slow start, winning two of their first 10 nonleague games, before finishing on a 9-3 run.
They were one win away from qualifying for the District One tournament, but Aaron Burton – speaking like a college professor -- was more philosophical than bitter.
“It’s all part of the process,” explained the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, at more than 17 and 11 per game, respectively. “We had a new coach, a new team. It all clicked in January and February. We played our best basketball. We were listening, executing and winning.
“Things happened how they happened, but they happened for a reason. We got better, and that was our goal. I enjoyed the process.”
A Diamond in the Rough
His evolution will continue at the college level, where Burton hopes to take his inside-outside game to one of several Division II and Division III schools showing serious interest.
In the final analysis, Burton believes that the school will pick him as much as he picks the school, as it will be as much about what feels right about it beyond just the basketball program.
“I’m excited about it,” said Burton, who has a 3.1 GPA and recently made the honor roll. “I’m really looking forward to it. I want to enjoy the next four years. It’s what’s most important. If I’m not happy, it will affect how I play.
“I’m not going to play this sport if I don’t love it, and I love to play basketball.”
As confident as he is in his ability to use footwork to beat a taller defender in the post and quickness off the dribble to do it on the wing, Burton is most confident that he will be a player his next coach will appreciate.
“I’m going to work my butt off to give myself the best chance I can,” he said.
“For whatever coach that gets him, he’s going to be that diamond in the rough,” added Kevin.
Timms only coached Burton for one season but knows the type of player his next coach will be getting.
“I've been coaching Aaron since November, and he's been one of the hardest working kids I've seen in my coaching experience,” he said. “Aaron is a self-determined kid who has a determination to be successful.
“He's a remarkable athlete that any coach would love to call their son, and that’s because he's a better person. He has had three different coaches as a high school player in four years. If there's one word that would describe Aaron Burton it would be survivor, he's done that and much more. … His favorite quote is ‘opportunity doesn't wait for the unprepared’ so he's always ready.”
Living with Responsibility
Hearing that Timms would be proud to call him his son certainly had an impact on Burton.
“It’s an honor,” he said. “A guy I never met before this season being able to say that is pretty incredible.”
A big part of how Timms feels about Burton comes from what he does off the court.
“Aaron's living arrangements has made him a strong confident leader by nature,” said Timms. “Aaron has to take on more responsibilities than the average kid his age. He prepares dinner, does the family laundry helps (younger brother) Justin with his homework, all while maintaining a 3.1 GPA.”
Kevin Burton, who sells industrial software technology, was 19 when Aaron came into his life but kept his eye on the prize, neither leaving school nor shirking his responsibilities as a man.
“I have doing this by myself for 11-12 years,” said Kevin. “It is just three of us. I’m open and honest. I don’t pull any punches. I’m not their friend, but I’m dad all day long.
“You have a small window to be a child. Who are you as an adult will be shaped by the choices you make when you’re young. When I look back now, the bookworms and nerds are the ones who are doing well as adults, not the so-called cool kids.”
Buying In
Aaron Burton has bought in to his father’s wisdom, the Power of PIE.
The aspiring business major, who also has an interest in real estate, talks in detail about a restaurant -- AB’S -- with a menu of all-around cuisine that would include soul food and Mexican food.
“I want it to be a place where anyone and everyone can walk in and be satisfied,” he said, again sounding like an adult, which sometimes makes him ostracized amongst his peers.
“It’s just everyday stuff,” he explained. “The way I talk, because I’m articulate - there are always going to be haters and people who try to bring you down. It’s all a part of life. When I go to school, I don’t worry about other people.
“It’s all in a school setting. I try to be cool with everybody.”
The way he deals with it comes from home.
“He’s different,” said Kevin. “And when you’re different, when you’ve mastered the King’s English, people look at you different. Some of it has to do with La Salle. Some of it has to do with me. I tell him what my mother told me. It’s OK, because they just don’t know. They are not as familiar with the verbiage.”
Burton, -- who singled out his paternal grandmother, Marcia, as an inspiration -- has built what he calls a “healthy rapport” with many on the faculty and staff at Cheltenham and was asked by a Spanish teacher to speak to her class. In his free time, he mentors and works with special needs students in the gym.
“I don’t do it for any attention or anything,” he said. “I just do it to help.”
“Aaron is just a flat-out good kid,” said Kevin.
And he is a good kid with a long memory of a long journey.
“To this day, I still like shooting in the rain,” he said.
