As then-Virginia Commonwealth coach Anthony Grant told freshman Bradford Burgess that he was going to start two days before the 2008-09 season, a thought occurred to Burgess.
"I didn't want to smile too much in front of him," Burgess said. "I was like, 'Man, I'm about to start my first college game.' "
The low-key Burgess will be allowed at least a hint of a smile tonight when he starts game No. 121. The senior from Benedictine, who has started in every Rams game since he arrived, is set to tie Michael Brown's school record when VCU (7-3) plays UAB (2-6) at the Siegel Center.
Burgess owns the longest active streak in college basketball. If he does not miss a start the rest of the regular season, he'll have at least 141. The NCAA record for consecutive starts is 147, by Duke's Kyle Singler.
The record for most games played is 157, by Ohio State's David Lighty. The VCU record for most games played, 142, belongs to Joey Rodriguez.
"There's probably 2 percent of freshmen in the country in Division I basketball who are talented enough and are mentally ready to start their first game," third-year VCU coach Shaka Smart said. "From there, there are 101 reasons why you could miss a start.
"Brad has been the Cal Ripken of VCU basketball. He's the Iron Man. He's played three, four different positions for us. He's been as valuable as anybody we've had in my time here."
Burgess said the closest to missing a game he can remember was when he had back spasms his freshman year. He's had "aching body parts," but nothing severe enough to keep him off the court.
The biggest injury he suffered came in July. In a summer-league game just before Burgess was to report to tryouts for the USA team competing in the World University Games, he came down awkwardly with a rebound and tore ligaments in his left ankle and broke a bone in his foot. That injury has bothered him at times this season.
The 6-foot-6 guard/forward has scored 1,349 points, grabbed 600 rebounds and shot 47.9 percent on 3-pointers during his career. He has averaged more than 31 minutes of playing time.
VCU is 86-34 during Burgess' tenure. He has played in 21 postseason games.
"I think it's even more impressive that he's going to hold this record in the current era at VCU when there's been so much success," Smart said.
"It's one thing to be a starter on a team that goes .500. Bradford Burgess was a starter his freshman year on a team that won the league, went to the NCAA tournament and had two first-round (NBA) draft picks. He was a starter his sophomore year on a team that won 27 games. He was a starter his junior year on a Final Four team. I think that really speaks volumes about how much of a winner he is."
Burgess said not a lot of people have mentioned the streak, which, in typical fashion, is what he prefers. He'd rather talk about a rebuilding Rams team that has won six of its past seven games. He'll look back at the streak once his career is finished.
"(Freshman Briante Weber) was joking about it," Burgess said. "He was starting then and he was saying, 'I'm going to get your record, man. We're going to go to back-to-back-to-back-to-back Final Fours and I'm going to have the records for most starts, most steals.
"I was like, 'I hope somebody comes along and beats it.' Some day, somebody will. If they do, they will have had great opportunities just like the rest of us."
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