Lightly-recruited Burns balances soccer, class

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By Clark Brooks

Junior midfielder Tyler Burns has had success in soccer his entire life.

In high school, the Aura, Colo. native lettered varsity for all four years for Smoky Hill High School, winning state championships his sophomore and senior seasons. Burns was named to second-team All-Conference following his junior campaign after his team finished runner-up in the state tournament. In his senior year, Burns was a team captain and registered nine goals and eight assists.

Burns was also a member of the Real Colorado club team while in high school. In 2004, Burns helped his club reach the State Cup and earned MVP honors even though his team finished runner-up.

Burns’ success in the sport soon drew attention from UK head coach Ian Collins and his staff. Burns became a member of the Cats in 2007, making his dream of playing Division 1 soccer come true.

“I remember I got called down for a visit,” Burns said. “It was one of the few D-1 offers I had even though I was getting attention from small schools in Colorado. And when I got to Lexington, I really liked it here.”

Burns didn’t make an immediate impact during his first season at UK despite earning a starting spot for three games and totaling 578 minutes of play. He had to use that season to get better as a player.

“I took it as a learning experience,” Burns said. “I just wanted to keep getting better.”

Burns’ sophomore campaign was a little bit more productive. He started all 19 regular season games last season and helped the Cats post a 12-4-5 record by netting two goals along with two assists. The Cats finished runner-up in the Conference USA Tournament despite Burns being out with an ankle injury after UK’s first round game against Marshall, a contest where Burns notched the team’s first postseason goal.

So far in 2009, Burns has started all 14 contests to date and has scored a career high three times with one assist.

“I’m really not the guy who looks to score all the time,” Burns said. “I’m a person that does whatever I can to help the team win; you know, running hard, making tackles, the grunt work.”

Besides being successful on the soccer field, Burns is also a standout student. In high school, Burns was on the honor roll all four years and has been placed on the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll his two years at UK.

“Education is a high importance to me,” Burns said. “I’m not here to just play soccer.”

Burns is currently a finance major, but is unsure what he wants to use it for when his playing days end.

“I have no clue what I’m going to do yet professionally,” Burns said jokingly. “Luckily, I’ll have at least one more year to decide that.”