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Valkyries point guard Veronica Burton is loud and quiet. She’s confident and calm. Extra emphasis on the calm.
Four years ago, when Burton was set to join the USA Women’s National Team at the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup, longtime Northwestern Wildcats head coach Joe McKeown wanted to have a word with Dawn Staley, coach-to-coach.
“The first three days, you won’t even know she’s there,” McKeown recalled telling the U.S. head coach about his All-Big Ten First Team star player.
“But after that, she’s going to start for you,” he continued. “I’ll tell you why, because she’s not flashy, and she does just about everything right.”
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Sure enough, after a few days at training camp, Staley understood McKeown’s forewarning. Burton keeps a low profile and her highlight plays were never overly showy. Yet she anchored the backcourt defense and kept her team steady as a vocal court general. She earned a starting role through the Americans’ six-win run to the gold medal.
Burton’s WNBA career, up until she was selected by Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin and head coach Natalie Nakase in the WNBA expansion draft last December, followed the same initial under-the-radar waiting period.
Instead of lasting three days at training camp, it spanned three seasons.
So when Burton shared the hardwood with one of her former teams – the Connecticut Sun – on Sunday night at Chase Center, she was quick to make an impression. The Valkyries’ starting point guard finished in double figures (10 points) for the eighth time this season as Golden State cruised to an 87-63 win.
“This is where I want to be,” Burton said of playing for the Valkyries. “I’m just trying to be a dawg on each side, whether that’s scoring, assisting, defense. I just want to win.”
Burton made just one start with Connecticut last year, but wasted little time reminding the Sun what they lost by failing to protect her in the expansion draft. A year removed from playing 12.7 minutes per game, she drilled a 3-pointer 33 seconds into Sunday’s blowout and now enters Wednesday’s showdown with the New York Liberty averaging 11.1 points and a team-best 4.9 assists per game for the Valkyries.
“She’s had to deal with adversity and ended up in Connecticut. She’s never complained once, she just appreciated ‘Hey, I get to play in the best league in the world with the best players,’” McKeown said. “Some people would get so bitter … but she’s just embraced it. It motivated her.”
When Burton left Northwestern, she was on the fast track to WNBA stardom. She earned three consecutive Big-Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors and led the NCAA in steals in each of her last two seasons. In the 2022 WNBA Draft, Burton was selected with the No. 7 pick by the Dallas Wings.
“She went in the first round when she should have,” McKeown reminisced about draft night. “And I was just thinking that she’s going to skyrocket from there.”
In two seasons with the Wings and one with the Sun, Burton’s career never took off. The 5-foot-9 guard averaged 13.9 minutes and 2.7 points per game between the two franchises. Her confidence swelled during the 2022 postseason with Dallas — she made three starts and played 30-plus minutes in two games — but it was shaken when the Wings waived her the following year.
“It’s a lot mentally. I think that’s something I’ve struggled with in my career at times,” Burton said. “I think my faith keeps me grounded.”
Playing for a team where her court vision and elite defensive skills are valued helps, too.
Nakase recognizes how Burton’s vocal leadership and support on the floor, on the bench, in the locker room, and outside of the arena has expedited the community-building process for the Valkyries’ brand-new assortment of players.
“She’s a natural-born leader. She was a point guard her whole life, so she naturally knows how to learn, how to hold people accountable,” Nakase said. “For me, it’s about managing the highs and the lows of the game, so it’s really good that V stays really even-keeled throughout the game.”
Burton’s first career double-double came in a 14-point, 12-assist performance in the Valkyries’ 27-point rout of the Las Vegas Aces at home. She’s strung together seven games with five-plus assists and has six with multiple steals.
Burton’s style of play is a solution to the problems encountered by a team started from scratch. Without a proven offensive star, the Valkyries are exceeding expectations in large part thanks to a defensive-minded player at the point guard position who shuts down opposing shooters.
“It’s her anticipation, but what makes her special, she knows what the other nine people should be doing on the court,” McKeown said. “She knows everything about the team she’s playing against.”
The Valkyries lack veteran experience, but the 24-year-old guard understands when to lead by example, when to lead with her voice, and how to build camaraderie.
“The biggest thing for me is relationships — that’s chemistry,” Burton said. “When you’re able to build relationships with your teammates and coaching staff on and off the court, I think that really translates.”
Right before stepping into the spotlight in the Bay Area, Burton spent the WNBA offseason playing for the Bendigo Spirit in the WNBL in Australia. She credits the experience for bolstering her confidence ahead of her fourth WNBA season featuring a whole lot of change.
“I’m really grateful for my time in Australia and to win a championship as a professional is something that I don’t take lightly,” Burton said. “I grew as a person and as a player, so being able to bring that back, including the confidence that I had over there and carry it into training camp and the season has been huge for my game.”
In reality, it’s her entire playing career up that’s prepared her for this breakout moment in her WNBA career.
From growing up in a family of Division I college athletes who rose early for workouts together on the daily, to choosing between a basketball or lacrosse path in middle school, to handling the Caitlin Clark defensive assignment in the classic Iowa-Northwestern Big 10 matchups, to being waived by the team that drafted her, to staying resilient and landing a roster spot in Connecticut. And everything in between.
“My time [in San Francisco] has been incredible — the people I’ve been able to meet and the fans,” Burton said. “To be living here now, I couldn’t ask for a better experience.”
“Big things,” she said of what’s ahead. “We try to stay in the moment and take it game by game because this is the first year. We want to be where our feet are and enjoy it. This is an incredible start and I think there’ll be big things ahead.”
As for McKeown, who she still holds as a dear mentor, he’s looking ahead to a potential playoff appearance for the Valkyries who are 7-6 a little less than a third of the way through their inaugural season. And he’s giving another forewarning.
“Veronica is tough as nails. I’ll tell you, when you get her into the playoffs, she’ll find a different gear.