Kayla Burt recieves top basketball honor after comeback

Washington women's basketball star Kayla Burt was awarded the V Foundation Comeback Award Tuesday, recognizing her courage in the face of adversity she never saw coming.

It's not impressive that Burt attended the school of hard knocks by chance rather than choice. It happens all the time -- people are cast into the realm of the unpleasant and unknown with nothing but their questions. Many people fall deeper into the shadows, unable to deal with their misfortune.

What impresses is that Burt is not one of those people. She fearlessly faced the questions, worked hard and finally graduated from that school at the top of her class.

She is the fifth winner of the award given to an individual or team who has accomplished a personal triumph in health, life or moral dilemma. The honor is presented in memory of Jim Valvano, the late basketball coach and ESPN commentator who was an inspiration to many while he battled cancer. Burt was among 17 national finalists for the award.

"I am honored to present the Comeback Award to Kayla Burt," V Foundation CEO Nick Valvano said. "Through her amazing determination and perseverance, she embodies the spirit of this award. Kayla has overcome tremendous physical adversity. She believed in herself and her ability to return to the court. She always remained an important part of the team. She never gave up."

By her own admission, she never really planned on being there at all.

"It's something you can't prepare for," she said. "It's something that I've been recognized for overcoming some things in my life."

It was New Year's Eve 2002 when "things" put Burt on the path toward the award. She suffered cardiac arrest and was on the verge of death. She survived only with the help of teammates who performed CPR. What followed was a 15-hour coma and a diagnosis of Long QT Syndrome (a rare genetic heart condition) and finally a defibrillator was implanted in her chest. She was told her basketball career was over.

"Initially, prior to thinking of a return, I never thought it was possible," she said. "I had accepted the fact that they told me I would never play again."

Burt no longer played for the Huskies, but she didn't stray far from the pack. She served as a student assistant for the team for a year and a half.

"That ache (to play) never went away, but I moved on," she said.

It was while serving as an assistant that she saw physicians at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, who told her she didn't have the syndrome.

That's when the real battle began. She consulted with doctors and underwent test after test. Finally, in August 2004, the University granted her permission to return to the team.

"First, I never thought that I would be on the floor again," she said. "Then, I wasn't really expecting to come back and play a lot and do a lot of things for the team. I just wanted to play and be in a uniform."

But she was more than just another warm body in a uniform. She led the team in scoring and assists with 9.6 points a game and 2.9 assists. She finished second to Emily Florence with 1.5 steals per contest.

"Kayla Burt's return to the game of basketball exemplifies her courage and passion to compete for the love of the game with her Husky teammates," coach June Daugherty said. "Being chosen by the V Foundation as the Comeback Player of the Year is the highest honor one can receive. ... Coach V's spirit will live on through several others like Kayla who are moved and inspired by his courageous fighting spirit."

The Huskies as a team suffered from what looked to be a dismal 14-16 season on paper, but Burt and Daugherty both have pointed to this year as a building block.

"It's easy to just get down and say, 'oh, we had a horrible season, it was pathetic and we didn't do this and we didn't do that,'" said Burt. "But no, it was more like, 'look at what we did do, look at how we improved, look at how we overcame so many things.' We overcame adversity."

The inspirational player has been a leader for the Huskies both on and off the court.

"You can't say, 'I'm a leader,'" she said. "It's what you do. You just be yourself. You walk the walk and talk the talk. You don't say one thing and do another. ... You know what it takes to play at this level and you know what it takes to play for June, and the younger kids know that."