No 2 COLIN BURDETT
6 feet 1 inch (186cm) Guard
1956 Olympic Games
“TheBoston Whirlwinds” basketball team who were on a tour of Australia as the opponents to the Harlem Globetrotters were giving a basketball clinic in Adelaide, South Australia to a large group of youngsters and senior players. An imposing athlete with a tremendous presence, and an Australian accent was making a big impression on the group. He was Peter Mullin a highly gifted athlete who had won Australian Championship medals in high jump, pole vault, 110 hurdles and shot putt and had placed 6th in the decathlon at the 1948 London Olympics. Mullin had won a scholarship to Washington State University in the USA and would go on to play basketball for Canada in 1959, and would be many years later inducted into the University of British Columbia Hall of Fame as a basketball coach. One of the players present was young Colin Burdett who thought that “Mullin was great, and I learnt a lot.”
Colin J. Burnett was born January 4th, 1931 in Adelaide. He attended Adelaide Boy’s High School and played for the school in baseball and cricket. He was selected to play for SA Schoolboys baseball in the Australian Championships held in Sydney where the team won the title. At school he received a School Honours Blue for Baseball and Cricket. After he left school he played A grade baseball for Adelaide Baseball Cluband cricket for SA junior Colts B team and in the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) B Grade competition.
Colin was introduced to basketball by a baseball mate and instantly fell in love with the game. He gave baseball away and proceeded to spend hours every day at the Old Boy’s Institute (OBI) learning and practising basketball skills to become a better player.At the Old Boy’s Institute Club in Adelaide he played with future fellow Olympian Peter Sutton. Colin commenced playing in 1949 as a member of the OBI “B” team and the next year was promoted to the “A” team.In 1950 he won the A Grade “Most Improved Player” award for the South Australian League competition.
He was quickly learning the game and his exposure each week to games against the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian players and teams showed him the skills to emulate and provided the motivation to be a better player.Colin cites the American Mormon team as a huge influence on him and the rest of the players in the SA League at that time.“The Mormans were very skilled and passionate about basketball,” recalls Colin.
At 6ft 1 inch tall Colin played the guard position and put his athleticism and great hand-eye coordination from years of baseball and cricket to good effect in basketball.
He was a member of the OBI club side that won the SA Championships in 1955 and was runner-up in 1956.
Colin represented South Australia for five years and was a member of the SA team that won the Australian Championships in 1953. As a member of the SA team Colin was on the only team to defeat the US Air Force team that toured in 1955.Colin also played for the Australian Second Team Selection that played against the touring Boston Whirlwinds.
In 1956 he won the South Australian Leagues “Player of the Year” Award. His performances in the 1955 Australian Championships, when he was named to the 1956 Olympic squad, and his outstanding play in the SA League earned him a place in the Australian 1956 Olympic Basketball Team.
Their preparation and time together was very limited. The players were strictly amateur and practised in their own States and were coached by “correspondence”. When the Australian Olympic Basketball Team assembled in Melbourne it was a mixture of players from three States, players who had learnt their basketball in Europe during and after the Second World War and were coached by Victorian Ken Watson.
The rules interpretations were different, more European rather than American with which the Australians were more familiar, and the styles of the various nations very varied. Colin remembers the sheer physicality of some of the European teams and the speed of the Asians teams. Of course the Americans were in a League of their own. The Australians and Colin nevertheless gave a very good account of themselves and as the tournament went on they improved and became more aware of what international basketball was all about. The Australian Team finished in 12th place.
Colin played one more year of basketball after the Melbourne Olympics and then like so many of his playing friends “retired” from basketball to concentrate on their work or careers.
He says that he has only two regrets. “Not being introduced to the game earlier and having to retire from basketball in 1957 to concentrate on employment”.
Colin Burdett was 25 years of age when he was selected to play for Australia at the Melbourne Olympics. It had been a rapid rise in basketball and his progress was amazing when it is considered that only seven years after taking up the game he was an Olympic basketball player.
Colin is retired and lives in Adelaide, South Australia.
Colin Burdett scoring a basket
(Courtesy of C. Burdett)
Colin Burdett
(Courtesy of C. Burdett)