Newton Native Named WNBA's Most Improved Player

NEWTON, MA — Native Veronica Burton was named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player for the 2025 regular season.

The Golden State Valkyries’ point guard graduated from Newton South High School in 2018 and played her college basketball at Northwestern University. Her collegiate success made her the 7th overall pick in the WNBA’s 2022 draft. After changing teams and even playing internationally throughout the last three years, Burton appears to have found a potential long-term home in the Valkyries. Burton averaged 11.9 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game, 6 assists per game, and 1.1 steals per game this past season, earning her the recognition.

Burton is not the first professional athlete in her family’s history, as her grandfather Ron Burton was the first draft pick for the New England Patriots in the team’s history in 1960.

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