Who is NC State’s New Big Man DJ Burns?

Big fella DJ Burns (6’9″/275) made quite the impression in his NC State debut on Monday night, posting a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds in only 18 minutes of play, coming off of the bench. Burns made all 5 of his field goal attempts.

So who is DJ Burns?

Burns was a 4-Star high school prospect out of York Prep Academy in Rock Hill, South Carolina. ESPN ranked him as the #82 overall player nationally in the 2018 recruiting class, and the #3 player in the state of South Carolina behind Zion Williamson and Ja Morant.

Burns didn’t have an offer from NC State, though he did take an unofficial visit to Raleigh. He did hold offers from Davidson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Virginia, Auburn, Houston, LSU, Oklahoma St, Virginia Tech and others, but the offer that stood out the most to Burns was the one from Tennessee.

On June 1st, 2018, Burns verbally committed to Tennessee, but after failing to play in a single game for the Volunteers as a Freshman, he decided to transfer to Winthrop.

Since he didn’t play at all in his lone year in Tennessee, Burns joined Winthrop as a Redshirt Freshman, and made an immediate impact, averaging 11.9 points per game (2nd on the team) in 17.5 minutes per game, shooting 58.3% from the field. Burns was the Big South Freshman of the Year in 2019-20, and also earned All-Big South 2nd Team honors. His 394 points as a Freshman were the 2nd most by a Freshman in Winthrop school history.

As a Sophomore, Burns earned All-Big South Honorable Mention, averaging 10.1 points in 15.7 minutes per game, shooting 58.2% from the field.

Last year, as a Junior, Burns was the Big South Player of the Year and 1st Team All-Big South, averaging 15.0 points per game in 20.9 minutes per game. Burns shot an insane 62.6% from the field, which led the Big South, and ranked 9th in the NCAA.