Frankly, I thought I’d be doing this earlier.
When North Carolina State won the ACC Tournament, it meant DJ Burns Jr. would be appearing in the NCAA Tournament again, for one final time. Not as a member of a Big South champion offered up as opening-round cannon fodder for a high-major (like Winthrop in 2021 against Villanova1) or as a faceless and largely unmemorable at-large like North Carolina State’s 2023 brief visit to the Dance against Creighton (when Burns, saddled with foul trouble, had one of the least-productive games of his career), but as a member of the unlikely darlings how wrecked shop throughout the ACC and brought home an improbable title and some cred as a legitimate March Madness sleeper.
As I sat down to contemplate things I’d like to write about during the NCAA Tournament2, DJ Burns was on the list, as one of those memorable players who might spend a day or two in the news cycle and a lifetime in the hearts of college basketball idiots everywhere. He seemed primed to become a true member of the Pittsnogle All-Stars, with all rights and privileges.
“That might be a fun little post if the Wolfpack win a game or two,” I thought.
I’m gonna go ahead and get it out there now and not wait for the loss, since it’s becoming apparent the Final Four-bound, 11th-seeded Wolfpack may never lose again and Burns has transcended Pittsnogelian status and become something else entirely.
Sweeping into the tournament off that improbable ACC title, Burns and the Wolfpack were one of its most intriguing teams on Selection Sunday, an upstart peaking at the right time with one of college basketball’s most uniquely singular talents as its centerpiece. The country was going to get a full, proper chance to appreciate DJ Burns; he would get one last chance at a March legacy and, so long as he and the Pack went out on their shields, we’d all consider it a fine effort along a longer road to Purdue or UConn winning the title3.
But nobody, not one living soul, could have been prepared for this. The Wolfpack—this Wolfpack, not even on the bubble a few weeks ago—headed to the Final Four and Burns as the South Region Most Outstanding Player after putting up 18.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists while hitting 55.4% from the floor? It doesn’t defy expectations; it removes them entirely. Should North Carolina State win the title? Well, on paper, no… but on the court, where we play these games, they’re on an unprecedented heater. Factor in the whole season and of course Purdue should kick them straight into the gutter; factor in only the last two weeks worth of results and boy, it’s a lot closer than it should be.
A few DJ Burns things, just for fun and because he crashed through the ceiling of my little “Caitlin Clark is one of the few interesting college basketball players” rant bringing fried chicken, a tremendous merch tent and a lethal turnaround to the party:
He is a Raising Canes spokesman, as befits all our greatest Americans.
Another honor reserved only for our most important citizens, Burns has a trio of nicknames: Smooth Operator, Big 30 and Beast Boy Burns.
This photo
This hoodie
He started his career at Tennessee4 but never saw a second on the court before transferring to Winthrop.
Burns initially committed to the Vols over, among other teams, Virginia, which… gross. That would have been gross.
He was Big South Player of the Year in 2022 despite barely playing 20 minutes per game for Winthrop.
He plays a ton of different instruments and has a rap single that you should go listen to right now.
He’s a delightfully robust 9.1% career three-point shooter on 11 attempts. For the math-averse, that means he’s made one. Two weeks ago. Against North Carolina. In the ACC title game5.
In addition to banking as much of that sweet NIL money as he can, both before the tournament run and especially now as America’s favorite girthy lad, he keeps a side hustle as the proud owner of two vending machines.
Just incredible big boi basketball dude vibes for days6.
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DJ Burns Jr. is the sort of player that a viewer is always happy to see in a basketball game, because he is such a unique presence. Yes, he’s massive. But that’s sort of a reductive, Tractor Traylor-esque way of thinking about everything he brings to the Wolfpack. The way they feed off his energy is a gravitas only certain athletes are blessed with, and it doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn't show up in the box score (although Burns does, repeatedly). When he’s feeling it, whatever it is that makes him tick, North Carolina State is a demonstrably better team. For most of three weeks now, he’s had it and the Wolfpack have been untouchable.
Odds are North Carolina State is going to lose against Purdue. Of course, odds were pretty good North Carolina State would lose every game they’ve played since March 12, when they trailed at halftime against Louisville7, and they’re now 9-0 in that time. Zach Edey should put DJ Burns in the chamber. Braden Smith should cook DJ Horne. Matt Painter should coach circles around Kevin Keatts, and Purdue should out-skill North Carolina State at every turn.
But…
After everything you’ve seen out of the Wolfpack this March8, you can see another outcome. One were Burns spots up in the high post and either sinks jumpers in front of an Edey disinterested in venturing away from the block, or hits backdoor cutters and poppers to the perimeter the second Edey comes to challenge. One were Purdue gets just a litttttttle tight. One where the 10th-place team in the ACC makes an unprecedented run even more surreal.
It’s not likely. But if DJ Burns is doing his best Petey Pablo next Saturday, it’ll be just another fabled tale added to the folklore.
This was frankly criminal; the Eagles had one of the best seasons in the history of the program at 23-2 but only played a league schedule (thanks COVID) and Villanova was a top-12 team in the country via KenPom heading into that tournament and should have been at least one and probably two seed lines higher. This is also the same year Loyola Chicago and Wisconsin were top-10 KenPom teams and seeded eighth and ninth. Analytics can be good. Pandemics can be bad.
Confounding the experts who assume that nothing I write had any forethought attached to it whatsoever.
Not to piss right in the punch bowl, but this part is still possible-to-likely.
Rather than lamenting what might have been, we’re gonna see that matchup in just a few days.
Oh but I’m sure it was when the game was already decided no actually it broke a tie late in the first half.
Literally, not figuratively, joined TikTok just to find this video. I love Twitter, but I ain’t paying for it.
Louisville!
And feel free to factor in [broad gestures aimed at Purdue and Painter’s history].