NC State basketball star, future ‘mayor’ of Raleigh? The legend of DJ Burns keeps growing
RALEIGH – There’s no place for DJ Burns to hide on NC State’s campus.
The 6-foot-9, 275-pound basketball star became an instant celebrity for the Wolfpack last season with a fun-loving, big personality to match his back-to-the-basket, old-school-big-man game on the court.
“It’s a lot of pictures. I take a lot of pictures,” Burns said with a wide grin at NC State basketball’s media day on Sept. 21. “That’s the one thing I don’t know about so much, but the love is always there wherever we go. It’s always love.”
The Wolfpack’s emotional leader and top returning scorer, Burns was the main attraction at NC State’s preseason event inside the Dail Basketball Center as cameras crowded his space and photographers snapped promotional photos of him rocking red shades.
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“(After an injury to Dusan Mahorcic last season), DJ, obviously, got a chance to go into the starting lineup,” NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts said.
“We played him about 30 minutes a game after that, and man, the legend of DJ Burns was born. He's going to be mayor of this city one day. He is. He is what he is.”
Butler transfer Jayden Taylor, who described Burns as “someone you could always be around,” wouldn’t be surprised to see Burns in that kind of role. Once he arrived on campus, it didn’t take long for Taylor to see Burns’ influence in Raleigh.
“Always smiling, never has a bad day,” Taylor said. “He’s just a good person. Forget basketball, he’s just a good person, a good dude. He could have a whole conversation with anybody, so I could see that.”
Casey Morsell, a graduate student like Burns, was there to see the legend grow in the 2022-23 season. State’s second-leading returning scorer at 11.8 points per game, Morsell watched as Burns started to find a groove with the Wolfpack.
“DJ’s been great, not only for this program, but from where he started to now. He was player of the year at Winthrop. When he came in, he was a backup for us last year,” Morsell said
“Then, he just was a guy that always stayed ready. … He was ready for the moment and stepped in. That’s what we value most about him. He was never selfish, never had ill will … the fact that he’s getting all this notoriety right now, it’s awesome. I hope it does continue with him once he leaves here.”
What to expect from NC State basketball’s DJ Burns on the court
The smooth, left-handed hook shots. The spinning finishes in the lane and at the rim. The use of multiple dribbles to back down a defender while energy builds from fans inside PNC Arena.
DJ Burns has an array of moves in his arsenal. Kevin Keatts doesn’t mind saying what he thinks in regard to Burns’ talent in the post.
“I'm going to have the best back-to-the-basket post guy,” Keatts said. “He's tough. He's lefty. He can score it in different ways.”
After averaging 8.0 points in his first 12 games with the Wolfpack last season, Burns averaged 16.3 points over the next 19 games. He reached double figures in all but two games during that stretch to help NC State become an NCAA Tournament team for the first time since 2018.
With eight newcomers, Burns’ production and leadership will be even more important this season. As for his personality? Don’t expect that to change too much.
“Honestly, I’ve just been being myself and I guess that’s something that people are gravitating toward,” Burns said.
“It’s been nothing but a blessing. I haven’t done too much outside of being myself. It’s all been love.”
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: How the legend of DJ Burns was born for NC State basketball
