NC State Star DJ Burns Looks Like A New Man After Losing 45 Pounds In Less Than Two Months

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DJ Burns was literally and figuratively one of the biggest stars of the 2024 NCAA Tournament while leading NC State to the Final Four, but he’s put in some serious work to slim down as he gears up for the next stage of his career.

There weren’t many people who thought the NC State Wolfpack had what it took to compete for a national title when you consider they were only able to punch their ticket to March Madness via the automatic bid they secured by winning the ACC Tournament.

However, the team defined the odds en route to becoming just the sixth squad to make it to the Final Four as an 11-seed thanks in no small part to DJ Burns, the 6’9″, 275 lb. center who averaged 16.3 points during the tourney (including a team-high 29 points against Duke in the Elite Eight over the course of their Cinderella run).

Burns took full advantage of his final year of college eligibility while attracting the interest of NFL teams who appeared to genuinely believe he had what it took to hold his own as an offensive lineman in the league. However, he made it pretty clear he was intent on continuing to pursue a career in basketball after his time at NC State came to an end.

As things currently stand, there’s virtually no chance Burns will hear his name called during the NBA Draft when the two-night affair kicks off in Brooklyn on June 26th, but it’s not a stretch to suggest he’ll be able to get a shot with a team that decides to sign him to see how he fares in the Las Vegas Summer League.

Based on a photo Shams Chariana shared on Wednesday, Burns has put in a ton of work to set himself up for success over the past couple of months, as the big man told the NBA insider he’s lost 45 pounds over the course of six-and-a-half weeks with the help of the early morning cardio workouts he’s been using to get in shape.

Nicely done.