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It’s unclear what the future holds for DJ Burns when his magical NCAA Tournament run with NC State comes to a close, and he’s shed some light on rumors he could make the leap to football after reportedly attracting the attention of NFL teams during his team’s Cinderella performance.
The NC State Wolfpack arguably had no business punching their ticket to March Madness this year, as the team needed some late-game heroics against Virginia to stay alive in the ACC Tournament before eventually earning an automatic bid by topping UNC in the championship game.
DJ Burns—who’d spent the past three seasons at Winthrop State before taking his talents to NC State—earned Most Valuable Player honors for his performance in the conference tourney, and he’s more than proved his play wasn’t a fluke while leading the 11th-seeded Wolfpack to the Final Four (they’ll have a chance to play for a title if they can upset Purdue on Saturday night).
Burns is one of the many players who’ve theoretically been able to use the NCAA Tournament to boost their stock in the NBA Draft, but when you consider we live in a world where there’s no longer much demand for a 6’7″, 275-pound big man who largely thrives in the paint, it doesn’t seem like teams will be scrambling to make him a lottery pick.
However, Burns might have an alternative career path when you consider multiple NFL insiders claim they’ve spoken with teams who believe he has the potential to make it in the league as an offensive lineman—a pivot he got the chance to address while chatting with Dan Patrick on Tuesday.
"I'd probably pursue some other options with basketball first before all of that but I'm not a closed minded person."
-DJ Burns Jr. on the possibility of playing in the #NFL if things don't work out with the #NBA pic.twitter.com/bywEG1pu8i
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) April 2, 2024
Burns made it clear basketball is his top priority but didn’t rule out the switch, saying:
“They always find something to talk about, and I just happened to be one of the topics. [The NBA’s] the plan.
I’d probably explore some other options first before [football], but I’m not a close-minded person.”
Burns added he hasn’t heard from any NFL teams since the aforementioned reports surfaced, so while it seems very doubtful the 23-year-old will be playing football next season, it sure seems like it’s an option if basketball doesn’t work out.