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Rick Barnes on NC State's DJ Burns: 'He's doing what we thought he would be able to do'

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•12/15/23•

GrantRamey

DJ Burns
(Jaylynn Nash-USA TODAY Sports) Dec 6, 2023; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack forward DJ Burns Jr. (30) reacts to the point during the second half against Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks at James T. Valvano Arena at William Neal Reynolds.

The scouting report for North Carolina State forward senior DJ Burns isn’t all that different from the scouting report that Tennessee forward DJ Burns had six years ago.

“DJ can score,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said before practice Friday at Pratt Pavilion. “We knew that when we recruited him.”

Burns started his career at Tennessee in 2018, left the Vols after sitting out as a redshirt during the 2018-19 season and has transferred twice since, first to Winthrop and then to NC State, where he’s now in his second season with the Wolfpack and sixth year in college basketball.

No. 12 Tennessee (7-3) faces Burns and NC State (7-2) on Saturday (10 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN2) in a Basketball Hall of Fame game at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Burns is averaging 13.3 points and 5.8 rebounds in 29.0 minutes per game, starting all nine games so far this season.

“(He’s) a guy that, he’s got a really a soft touch around the basket,” Barnes said. “He can shoot the ball really out to 15 feet and obviously he’ll work hard to get his space where he wants it. And he’ll get it outside, around the 3-point line if he needs to, he’ll kind of crab dribble back down there to get to his position.

“I think he really understands where he’s effective on the court and he tries hard to get there.”

DJ Burns started career with Vols before transferring to Winthrop, N.C. State

Burns enrolled at Tennessee in June 2018 after signing with the Vols as a four-star prospect out of Rock Hill High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He entered the NCAA Transfer Portal for the first time in July 2019, after a redshirt season at Tennessee, landing at Winthrop, his hometown school.

In 90 games over three seasons with the Eagles, Burns averaged 12.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 18.2 minutes per games. His best season was 2021-22, when he averaged a career-high 15.0 points with 4.5 rebounds in 20.9 minutes per game.

He entered the NCAA Transfer Portal for the second time in April 2022 and made the move to N.C. State. 

Burns averaged 12.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 22.9 minutes last season, starting 22 times in 34 games while the Wolfpack went 23-11 losing to Creighton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

No. 12 Tennessee vs. N.C. State, Saturday, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN2

He had 10 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and four assists in 27 minutes against UT Martin on Tuesday. He had a season-high 17 points in an overtime win at Boston College on December 2 but just five points and four rebounds in 27 minutes in a 72-52 loss at Ole Miss on November 28.

“He is really skilled,” Tennessee sophomore power forward Tobe Awaka said of Burns. “He is pretty nimble on his feet. He knows how to work around the rim.”

He’s doing now, six years later at NC State, what Barnes brought him to Tennessee to do.

“I think the biggest thing when we recruited DJ,” Barnes said, “… our big deal with him was to get him in great shape. But in terms of his game, I think what he’s doing what we thought he would be able to do.

“And once he left here, he did a good job at Winthrop and he’s now at NC State playing I think the most minutes he’s ever played … he’s worked hard to get himself to that position.”

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