The 2024 NCAA Tournament had a lot of chalk entering the Sweet 16. But, there has been one program that has been defying the odds for weeks, as NC State continues its incredible run over the weekend.
The Wolfpack are now heading to the Final Four and a meeting with Purdue after defeating their ACC rivals, Duke, 76-64. A driving force behind the recent hot streak has been the perofrmnace of their star big man, D.J. Burns.
Against Duke, Burns was a one-man wrecking crew in the paint. The Blue Devils had no answers for him, as they refused to send double-teams and watched him abuse their big man near the basket with an array of hook shots and layups.
Burns scored a season-high 29 points, shooting 13-of-19 from the field and 3-of-4 from the foul line. He rounded out his stat line with four rebounds, three assists and two blocks en route to the team’s ninth straight win.
While all of Burns’ focus is on the 2024 NCAA Tournament, there are some people wondering what his future holds in athletics. If there isn’t a place in the NBA for him, could we see Burns change routes and try out football?
According to Jim Nagy, that is a real possibility. Nagy, the executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, and four-time Super Bowl champion made a post on X over the weekend about whether Burns could succeed playing along the offensive line in the NFL.
Making such a transition isn’t easy, but there aren’t many people in the world who possess the size, athleticism and footwork that Burns does. Early on Monday, Nagy responded to his own post, revealing that several football people reached out to him saying NFL interest in Burns is a real thing.
Burns is listed at 6’9” and 260 pounds according to College Basketball at Sports-Reference. Learning an entirely new sport would take a ton of work, but Burns possesses qualities that you cannot teach. He has the sheer size to hold up at the highest level of football and if there are no avenues for professional basketball to pursue, he could change course and see how the gridiron treats him.
Once the Wolfpack’s run in the 2024 NCAA Tournament ends, whenever that will be, Burns will have some decisions to make. He has become an overnight sensation, turning into a household name over the course of a few weekend.
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