Former Tennessee Vol has turned into one of the biggest stories of March Madness
Former Tennessee Vols forward DJ Burns has turned into one of the biggest sensations in college basketball. Burns, who started his career at Tennessee before transferring to Winthrop and then NC State, led the Wolfpack to a surprising upset of the North Carolina Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament Championship game on Saturday night, scoring […]
Former Tennessee Vols forward DJ Burns has turned into one of the biggest sensations in college basketball.
Burns, who started his career at Tennessee before transferring to Winthrop and then NC State, led the Wolfpack to a surprising upset of the North Carolina Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament Championship game on Saturday night, scoring 20 points and recording seven assists while going head to head against UNC's Armando Bacot.
The Rock Hill, SC native was named the most outstanding player of the ACC Tournament after NC State's win against North Carolina.
Burns doesn't look like a typical stud basketball player. At 6-foot-9/275 lbs, Burns, at first, looks like a player who might be out of shape. But in reality, he's a savvy player who exhibits terrific footwork, great court vision, and an incredibly soft shooting touch.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes wasn't surprised to see Burns' success this season at NC State, telling reporters in December that he knew Burns had the ability to score.
“DJ can score, we knew that when we recruited him," said Barnes.
"He’s got a really a soft touch around the basket,” added Barnes. “He can shoot the ball really out to 15 feet and obviously he’ll work hard to get his space where he wants it….I think he really understands where he’s effective on the court and he tries hard to get there.”
Burns scored 15 points in December when he faced Tennessee (a game the Vols won) in San Antonio.
NC State made the NCAA Tourney as an 11 seed thanks to their ACC Tournament championship run. The Wolfpack would have to reach the Final Four to get a rematch against the Vols.
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