NC State great DJ Burns signs with team in South Korea

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DJ Burns knew he was going to have to fight to play in the NBA after being thrust into the spotlight during March Madness, but the man who reportedly drew interest from some NFL teams is still focused on basketball because of his latest move.

There are a number of college basketball players who have been able to use the attention that comes with playing in the NCAA Tournament to make a name for themselves, and DJ Burns became the latest to join that particular club after the NC State Wolfpack punched their ticket to The Big Dance.

Burns was a big reason why NC State was able to pull off a fairly shocking win in the ACC Tournament to secure the automatic bid they needed to secure a March Madness berth in the first place, and he had an equally big impact in the majority of the games they won while putting together an equally improbable run as an 11th-seeded Cinderella team that ultimately lost to Purdue in the Final Four.

The 6’9″, 275-pound big man has quickly become a fan favorite, and a number of NFL insiders have said they’ve spoken with teams genuinely intrigued by the possibility of trying to turn him into an offensive tackle.

However, Burns made it clear that his main focus was basketball, and he managed to lose 45 pounds in the span of two months before the NBA draft.

He went undrafted and eventually signed with the Cavaliers before heading to Las Vegas to play in Summer League. He averaged 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and just one assist in his four games, and the team declined to offer him another deal after that brief stint.

The 23-year-old could probably try to turn to football if he wanted, but according to News and Observer, He chose to keep his basketball dreams alive by signing a contract with the Sono Skygunners of the Korean Basketball League.

Burns and the Skygunners will kick off the KBL season on October 20.