The NC State Wolfpack were easily one of the biggest surprises in the 2024 March Madness. Kevin Keatt’s squad made incredibly loud noises in the NCAA tournament by scoring one upset after another to reach the national title game where they lost to Zach Edey and the Purdue Boilermakers.
That deep run certainly wouldn’t have been possible without the dominant play of big man DJ Burns, who will no longer be able to help NC State in the coming season as he’s now a pro.
It’s not going to be easy replacing someone like Burns, and as head coach of the Wolfpack, Keatts is fully aware of that.
Jadyn Watson-Fisherof The Charlotte Observer:
“I don’t have that. We’ll never have that again. Ben (Middlebrooks) and Brandon (Huntley-Hatfield) are both pick-n-pop guys. They both want to shoot the ball from 3.
“I will never coach a guy that plays like him and has the personality. I might get the personality, but, in today’s game, we’ll never get one of those guys that plays like him.”
NC State Wolfpack moving on from DJ Burns era
It will be a different look for the Wolfpack in the 2024-25 college basketball season with Burns not in Raleigh anymore, but as mentioned by Keatts, their frontcourt still has considerable size with 6-10 Ben Middlebrooks returning for his senior season and another 6-10 in Brandon Huntley-Hatfield transferring to NC State from the Louisville Cardinals.
Burns, who wasn’t selected in the 2024 NBA Draft, is currently playing for the Summer League team of the Cleveland Cavaliers while hoping that he lands a regular contract in the pros.
In his final season with the Wolfpack, Burns averaged 12.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game while posting a 53.1 field goal percentage.
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