Tag: NC State Wolf Pack

DJ Burns may not be a future NBA draft pick, but what about playing in the NFL? There’s already buzz

Could DJ Burns thrive in the NFL and NOT the NBA?

DJ Burns is the darling of the men’s 2024 NCAA tournament, with the forward dominating to lead NC State to the Final Four and showing his humor on social media.

Despite the fact that he’s been awesome for the Wolfpack, he may not be a future NBA draft pick (but maybe a UDFA?) despite measuring at 6-foot-9 and 275 pounds. But given that size and athleticism … what about playing on the offensive line in the NFL?

We’ve seen some hoops stars in college — Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham come to mind — go to the NFL and flourish. Could that be a possibility?

First: he did play football before hoops, as you’ll see in the video below, and second, NFL Network’s Peter Schrager says he spoke to some scouts and GMs who sounded interested (note: I am fully aware he posted this on April 1, but no word yet on whether it was a joke or not):

O-lineman Justin Pugh wants him in the NFL:

And there’s this:

This could be really, really cool.

DJ Burns trolls Duke’s Jared McCain with an Instagram story with the TikTok star

DJ Burns trolled the Duke player and TikTok star after the March Madness win to clinch a Final Four spot.

DJ Burns is the biggest star now thanks to 2024 March Madness.

The NC State forward dominated Duke and fans loved his classy moments after he helped the Wolfpack clinch a Final Four berth.

But he did a little trolling after the win over the Blue Devils, too. He threw in an Instagram video with Duke’s Jared McCain — a TikTok star! — getting fooled and he used a little clip of McCain dancing.

Burns later said it was “all love” and that he was having fun, but this qualifies as trolling. Here’s the clip that everyone was sharing after he posted it:

Who is DJ Burns Jr? Meet NC State’s March Madness star who’s exploded in the tournament

DJ Burns Jr. has become a March Madness star for NC State, but he’s also put out a rap single.

Thanks to the run NC State has made, D.J. Burns Jr. has become a household name.

But here’s the thing: the 23-year-old forward has actually been around a while in college hoops.

The South Carolina native joined Tennessee in 2018, didn’t play as a redshirt, and then transferred to Winthrop for three seasons. It was there that he became Big South Player of the Year for 2021-22, but with two years of eligibility left, he left and transferred once more to NC State for two seasons.

At 6-foot-9 and 275 pounds, he’s a big man menace on the court — he’s so good in the post, yet he’s also a good passer from there. But the descriptions off of it seem to be that he’s a delight: From the Fayetteville Observer

“(After an injury to Dusan Mahorcic last season), DJ, obviously, got a chance to go into the starting lineup,” NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts said.

“We played him about 30 minutes a game after that, and man, the legend of DJ Burns was born. He’s going to be mayor of this city one day. He is. He is what he is.”

He also has a rap single. Seriously! It’s called Beast Boy and it’s great (WARNING: NSFW language ahead!):

He plays a bunch of different instruments, so music is a big part of him.

Clemson holds on to Top 5 in ESPN’s latest undefeated ranking

Clemson continues to rank consistently across the board within the Top 5.

With the chapter of Week 5 for college football coming to a close, ESPN came out with its latest college football rankings for the remaining undefeated teams this season.

Clemson came in at No. 5 on the list, which is consistent to both their previous ranking on the list in Week 4 as well as in several other recent college football polls.

With five teams losing for the first time in 2022, the list is down to just 16 teams. NC State, Washington and Kentucky all ended up adding a loss to their record after facing an unbeaten opponent while Florida State and Minnesota fell to big upsets over the weekend.

Here’s what ESPN’s Bill Connelly had to say about Clemson remaining at No. 5:

What they did in Week 5: defeated NC State 30-20. The Tigers’ defense sacked Devin Leary three times and allowed just 279 total yards, and DJ Uiagalelei combined a steady 209 passing yards with two short-yardage rushing touchdowns. Clemson slowly pulled away from the Pack, leading by 17 before a late State score.

Why they’re ranked here: The Tigers are in an interesting place at the moment. Their defense struggled against both Louisiana Tech and Wake Forest but came together last week; their offense has battled inconsistency but is now up to 16th in points per drive thanks in part to good field position and great red zone production. My SP+ ratings don’t trust them because they aren’t really dominating a weak ACC landscape, but their odds of running the table are obviously increasing by the day.

They have two tricky road trips remaining — at Florida State on Oct. 15, at Notre Dame on Nov. 5 — but should be favored by double digits in all other regular-season games.

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Clemson vs. NC State: Offensive and Defensive Players of the Game

Check out Clemson Wire’s Players of the Game following the Tigers 30-20 win over No. 10 NC State.

Each week Clemson Wire will choose an offensive and defensive Player of the Game following each of the Tigers matchups this season.

In their latest win over a Top-10 opponent in NC State, the Tigers offense was firing on all cylinders once again with bright spots in quarterback DJ Uiagalelei and his receiver core who together tallied 209 yards and one passing touchdown.

On the defensive side, Clemson still had many starters missing from the action including Bryan Bresee, cornerback Sheridan Jones, defensive end Xavier Thomas and cornerback Malcolm Green. Despite this, the Tigers were still able to put together a lights out performance that limited the Wolfpack’s offense to just two trips to the end zone and the final 10 point deficit that led to NC State’s first loss of the 2022 season.

Here are Clemson Wire’s picks for this week’s offensive and defensive Players of the Game.

Uiagalelei cruises into the end zone, extends lead 30-13

Clemson now leads 30-13 after DJ Uiagalelei’s second TD of the night.

It looks like the Tigers are running away with this one. Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei extended the Tigers lead to 17 over NC State in the fourth quarter.

After just one passing play and six rushing plays for 10 yards and 26 yards respectively, Uiagalelei ran it in for the Clemson for a nine yard trip to the end zone, extending the Tigers lead to 30-13.

It took Clemson nine plays for 58 yards in 4:35 to score the third touchdown of the night.

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Uiagalelei-Briningstool connection stretches lead 20-10

Tigers now lead by 10 early in the third quarter at Memorial Stadium.

In the first drive of the second half, Clemson struck yet again with another trip to the end zone thanks to DJ Uiagalelei’s connection with tight end Jake Briningstool for a seven yard touchdown reception.

With the grab, the Tigers extend their lead to 10 after only being up by three at the half. It all came down to a quick first drive for Clemson’s offense to start off the third quarter.

After a quick five yard reception by Davis Allen and back-to-back rushing plays by Uiagalelei and Will Shipley for a combined 40 yards, Uiagalelei connected with Briningstool for a seven yard touchdown grab for the sophomore’s second touchdown reception of the season.

In total, the drive comprised of just four plays for 58 yards and a seven yard touchdown reception in 1:52.

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Potter strikes again to give Tigers 6-3 lead

Clemson now leads 6-3 thanks to two B.T. Potter field goals for a combined 66 yards.

Clemson regained the lead once again in the second quarter thanks to another field goal from veteran B.T. Potter, this one for 46 yards.

In the Tigers third drive of the night, Clemson had the ball for 14 plays and 59 yards for a total of 7:27 in the second quarter.

Freshman receiver Antonio Williams currently leads the Tigers with three receptions for 20 yards closely followed by tight end Jake Bringingstool with two receptions for 16 yards and Joseph Ngata’s one grab for 16 yards.

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