NC State college basketball star DJ Burns slimmed down before becoming a dominant force in the 2023-24 season.

The college basketball world was set on fire when DJ Burns led the NC State Wolfpack to an improbable ACC tournament win as a No. 10 seed, and now he has his sights set on March Madness.

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DJ Burns is a massive 6-foot-9, 275-pound forwardCredit: AP

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Burns slimmed down before the start of the 2023-24 seasonCredit: Instagram/dj.b30
Burns is an absolutely massive player, hitting the court at 6-foot-9, 275 pounds.

However, his weight has fluctuated over the years, coming into college as low as 248 pounds when he was being recruited out of high school.

Burns committed to the University of Tennessee in 2018, but was redshirted and didn’t play in any games so he transferred to Winthrop.

There he won the 2019-20 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year Awards and won the Big South Conference Title with the team.

Burns would play two more seasons at Winthrop before transferring again, this time to NC State.

He has excelled with NC State and was the key factor pulling them to an ACC title win this year.

His overpowering size is part of the reason he was such an unstoppable force in the ACC tournament this year.

However, he wasn’t always as efficient with his size. In previous years, he was still a dominant forward, but wasn’t getting a ton of minutes to show for it.

Before this season, Burns posted a picture of himself on Instagram showing a slimmed-down frame ready for the 2023-24 campaign.

“I had to get my weight up all I did was lose some pounds,” he captioned the post.

Burns’ new physique saw him average 24.4 minutes per game this season and put up a career-high in free throw percentage.

He went off in the ACC title game against North Carolina, scoring 20 points while also draining the first three-pointer of his career after 160 games.

He earned Player of the Tournament honors for his dominant display and will be one of the most-watched players going into March Madness.

“Obviously a great talent all year in the ACC, and he’s been getting it done and going to work,” teammate Michael O’Connell said.

“For teams that haven’t played him yet and aren’t used to how he plays and his playing style, I think he can do a lot of damage as long as he just lets the game come to him.”

NC State enters March Madness as the No. 11 seed and will face No. 6 Texas Tech in the South Region on Thursday.

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DJ Burns won Player of the Tournament after winning the ACC title game