WATCH: Forward DJ Burns Discusses His Decision To Return To NC State
Forward DJ Burns met with the media after announcing his decision to return to NC State for another season.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the media session with Burns. Below is a collection of quotes from Burns.
“I'd just like to start by saying thank you guys... and everyone around supporting has been everything. It's made the experience so fun that I wanted to come back and do another year having the possibility. I can't say that going into the beginning of the year and when I first came here that was the plan, but it's been such a great experience that it's something that I'm blessed to be able to do again, and looking forward to, and very thankful for all these opportunities, and to be a part of NC State as a whole.”
“It's been everything. Just having the opportunity to be able to capitalize on what we go so hard for, trying to make it not only to the next level, but bringing it to the fans and now that they're able to interact in a way that's very different and not what we're used to, being on both sides of it, I think it's a great thing for college athletes to have this now and be able to experience it, and it's just awesome, man. I haven't seen, at least from my end, anything negative about it other than some people may not work as hard when they start to focus on trying to make money and everything like that, but that's not a problem for me, so I can't say in my experience, but it's just been great. It's been awesome.”
“We got a lot of great pieces coming in, and we still got all the guys who were here this year with us and helping us make our runs. We have guys like Ben, and DJ, and Jayden, just some dogs coming in. I feel like it's going to be continuation of picking up where we started last year. I don't think there will be too much of a drop-off, if any at all. It might even go forward from the way it's looking right now. Yeah, that's about it. We got some more things, people we want to go after, but as far as where we're at right now, it's already looking nice. Very, very, very promising.”
“[I finalized my decision] a couple weeks ago. I don't remember the exact date. Probably about three, maybe four weeks ago. Honestly, everything that went into it was really just who would be my teammates. There was a few things between the team that we talked about, and after viewing everything, and just really thinking about how this year's gone, and how I have the opportunity to not only extend myself from a basketball perspective, but also getting the degree that I'm working towards while being here as well. It just felt like the right move, and with NIL being a part of it now, there's not really a rush to try to go and do pro right away. That's something that is the ultimate goal, but I want to make sure I'm ready a hundred percent when we step onto that field.”
“Honestly, they allowed me to do a lot of [my logo design]. Pretty much most of it. I gave them the ideas, and he kept shoot, they were very great about getting back to me fast and they shot me all of the ideas, and they sent me several different options and allowed me to choose from that, and that was everything. I laid out the blueprint, and they made it happen, and it went really well. It went better than I thought it would.”
“We're going bring out all the stops for this, man. It's been an amazing experience and I want to make it the best that I possibly can for the fans, you know. You guys support us, and just do way more than we could ask for.”
“I's something that I've always wanted to do, but I've always wanted to do more simple things, stuff that people, younger people would wear, my age and then stuff that also would appeal to older crowds as well. We really just wanted to make it something comfortable and something cool, something that people would be, want to wear, not just when they're going into a basketball game or something, but something you can wear every day, and just something that represents our brand as well, and we found the perfect way to make those two things mix. It was awesome.”
“The way they handle things. [Adidas] makes it so easy for you to get the job done. They're very easy to work with, and they make it, cater it to you. I didn't have to do anything out of the ordinary in order to work with them, and honestly, it was a smooth experience and I definitely want to work with them moving forward and continue that.”
“I love the atmosphere that I'm in. It's a place where I can grow and get everything that I need to do, done. I can work on my degree, and I love my teammates, those are my guys that have become my guys over the past year, so just getting to know those guys even more and expanding as a family. It's been everything that you could ask for. Who wouldn't want to come back?”
“We've been working real hard at [getting in shape]. I've been with Coach Murph and Miss Jesse, our nutritionist, and we've been working at it hard. There's a lot of changes that have been made, and I think over time you'll start to see it. The more we, now that I'm made the announcement, we'll be posting more on the Pack page, and you'll get to see the transformation as it's happening. It's awesome. It's going to be something I think the Pack fans will enjoy for sure.”
“They've made it awesome. It's also, I would say, one of the biggest things for me is that they've set it up in a way that it's allowed me to grow my platform. Being able to bring more awareness to the things that we have going on, and the things that they brought for, as far as setting up things for us and making it, engagement with students, and engagement with the community. They've really put us in a light, and it's just been awesome. The experiences that we've gotten here is some stuff that I don't, I never thought I would've experienced in college, and Pack of Wolves are the people who got that started for me this year. Without them, I don't think I would've been able to open that door as big as we did.”
“I felt something similar when I was at Winthrop, but I can't say that it was been anything like this. Just going, just watching it, from my first game where there was only a couple thousand people to having every single last stretch of our games, it was all sold out. Just watching it grow, it's like they kind of grew with me, as I did, as getting used to being here, and they've embraced us, and it's been a crazy experience. I'd say, I can't, I don't go too much of anywhere without seeing someone that's a Pack fan, and that's the great thing about being in Raleigh, man. It's always love out here.”
“I'm going to get my body in tip-top shape and be ready to crush anything in front of me. That's first and foremost, and honestly, getting this degree this upcoming year, that's going to be very important for me as well, and then from there, it's pretty much just continuing to set up the platform for after college. That's why we go to college is to prepare ourselves for life, so I'm still taking that all in as a part of an experience. I've gotten a little more time here with basketball being a part of it to help with that, so it's just, it's going to be awesome. I can't wait.”
“I played at 275 this year. I just want to mostly focus on toning that up, getting down a couple pounds and really just being in tiptop shape, getting back to dunking on people and doing things like that. That's what you should expect this upcoming season. That's what we're on.”