Top instate basketball prospect moves up to be part of 2018
D.J. Burns hasn’t announced his college choice, but he made a big decision Sunday night.
The York Prep center said on his Twitter page that will be reclassifying to the Class of 2018 instead of 2019. That means he'll finish with high school in a month or so and head to college this summer. Burns' last final is May 17 and will graduate May 25.
“I have all of the courses completed that I would need and instead of going to York Tech or Winthrop and doing a class I decided to go ahead and get the college training and full experience that I would not be able to experience in high school,” Burns said.
Burns is the state’s fourth-ranked prospect, 79th overall for Class of 2019 and has been a target for South Carolina for a while. He visited USC over the weekend. The Gamecocks have three scholarships to use for the Class of 2018.
“They made it very fun and I got to see a side of Coach Martin that you rarely see,” Burns said. “People think he’s just a coach that yells at players and tries to get them fired up. He’s a nice person. Most people don’t see the side of him that I got to see his weekend. He just talked to me about how I play and the things that I can improve on and the things he can help me improve on. He showed me how I would it in their system and how the players would fit into the system playing beside me and how I would fit being a Gamecock.”
Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Clemson also are interested in the 6-foot-9, 248-pound center. Houston offered him last week. He has taken an official visit to Tennessee. and USC coach Frank Martin and Virginia's Tony Bennett have had in-home visits.
Burns doesn't have a favorite or a timetable for his decision.
Burns has scored over 1,000 points and has grabbed over 1,000 rebounds in his York Prep career. The Patriots recently changed coaches, going from Frank Hamrick to former USC player Larry Davis.
Burns, meanwhile, is playing this spring for Chris Richards’ Georgia Stars in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League.
“He’s done great,” Richards said. “He’s always been able to score the ball. He’s really shown that he can score the ball not only on the block, but outside the block area, from the foul line down. He’s able to knock down jump shots and really create for himself off of two or three dribbles.”
South Carolina has a version of Burns in Chris Silva. The 6-9, 223-pounder is a rising senior who declared for the NBA draft, but hasn’t hired an agent and has until May 30 to decide on his future.
“D.J. has a different type of skill set, different type of footwork than most post players have now,” Richards said. “But the advantage that that gives is when you need an easy bucket close to the basket, you have someone you can throw it into the post to and he can create a shot or maybe a foul situation. You can control the flow of the game a little bit.
“The thing about D.J. is he passes so well. I don’t necessarily consider him a back-to-the-basket player – he’s as good facing up as he is with his back to the basket. The difference is he’s not a stretch-four or not a stretch post player. He’s a guy who’s looking to get it to the basket. If he needs to hit a jump shot, he can. But he’s really best with the ball in his hands and really creating for other people.”
Is Burns ready for college basketball next season?
“Skill-wise, I think he’s absolutely ready,” Richards said. “I think offensively, he’s absolutely ready. Of course, he needs to do some work on his body and really get his body in shape so he can defend a little better and rebound a little better against the next level.
“But skill-wise, I absolutely think he’s ready.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2018 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Top instate basketball prospect moves up to be part of 2018."