Lefty Giant with A Lot of Game to Love
6’8 2019 DJ Burns of Georgia Stars 15u
By Jamie Shaw
Standing tall at 6’8” and weighing in at a solid 225 pounds, somehow the lefty DJ Burns is still going unnoticed. Fortunately he is only in 9th grade and rapidly improving his already vast skill set, daily.
Burns comes from a small South Carolina town, just outside of Charlotte, named Rock Hill. Before Burns, local charter school York Prep had not had much (if any) basketball success. Along came Burns, and beside head coach Frank Hamrick, the local charter school is starting to become a state wide power.
Burns first walked through our doors, as an 8th grader, during last year’s David Rose Memorial Day Classic. It was after that event that we wrote, “Burns had the D2 college coaches asking who he was, in hopes to start recruiting him for the 2016 year. They were surprised to find that Burns had yet to step onto a high school campus. The lefty has great touch and feel in the post. He is competitive, and talks the entire game (both direction and trash). Welcome to the big stage, it will be fun to watch this one grow.”
It was apparent that, event 2-3 years younger than the kids he was playing against that this one was special. Burns evokes thoughts of Memphis Grizzlies Zach Randolph. He has a similar body type, both are left handed, and both have great touch and face up ability. Burns isn’t afraid to mix it up in the post, and even though his skill set is below the rim, he shows good footwork and a go-to move over his right shoulder.
Playing against the state of South Carolina’s top players in the South Carolina Top 80, Burns again held his own. Here is what we wrote, “Burns’ game far exceeds his age and experience. For starters the lefty has great hands and soft touch. He showed good footwork with his back to the basket and the ability to pass, attack, or shoot from the high post area. Burns’ camp coach Nate Livesay stated, “DJ is a terrific young man and a terrific talent. He showed the ability to score with his back to the basket and a nice face up game with good feet and soft hands. Burns attempted to defend and rebound and showed a great attitude toward the game and toward coaching.” With normal gains in conditioning and strength he should track at the highest level and wind up one of the top players, in his class, nationally.”
Steadily Burns recruitment is picking up. He has current offers from Davidson, Tulane, Western Carolina, Winthrop, and NC A&T. Expect his recruitment to explode and expect his prospect to rise to a national level. You simply do not have many kids walking around with this size and this skill set.
Tag(s): Phenom Player Reports