DJ Burns is a March Madness star. Did he consider playing for home-state Gamecocks?

DJ Burns in a South Carolina uniform? It almost happened.

Burns, the fun-loving North Carolina State center and one of the stars of this year’s NCAA Tournament, had a good chance to be a Gamecock coming out of York Prep high school in Rock Hill.

“South Carolina was absolutely in the mix coming out of high school,” former York Prep coach Frank Hamrick told The State. “I honestly thought Frank (Martin) and his team, along with Tennessee (Rick Barnes and Des Oliver), recruited him hard.

“.. I do think it was SC or Tennessee. I think the relationship Des built with DJ and the family was the kicker. Also, Coach Barnes was incredible.”

The 6-foot-9 Burns was originally part of the 2019 recruiting class but reclassified in to be in the Class of 2018. The four-star prospect was part of the in-state recruiting class that year that included future NBA players Zion Williamson and Aaron Nesmith. Williamson picked Duke over USC and Clemson and became the top pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Nesmith picked Vanderbilt, where he played two seasons before going to the NBA.

The Gamecocks offered Burns in the summer of 2017 before his junior season at York Prep. He took an unofficial visit to USC that summer.

“They (USC) use their bigs in a way that fits my style of play,” Burns told SportsTalkSC’s Phil Kornblut back in 2017. “They like that I can play with my back to the basket, face up and shoot well when needed and run the floor as needed with good pace.”

The Gamecocks coaching staff continued their pursuit of Burns while trying to fend off other schools, including North Carolina. Burns went to a few Gamecock games and was once mistaken for Zion Williamson, who was supposed to be at USC for a visit the same day.

Williamson didn’t go to the game, but fans thought he was the one sitting behind the bench and started chanting, “We want Zion! We want Zion!” It was Burns sitting there instead.

“We laughed about the whole South Carolina thing. That was pretty cool,” Burns told The State weeks later after the mixup.

Former USC coach Frank Martin visited with Burns in April and the Gamecocks landed an official visit the following month.

South Carolina and Tennessee were the only two schools that hosted Burns on official visits. He announced his commitment to the Vols on June 1, 2018 and enrolled days later.

The Gamecocks instead filled out their 2018 class by landing Keyshawn Bryant, A.J. Lawson and Trae Hannibal. Lawson was the only one among those three who played his entire career at USC.

“I just looked at all the options I was blessed to have and took everything into great, deep thought. South Carolina and Tennessee were the two schools I was really looking at,” Burns told The Rock Hill Herald. “You know when you go to a place and you have the feeling, ‘This is where I want to be,’ well, that’s the feeling I got (at Tennessee). It’s where I can go and grow.”

Burns redshirted as a freshman even though he had decided to enroll early. He dropped more than 40 pounds during that redshirt year.

He never played in a game for the Vols and announced his plans to transfer in July 2019.

Neither the Gamecocks nor any other school were truly in the mix to land him during this transition. USC didn’t have any scholarships available and wasn’t going to have him walk on. Plus, he had his heart set on coming back to Rock Hill to play for hometown Winthrop for the next three seasons. The new transfer rules weren’t in place yet and Burns got a waiver to play immediately for the Eagles.

Burns was Big South Freshman of the Year in his first season at Winthrop, helped the Eagles to the NCAA Tournament the following year and was conference Player of the Year in 2022.

He graduated from Winthrop and announced he was headed to NC State. The Gamecocks at that time were in a coaching transition after Lamont Paris just took over from Martin. Hamrick said he thought Florida and Pittsburgh also were in the mix, but Burns picked the Wolfpack.

He’s been a two-year starter for the Wolfpack and a key figure in their Cinderella run through March Madness, which included winning five games in five days to win the ACC Tournament. N.C. State followed that up with victories over Marquette and Duke to earn a spot in the Final Four.

Burns had 29 points in Sunday’s win over Duke and was named Most Outstanding Player in the South Regional.

“In March, we have had a clean slate and we have been taking advantage of every single moment,” Burns told reporters Sunday after the game.