DJ Burns was one of the breakout players of this year’s NCAA Tournament and turned out to be one of the biggest stars, having led NC State to the Final Four.

DJ Burns shooshing the crow

DJ Burns ((Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

The center, who was rumored to have NFL interest, is preparing for the next stage of his career and has put in some rigorous work as he looks to take advantage of his momentum from last season.

Burns, who stands at 6’9” and weighed 275 pounds, averaged 16.3 points during the tournament and put in a 29-point performance in a win against Duke in the Elite Eight.

DJ Burns Has Lost An Incredible Amount Of Weight

The Athletic’s Shams Charania has shared a photo of the center looking much slimmer than he did during March Madness. Burns told the NBA insider he lost 45 points over six-and-a-half weeks thanks to early-morning cardio workouts.

Check him out below:

Despite the NFL interest, Burns made it clear that he wants to continue playing basketball after college. While he isn’t projected to make it to the NBA via the draft, he could possibly get a call from a team looking to try him out in the Summer League.

“I’d probably explore some other options with basketball first before all of that, but I’m not a closed minded person,” he told Dan Patrick about the reported NFL interest earlier this year.

The NBA Draft is set to take place next month, by which Burns should have lost even more weight. It will be interesting to see how things pan out where he’s concerned. But the NFL could be an option should things not work out for him in basketball.