GLENDALE, AZ — Zach Edey sat on a chair in the locker room Thursday and talked about losing 12 pounds while fasting during Ramadan.
Hold it. Not the Zach Edey. It's instead the tall Frenchman who grew up 13 miles from the Eiffel Tower and has been playing Edey this week in practice for the NC State Wolfpack. So how is it pretending to be the national player of the year? “It’s cool to get every ball.” Mohamed Diarra said. Yep, for a few days, anyway, the offense in practice went through a 6-foot-10 junior who averaged under five shots a game this season.
DJ Burns Jr. sat on a chair in his locker room and mentioned he weighed in at 225 pounds.
Wait a second. Not the DJ Burns, the mountain from NC State, listed at 275 pounds, who has taken the NCAA tournament by storm. No, this guy is 100 pounds lighter and would have to slap on a multi-layer padded body suit just to get close to resembling Burns. “Very tough simulation,” said Sam King, the Purdue walk-on who portrayed Burns in the Boilermakers' practice this week. “I tried my best.”
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Edey vs. Burns. One, the 7-foot-4 tower in the national spotlight all season, the other the 6-foot-9 tank who looks as if he should be playing defensive tackle somewhere, and a face few would have recognized a month ago. Edey is the most decorated college player in the sport and scored 40 points against Tennessee in the regional championship — Burns the affable and gentle giant who has suddenly become the face of his 11th-seeded band of upstarts, after 29 points against Duke. They’ll be together in the paint Saturday and shouldn’t that be something.
“I’m a player,” NC State’s Casey Morsell was saying Thursday, “but I can’t wait to see that matchup.”
Same for the other locker room. “We know he has a lot of noise around his name right now,” Purdue’s Lance Jones said of Burns. “And you know, Zach’s Zach, so I’m excited to see how it goes.”
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Both the stars held court Thursday, discussing life, the Final Four and each other.
Edey is the celebrity of the weekend. There were five cameras and two dozen media standing around an empty chair in the Purdue locker room, waiting for him to make an appearance. It was the most covered chair in the state of Arizona.
When Edey did arrive, among his topics was... Halloween?
“I remember I got banned from trick-or-treating when I was like the fourth grade. People got mad at me because I was so big. I’d get like the stink eye. People would say `What are you doing? You’re too old for this.’”
So, no free candy after the age of 11. But about Burns.
“It’s going to be a challenge not just for me but for the whole team to guard him. He’s a really good player and we’re going to treat him like that,” Edey said. “He’s unique.”
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Unique. People use that word all the time talking about Edey, so this will be a double scoop of the adjective.
“That’s kind of like the Final Four,” Edey said. “Every team plays so differently, all the players are so different, you’re going to end up with some of these unique matchups. He’s not like someone you can really scout for. We don’t have anybody like him on our roster.”
Sitting across the way with nobody around his chair was the 6-foot-8 sophomore who tried. King had studied Burns on film before taking on his role.
“He’s not the fastest on the court but he’s one of the quickest. His spin moves to the baseline are lethal. He does a lot of pivots, a lot of up-and-unders, a lot of fakes,” King said. “Being him in practice is pretty fun just because you can do whatever you want. If you see a move when you’re one-on-one, try to just wheel and deal in the post, pretty much shooting anything within six feet of the basket. It was a cool assignment,
“My appreciation for him has grown, I didn’t know him before the tournament.”
That’s okay, most people didn’t.
“I’m confident in Zach. I’m obviously excited to see the matchup," King said. "(Burns) can obviously get it done and he score on a lot of people, including Zach.”
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Meanwhile, over in the NC State locker room, it was the Burns floor show with his friendly banter. Such as when the topic was brought up about him considering a stab at the NFL, which has become a narrative this week since he became famous.
“I did play football until I got my first (basketball) scholarship offer and then I quit immediately,” he said. “Everybody needs stories to try to keep it interesting. Maybe there was too much downtime for people to think but I ain’t playing no football. I’m a basketball player, we’re just going to keep it at that.”
Not a chance of a football fling?
“Zero. I mean... yeah, zero.”
His coach seconded that. “He's not that bully that you guys think,” Kevin Keatts said. “He's a teddy bear off the court. That's why I get so frustrated when they call a charge on him. He doesn't bully you, he just... wills around you.”
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Burns’ life has mushroomed over the past two weeks as NC State cut its way through the bracket.
“This is what you work for your whole life, one of the major milestones you want to get to,” he said. “A lot of things that you never thought you’d get to do or you always wanted to do and now it’s right here in your face.”
He’s never gone against anyone 7-foot-4 but he’s looking forward to it, in part because of the message he believes the Final Four is sending about post players. Both these two and UConn's Donovan Clingan. In the age of positionless basketball, the center will be alive and well in State Farm Stadium this weekend.
“I think it’ll be fun," Burns said. "Two guys who like to play with their backs to the baskets, similar games in the sense we’re not trying to do too much and shoot threes and do and all that other stuff that bigs try to do nowadays, taking themselves away from what they’re good at. Bigs aren’t real big scorers anymore because they try to be guards and I think we’re bringing that back.”
But there is still the task of going against the first repeat national player of the year in four decades.
“That’ll be fun but honestly I didn’t even know that,” Burns said. “I don’t care about what his accomplishments are, he’s got to lace them up like me.”
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This from Keatts about Burns:
“I don't think I've ever coached a guy like that in my life. Doesn't really catch the ball in the post, but he ends up around the basket. I don't know that there's ever been a guy like that before. The guards get so mad at him because they don't get assists because he dribbles six times to get where he needs to be. He's a throwback. What a tremendous personality. We were up 10 against Duke, about a minute to go. As a coach, I'm locked in, anything can happen. He's over there yelling to the fans, 'let’s go! let’s go!'"
Burns has been thinking about Edey all week in practice, but as he said, “ You can’t really simulate height, but you can shoot some hook shots and make some good moves.”
Across the way was the 6-foot-9 teammate who had tried to do just that.
“You don’t see that every day. DJ Burns is a tough matchup for everybody, and Zach Edey too,” Diarra said of their collision. “That’s going to be fun to watch and fun to play for them. I don’t know who but somebody’s going to win, And I hope it’s DJ Burns.”
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In the Purdue locker room was the assistant coach who has had a lot to do with developing the Boilermakers' long black and gold line of big men. In a program that has had a 7-footer for 12 consecutive seasons, Brandon Brantley is something of a post guru. He can’t wait for Saturday.
“As the game continues to evolve I don’t want to see the traditional big man get fazed out,” he said. “You’ve got two traditional bigs who make their hay in the post. If you’re going against Purdue, if you’re going against NC State, it starts with both of those guys. As a coach and as a spectator of the game I’m thrilled about this matchup.”
He knows all about Edey, of course. And he has come to appreciate Burns. “Zach could not post up at the three-point line and back somebody down. We don’t have anybody to simulate that mass but also his movement. And his passing ability is what scares you the most.”
Just like Keatts had said, “If you ask me who keeps you up at night right now, it's Zach Edey.”
Should be fascinating to watch, including for the Zach Edey double on the NC State bench and the hundred-pound-lighter DJ Burns stand-in on the Purdue bench. They've had a ball this week.
