Tim Peeler: NC State's ACC title was won for the teams that didn't

Tim Peelerby:Tim Peeler•03/17/24•

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DJ Burns
Mar 16, 2024; Washington, D.C., USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack forward DJ Burns Jr. (30) cuts the net after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels for the ACC Conference Championship at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

WASHINGTON — The weight of the Wolfpack world were carried by the strongest tree trunks in the forest. D.J. Burns, part behemoth, part showman, led the NC State men’s basketball team to its first Atlantic Coast Championship in 37 years Saturday night, by beating the biggest weevil in the woods, rival North Carolina, 84-76, at Capital One Arena. The sold-out crowd was insanely red, and also blue. Burns, who won the Everett Case Award as the tournament’s most valuable player, dragged his teammates and a hungry fanbase from one end of the court to the other, carrying on his back the broken dreams of other teams that could never get this far. “That’s what I’m big for,” Burns said. "I can handle it.” No one has ever done what the Wolfpack had done, winning five games in five days. Few programs have carried the burden of expectations, hopes and disappointments that the Pack has carried since March 8, 1987, when another unranked and low-seeded team coached by Jim Valvano beat the top-seeded Tar Heels, 68-67. And head coach Kevin Keatts and his team did it for so many.