Horne’s return to NC State played a key role in the Wolfpack’s unexpected Final Four appearance

“Everyone has their own path,” Horne says

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – DJ Horne had a long road to the Final Four.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound guard was an undersized, undrafted recruit out of the Raleigh, N.C., base. He was a top mid-major at Illinois State for 2 years after which became a reliable scorer for the Arizona State conference program.

And now he’s a two-time homecoming star: He had his lone season with the Wolfpack and scored the most improbable of goals in the Final Four that brought him back to Arizona State, lower than an hour from his previous college stop with The Sun Devils.

“Everybody has their own path,” Horne said Friday.

“Coming back in spite of everything the traveling and stuff like that, I’d say coming home (to NC State) was stuffed with love and other people showing me respect for my grind and my journey that got me back to where I’m now “.

Horne was a perfect fit for the Wolfpack as it entered Saturday’s match against Purdue in the national semifinals. It was NC State’s first appearance on that stage since winning the Cardiac Pack title in 1983 under the late Jim Valvano. He was an explosive perimeter scorer after going 1-2 with stalwart March Madness star DJ Burns Jr. on the pitch.

And his ties to Raleigh allow him to appreciate the moment as well as anyone can when North Carolina State is in the spotlight and has to fight to share it with nearby Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Duke and North Carolina.

“Taking him back to Raleigh,” Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts said, “I thought it was very important.”

The player now entrusted with this opportunity is a far cry from the one who left North Carolina as a three-star recruit to play for the Redbirds of the Missouri Valley Conference. He made a leap in production there in his second year, averaging 15.1 points in 2020-21 while shooting 44.6% from the field and 42.4% from three-point range, making him an attractive player just in time for the regulations The NCAA cleared the way for players to transfer without having to stay at a new school.

That ultimately led Horne to Arizona State.

“When we brought him in from Illinois State, we saw how productive he was,” said Sun Devils coach Bobby Hurley, a former Duke player. “I thought his play would translate, moving up from the mid-tier competition. And he didn’t disappoint. DJ was a guy we never promised anything to when he came on our show, and he fought for it.”

Horne averaged 12.5 points while starting 62 games over two seasons for the Sun Devils, including returning to March Madness after missing two straight NCAA games. Horne also had a great performance in Arizona State’s lone tournament game, passing defender Rondel Walker to create some space and then with 15.6 seconds left, immediately burying three points and leading to a draw and finished with a team-high 17 points in a narrow loss to TCU.

“DJ is a fighter, he believes in himself,” Hurley said. “Like many small defenders, he plays with a chip on his shoulder. Once he gets going and starts shooting, man, you better watch out, he’s a dangerous guy. I think his confidence is growing, his faith is growing.”

At the time, across the country, Keatts was looking for help in the backcourt, rebuilding his lineup after losing the high-scoring duo of Jarkel Joiner and Terquavion Smith. Horne’s rise came at the perfect time. He became a top signing for the Wolfpack, which reached the NCAAs last season.

“Coming in, (Keatts) basically gave me the keys, man,” Horne said.

“He told me right away, ‘We’re going to need you to do this, we’re going to need you to lead, we’re going to need you to be the guy.’ Knowing my game and knowing what I wanted from this year, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

Joel Justus, the Wolfpack assistant coach who works with the defensemen, said Horne arrived with confidence, boosted by successful seasons at the mid-major league level and then at the power conference level, appearing in 159 college games.

“It’s a completely different day in college basketball because you’re coaching experienced guys,” Justus said. “You are coaching guys who are in a difficult situation. So it’s a much more collaborative experience for both player and coach. … When we brought him in here, we were like, ‘Hey, it’s your first year of pro basketball, you’ve got to treat it like that.’

Horne rose to the challenge, averaging a team-high 16.8 points and producing many strong performances during a nine-game stretch that saw NC State win the ACC Tournament title (first since 1987) and an improbable trip to the Final Four. The highlight was his 29 points in the ACC title game to defeat No. 1 seed North Carolina at the NCAA Regional, then he scored 39 points and six 3-pointers in wins over Marquette and Duke – his second March surge against the Blue Devils , who overtook the 11th-seeded Wolfpack from the southern bracket.

It’s a run that harkens back to the Wolfpack’s miraculous run 41 years ago that put 2024 in Wolfpack history alongside 1983 and the 1974 team that won the national championship – a run that included beating UCLA in the Final Four and ending John Wooden’s career A streak of seven championships in a row.

Horne admitted that when he left Arizona State last year, he allowed himself to daydream a little about the possibility of returning to Arizona State and playing in the Final Four. That’s exactly what he did on Friday when the Wolfpack took the court during an open practice, smiling broadly and bobbing his head to the Wolfpack’s music during the celebratory event.

As with everything else, Horne can relish this wrinkle, too.

“I was already planning on coming back here to visit my guys and everything,” Horne said. “But an all-expenses-paid trip and the Final Four couldn’t be better. Just seeing it come full circle and it’s now right in front of my face, I’m ready to take advantage of it.

!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||(),g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){ g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“film-recommended-film”,”true”)})}();

Featured Stories

The post Horne’s return to NC State played a key role in Wolfpack’s unexpected Final Four appearance appeared first on TheGrio.