GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — DJ Horne has come a long way to the Final Four.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound guard was the undersized, untendered recruit out of NC State’s base in Raleigh. He was the strong mid-major performer for two years at Illinois State, followed by the reliable scorer at power conference program Arizona State.
And now, he’s the two-time homecoming star: playing a lone season with the Wolfpack to win the most improbable Final Four that brought him back to Arizona State, less than an hour from his previous college stop with Sun devils.
“Everybody has their own path,” Horne said Friday.
“Coming back from all the traveling and everything like that, I would say coming home (to North Carolina) there was a lot of love and people showing me respect for my efforts and my journey to get back to where I am now.”
Horne was a perfect fit for the Wolfpack, which entered Saturday’s game against Purdue in the national semifinals, NC State’s first appearance on this stage since the 1983 Cardiac Pack title under the late Jim Valvano. He was an explosive scorer on the perimeter as part of a 1-2 punch with March Madness star DJ Burns Jr.
And his ties to Raleigh made him appreciate this moment as much as anyone could, as NC State owns the spotlight it usually has to fight to share with close Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Duke and North Carolina.
“Having him back in Raleigh,” Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts said, “I thought that was very important.”
The player who gets that chance now is very different 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 second-year jump in production there to average 15.1 points in 2020-21 while shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 42.4 percent from 3-point range, making him an attractive player just in time for NCAA legislation. which cleared the way for players to transfer without having to stay at a new school.
That eventually led Horn 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 game would translate as he moved up a level from the mid-majors. And he didn’t disappoint. DJ was someone we never promised anything to when he came into our program, and he fought for it.”
Horn averaged 12.5 points while starting 62 games over two seasons for the Sun Devils, including their return to March Madness after missing two straight NCAA games. Horn also came up big in Arizona State’s lone tournament game, tipping guard Rondell Walker to create some space and then immediately hitting a 3-pointer to tie the game with 15.6 seconds left and finish with a team-high 17 points in a narrow loss to TCU.
“DJ is a fighter, he believes in himself,” Hurley said. “Like a lot of small guards, he plays with a chip on his shoulder. When he goes off and starts throwing some punches, man, you better watch out, because he’s a dangerous boy. I think his confidence is growing, his belief is growing. “
Across the country at the time, Keats was looking for help in the backfield as he retooled the roster after losing the high-scoring duo of Jarkel Joyner and Terquavion Smith. Horne’s development was perfectly timed. He became the top signing for the Wolfpack, which reached the NCAAs last season.
“Coming in, (Keats) actually gave me the keys, man,” Horne said.
“He told me early on, ‘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, knowing what I want from this year, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity .”
Joel Eustace, a Wolfpack assistant coach who works with the guards, said Horn arrived with confidence bolstered by building off successful seasons in the mid-majors and then at the power conference levels to appear in 159 college games.
“It’s a whole different day in college basketball because you’re coaching experienced guys,” Eustace said. “You coach guys who have been in situations. So it’s a lot more of a collaborative experience for both player and coach … When we brought him here, it was a little bit like, ‘Hey, it’s your first year of professional basketball, you have to treat it that way.
Horn rose to the challenge, averaging a team-high 16.8 points with numerous big plays during NC State’s nine-game stretch that led to an ACC Tournament title (first since 1987) and that incredible trip to the Final Four . The highlight was his 29 points in the ACC title game to knock off eventual No. 1 NCAA regional seed North Carolina, then had 39 points and six 3-pointers in wins against Marquette and Duke — the second surge since March against the Blues Devils — who upended the 11th-seeded Wolfpack from the South Group.
It’s a run that harkens back to the Wolfpack’s miraculous run of 41 years earlier, earning a 2,024 spot in Wolfpack lore along with the 1983 and 1974 teams that won the national championship — a run that included a victory over UCLA in The Final Four to end John Wooden’s streak of seven straight championships.
Horn admitted he allowed himself to dream a little when he left Arizona State last year about the possibility of returning to the state to play in the Final Four. That’s exactly what he was doing on Friday when the Wolfpack took the court for its open practice, breaking into big smiles and bobbing his head along to the music of the Wolfpack band during the holiday event.
As with everything else, Horne can enjoy this wrinkle.
“I was already planning on coming back here to visit my boys and everything,” Horn said. “But an all-expenses-paid trip and the Final Four doesn’t get any better than that. Just to see it all done and right here in front of my eyes, I’m ready to take advantage of it. “
