For DJ Horne, redemption comes in return to Raleigh, path to Phoenix
Posted April 4, 2024 9:02 p.m. EDT
Updated April 5, 2024 5:36 a.m. EDT
Glendale, Ariz. — DJ Horne has had to work for every single thing he has. He didn't have a single power five offer. Now he's one of the best guards in the country. He's had a long and winding journey and its all come full circle in Phoenix.
Horne always believed he'd get to the biggest stage, he just needed to play on several smaller ones first.
"Just to be here right now is just crazy from where I started to get where I am now its crazy how much went into it," Horne said.
DJ's parents Lamar and Tivona remember the early days at Cary High School well.
"We had some fun times in here," Tivona Horne said while walking around the court.
"He loved the outside shot but I would rather him penetrate more," Lamar Horne said with a laugh.
Born in Durham and raised in Cary, DJ always had a gift.
"Once he decided to end football, he stuck with basketball and we've been at it ever since," said Tivona.
His high school coaches saw it playing at Cary and Leesville Road.
"I spent 31 years of my life in this gym," said Allan Gustafson, former Cary High School basketball coach. "He was multi-talented, very versatile as a player."
"It's always nice as a basketball coach when you have a guy you can put the ball in his hands when the clock's winding down and he can go make a play for you," said Scott Walton, Cary High School basketball coach.
It just took awhile for the colleges to see it too.
"He was experiencing some self-doubt like he wasn't that good of a player that he couldn't garner the interest of colleges," said Lamar Horne.
After spending his senior season at Trinity Christian High school in Fayetteville, DJ played two seasons at Illinois State.
"DJ was like mom I can score 30 points here but you're never going to hear my name on ESPN," said Tivona. "I need to go to the next level."
From there, he transferred to Arizona State for two seasons and finally back home to NC State.
"That's the main reason why I came home with that mission to come back and make a statement put my name in history and I feel like that's what I did," said DJ Horne.
It's fitting that Horne's homecoming season ends with a trip to Phoenix where attended nearby Arizona State. His mom said he planned to visit after the season anyway, now he just got an all expenses-paid trip.
