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had reached a mountaintop, but never
more so than when it defeated the Blue
Devils for the second time in an 18-day
span.
"Every win we've gotten, it's felt like a
championship," graduate guard DJ Horne
said. "To see all the joy and the happiness
it's brought our university, our city, how
many people got behind us, not just from
NC State but the whole country, it just
shows what you can do as a team when
you come together. I'm just grateful that I
was a part of it all."
A Raleigh native, Horne had spent time
at Illinois State and Arizona State before
transferring to NC State. The 6-foot-2
guard wanted to change the narrative
around his hometown program. Although
bothered by a sore hip, he scored in double
figures in all but one of the nine postsea-
son games in which he played, including a
29-point outburst against North Carolina
in the ACC championship game.
"It's been magical," Horne said.
Coach Kevin Keatts and his team hoisted the
NCAA South Regional championship trophy
after defeating Duke, 76-64, in the Elite
Eight. "I don't know that I could be prouder
of a group of men that I've ever coached in
my life," Keatts said.
PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS
