BREAKING: DJ Horne commits to NC State
DJ Horne, a transfer portal guard from Arizona State, has committed to NC State men’s basketball, per On3’s Joe Tipton. He officially visited the Wolfpack over the weekend and quickly shut down his recruitment. The 6-1 guard attended high school in Fayetteville, North Carolina and is from Raleigh.
Following his official trip, the former-in state prospect announced his decision with On3 and explained the reasoning behind his decision.
“I chose NC State because home is where the heart is,” Horne told Tipton. “I have always wanted the chance to be able to play in my hometown so when the opportunity presented itself I jumped on it. Coach Keatts and the entire coaching staff welcomed me and I’d like to thank them for taking a chance on a local kid and believing in me! Wolfpack nation, I’m soooo excited to play for you next season. I’m beyond ready to join my new teammates and help make next season one to remember!”
Over two seasons with Arizona State, Horne scored 12.5 points per game over 62 starts. He also contributed 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game last season, helping the Sun Devils secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to Arizona State, Horne played two years at Illinois State. The guard has one season of eligibility remaining.
Horne is the Wolfpack’s second transfer portal commitment, joining Butler guard Jayden Taylor.
Transfer portal background information
The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.
The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.
Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.
The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.
A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.
The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.
