With the Final Four set for the 2023 NCAA Tournament, that means teams from all around the country are learning the fate of certain players for next season, and whether or not they will be back for 2023, moving on to another program, or pursuing a pro career. Arizona State is the latest team to see another quality player from a team that made the Big Dance, decide to enter the transfer portal, as D.J. Horne will exit the program. Horne has spent the last two seasons In three of his four seasons in college basketball, Horne has averaged double-figures scoring, with the Sun Devils, after binging his career, in the Missouri Valley Conference, at Illinois State. topping out at 15.1 points per game, during his sophomore season with Illinois State. In his two years under Bobby Hurley, he’s averaged 12.5 points per game both years and did so this past season on 37% from the field, and 36% from behind the arc. Horne is a volume shooter, just like Caleb Love, who is expected to exit the Carolina program, as his best shooting percentage came during his freshman and sophomore seasons, where he shot 45% from the field.
The reason why Carolina may be interested in Horne is the fact that he hails from Raleigh, NC, and after four years away from the Triangle, he may be ready to return close to home. Horne could fit the vision that Hubert Davis outlined when he was hired, as he made it very clear he wants to play with three guards on the floor, but that also restricts Also, Carolina has already hosted Paxson Wojcik on an official visit, and tomorrow, Nick Timberlake the Towson transfer will be in town for his official visit, and depending on how those visits go, there may not be a spot left on the roster for him anyways.
The focus obviously needs to be directed toward finding wings, as the roster has been decimated with players exiting the program via the transfer portal. But given the potential departure of Caleb Love, there is a void to be filled in Carolina’s backcourt. The question is do you want to fill the void, with a 6-1 volume shooter in D.J. Horne, who has Power Six experience, or guys like Wojcik or Timberlake, guys that have produced but have done so in the mid-major level of college basketball. That is just one of the many questions that Hubert Davis is faced with this off-season, as he’s tasked with restoring the UNC program back to the nation’s elite.
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