NC State basketball’s DJ Horne flips middle fingers, apologizes after Wolfpack win
RALEIGH – In the closing seconds of NC State basketball’s win against Wake Forest, Wolfpack guard DJ Horne flipped two middle fingers while standing at the free-throw line.
Horne proceeded to make the free throws with 2.2 seconds left to put a bow on NC State’s 83-76 comeback win against the Demon Deacons at PNC Arena, but video of Horne’s gesture went viral on social media.
“(The coaches) were kind of on me about that, but just a little emotion got out of hand right there,” Horne said Tuesday night in the locker room.
Later Tuesday night, Horne wrote an apology in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter).
"My sincere apologies for what happened at the end of the game," Horne wrote. "I got caught up in the heat of the moment and made a disrespectful gesture that I should have never done. That’s not who I am!"
On Wednesday afternoon, the ACC announced that it issued a "reprimand" to Horne.
"The reprimand was issued following the league office's review of the game and is based on Horne's involvement in unsportsmanlike and inappropriate gesture at the end of the game. The league will have no further comment on this matter," the ACC released in an emailed statement.
Horne finished with a team-high 21 points to help the Wolfpack (13-4, 5-1 ACC) produce its first 5-1 start in the ACC since the 1988-89 season. After trailing by 10 points at halftime, NC State had a 48-31 advantage against the Demon Deacons in the second half.
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The game featured six technicals and three ejections. NC State head coach Kevin Keatts was ejected late in the first half and two players – NC State’s Mo Diarra and Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis – were tossed with 46 seconds left in the second half.
“These young men believe, and they’re fighting. The message that we wanted to send to everybody is, we’re gonna fight. Do I like the fact that we have a bunch of technicals or DJ Horne was so excited at the end that he’s waving to somebody? No I don’t,” Keatts said.
“But what I will say, I’m telling you now we ain’t gonna get pushed around; it’s just not gonna happen.”
Ben Middlebrooks added 14 points, Jayden Taylor tallied 12 and DJ Burns finished with 10 for the Wolfpack. NC State went 0-for-8 from 3-point range but finished with 50 points in the paint and had a 30-2 advantage in bench points.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NC State basketball’s DJ Horne apologizes for flipping middle fingers
