NC State is headed to the ACC title game for the first time in 17 years after wild win, season

DJ Horne stood in the N.C. State locker room on Friday night. His tears reflected off the television camera lights.

Horne, from Raleigh, experienced the whole spectrum of emotions just minutes prior as teammate Michael O’Connell chucked up a 3-point basket at the buzzer, sending the Wolfpack’s ACC Tournament semifinal game against Virginia into overtime. The shot — which O’Connell launched so high it wasn’t even in the TV frame — bounced off the backboard and around the rim.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Swish.

The No. 10 seed Wolfpack went onto defeat No. 3 seed Virginia, 73-65, in overtime and became the first team to win four games in four days to reach the ACC Tournament final.

Photos: NC State stuns Virginia in OT in ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament

“I don’t even think I really processed it yet,” Horne said. “It seems like we’ve done a lot, but, to us, the job isn’t done yet. We didn’t come here just to make it to this point. We came here to win a championship. Knowing that I came home for this last year and getting to do this for the city, it means a lot for me.”

N.C. State (21-14) will face No. 1 seed North Carolina (27-6) in the ACC Championship game, hoping to extend its magical run. It will be the first time the teams have met in the title game since 2007.

The road to get here wasn’t easy. It spans 17 years, multiple coaches, hundreds of players, plenty of heartbreak, and even a semifinal matchup with the Tar Heels in 2012.

How did the Wolfpack get here? Let’s start with this week and work backward.

A titillating tournament

N.C. State came to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday following a rough conference slate. It started 5-1 in the league, but the final month was far from kind. The Wolfpack experienced devastating losses and struggled to finish games, even when starting hot.

It felt like a metaphor for the season.

Coming off a four-game losing streak, and losses in seven of nine games to end the regular season, some expected the team to lose to No. 15 seed Louisville in the first round Tuesday. They also expected head coach Kevin Keatts’ termination.

The comments on social media posts were filled with apathy and, at times, vitriol. Some began making predictions about who the next head coach would be and which players would stay.

The Wolfpack defeated the Cardinals, 94-85.

A day later, it upset Syracuse. Another day after that? It took down Duke — much to the college basketball world’s delight.

Then, for good measure, it tacked on an upset over Virginia.

N.C. State has already played a total of 165 minutes this week. The team is running on pure adrenaline and ice baths.

Survive. Advance. Hold up KJ Keatts Superman style, so he can attach the Wolfpack logo to the giant bracket outside the locker room.

“I’m at a loss for words right now. I’m just glad that my season is not over yet and we live to see another day,” Horne said. “Big shout out to Michael O’Connell. He’s gonna be the best man at my wedding.”

‘Not done yet’

Lamar Horne spent four years watching his son play college basketball away from home, first at Illinois State and then at Arizona State.

The Horne family casually supported N.C. State when DJ was growing up, but Lamar admits he was a longtime Duke fan.

Then, Keatts offered a spot with the Wolfpack. Lamar said he wanted DJ back in Raleigh for selfish reasons and hoped something like this would happen. But to live this? After thinking the injury that kept Horne from playing at Pitt last Saturday night and Louisville on Tuesday could end his child’s career, after all of the moments they went through to get here: It’s a dream, a fairy tale, all the good things.

“I think it’s what any father, any parent would hope for their kid,” Lamar Horne said, “to have an opportunity to play in front of the hometown and be the hometown hero — for lack of a better word — to live out what he set out to do from the very beginning of the season when he committed to the Wolfpack.”

The oldest members of the Wolfpack were 7 years old the last time N.C. State made a trip to the ACC title game. The younger ones were toddlers. Mo Diarra was still eight years away from starting his basketball career.

It’s been a long time coming, and it has one last shot to get back at Carolina.

“Everybody expected this to be Carolina and Duke,” Keatts said. “Well, it’s Carolina and N.C. State. We play pretty good basketball at N.C. State, too.”