Schools hot for Horner

Since playing in the Providence Jam Fest, Dennis Horner has emerged as a guy on the radar for several ACC and Big East schools. The 6-foot-7, 190-pound small forward from Holy Spirit High School in Absecon, N.J., lived up to his newfound attention at the Southern Invitational last weekend.

Horner visited N.C. State last week for an official visit and then traveled from Raleigh to Charlottesville for the tournament. He wasted little time showing why he's become such a hot commodity. His first game in, the intelligent forward dropped 30 points in a win. Afterwards, he reflected on his visit to N.C. State.

"It was pretty good. All of the coaches were very nice," Horner said. "The big arena, the RBC Center, was really nice. I thought that was the highlight of the trip actually."

The Wolfpack offered a scholarship on the visit, Horner said. He visited West Virginia two weeks ago and enjoyed his time with the Mountaineers. His next trip could be back to North Carolina.

"Wake Forest really wants me to come back and see them," Horner said.

Horner's recruitment has exploded since playing at the Providence Jam Fest in April. There he scored over 30 points against the Playaz, one of the top AAU teams in the country. That's when things began to change for the three-star prospect.

Since then, N.C. State, West Virginia, and Wake Forest turned up the heat. So did Providence, Villanova and Virginia Tech. Prior to the tournament, LaSalle, Monmouth, Rider and St. Joe's were the only ones involved. All four schools have offered, Horner said.

With a new life to his recruitment and back-to-back visits to a pair of NCAA tournament teams, Horner said he's not in a rush to make a decision.

"Everything is just getting started," Horner said. "Now a lot more schools are coming in and asking about me. I'm just going to wait it out for now."