How Wolfpack nation stormed Applebee’s for a chance to see NC State’s beloved DJs
For a few hours Tuesday, it seemed the entire NC State fan base descended on an Applebee’s in North Raleigh, where a pair of DJs — Burns and Horne — drew a rabid red crowd.
The Wolfpack men’s basketball stars signed autographs and took pictures for nearly two hours, and the fans were so ecstatic that one who came from Burns’ hometown of Rock Hill, S.C., stood trembling while he held his phone up for a Facetime video.
Another fan waited on a scooter, nursing a broken leg.
Another carried a hubcap someone lost at the NC State Bell Tower after a victory party, which has now been photographed as a good luck talisman at multiple Wolfpack-themed events.
“It was such a community-building experience to be in my hometown of Raleigh with everyone rooting for the same team,” said Carol Jenkins, who didn’t mind missing autographs at the back of the line behind probably 500 fans. “It was so gratifying to take my 11-year-old daughter to experience the same things I experienced in 1983.”
At the event’s end, fans rushed a car with tinted windows, thrusting pictures and a basketball at the driver inside.
“I’m not a player,” he explained.
But he signed anyway.
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This story was originally published April 3, 2024 at 11:23 AM.