Family first, and PJ has it right. Wishing him the best.

“Being closer to home, being three hours away instead of 8 1/2 hours away from home, [matters],” Horne said Wednesday in a phone interview from his Georgia home. “This pandemic has made it very tough on me and my family. I just thought it was the best decision to come back this way.”

He said his great aunt has died from COVID-19, while his aunt (his mother’s sister) and a great uncle are recovering from COVID-19.

“Being around my family and seeing the pandemic and how much it affects everyone,” he said, made him want to leave Tech.

Horne said that prior to the coronavirus pandemic, he had not been thinking about transferring.

“Having family members that had COVID kind of opened my eyes a bit — and [seeing] my parents, how worried they were,” Horne said. “It gave me a different perspective.

“I needed to be able to get up and go if I needed.”

"It didn't have anything to do with basketball," he said. "I love everything about Virginia Tech from the coaches down to the players. I had my own personal family there.

"This pandemic came and just made it tough on me."

[Post edited by Hokie Kev at 05/27/2020 7:15PM]