By Mary Dunleavy, WRAL sports anchor/reporter

Raleigh, N.C. Despite missing a few games at the beginning of the season due to a parking incident, DJ Funderburk as been a force for the NC State basketball team.

For the first time, Funderburk spoke candidly about how that incident off the court helped transformed him as a player.

"Just not to make dumb decisions," said Funderburk. "I'm young. Everybody makes mistakes, but I've learned from it, I've grown from it. I'm just ready to move forward."

Funderburk certainly has left it in the rearview mirror. The 6-foot-10 forward is averaging just shy of 13 points a game and five rebounds.

"I've just been trying to let my game speak for itself and help my teammates win as much as I can," Funderburk said.

"He's been very productive," NCSU head coach Kevin Keatts said. "He's been a bright spot. I've been able to play him at the '4' with Manny and not drop off a bit and I think that's the good part about it."

Now that the ACC is a wide open competition, at 2-3 in ACC play, Funderburk understands that anything is possible given the parity in college hoops.

"There is not really a crazy dominant team that's projected to win it all, so I feel like we're definitely right in the thick of it," Funderburk said.

Sometimes it's the hard lessons that make us reflect and understand what we are truly capable of.

"I'm definitely ready to play 35-plus minutes if I have to," Funderburk said with a smile.

"I like the way DJ is trending. He's certainly helping our team in a lot of positive ways," Keatts said.

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NCSU's Funderburk motivated by lesson learned off the court - WRALSportsFan.com