6/4/2020 basketball Edit

Kevin Keatts answers questions on race, return to campus

Justin H. Williams • TheWolfpackCentral

Staff Writer

NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts made an appearance on “The Adam Gold Show” on 99.9 The Fan Wednesday afternoon to discuss the offseason and the crossover of college sports with ongoing current events.

Host Adam Gold asked the Wolfpack head coach for his perspective as a black man on the racial issues in this country, what a return to campus will look like for his team and what he would tell his players if one or more wanted to participate in a protest.

Here are some highlights from the interview:

How are you doing after what was a tumultuous 10-day period?

“I would be lying to you if I didn't say it was tough. Obviously, as a society, we've been going through a lot of different things and we've got to get better as a group. 2020 has been crazy and hopefully, it'll turn around for us soon."

Let me ask about this because I know we have a slow trickle of athletes starting to come back around the country. Where is NC State? How have you been able to stay in touch with your players and when are they going to be back on campus?

“We've been gathering all the information. I'm talking to my guys at least once or twice a week through Zoom as a group and then individually talking and texting with those guys.”

“To be honest with you, it hasn't been a basketball conversation. It's been a conversation about 'how are you doing, how's your family doing’ and those types of things.

“We're looking at towards the end of this month, possibly getting our guys on campus for several reasons. One of the main reasons is we've got to try to get in where we can get them in front of some tutors. All of our classes are online, and I know some people think that's easy but it's a bigger adjustment for a lot of kids who haven't taken online classes.

“My Chancellor, Chancellor Woodson, and athletic director Boo Corrigan, they've done a tremendous job of updating us and our student body. We've talked about a lot of different scenarios, so we can get them in at the end of the month and start working towards something normal. I think it's gonna go a long way for us.”

There are so many aspects of it, it's not just class time. It's all the things that they normally would be doing and improving in the summer because guys have to improve on their own in all ways, right?

“I don't worry about my upperclassmen as much. A lot of those guys have been through summers and, for the most part, some of those guys can use the rest.

“I have five freshmen that have to play. In the past, we would have had them for eight weeks and in the eight weeks, we're showing them how to eat right, showing them how to lift right, developing a culture to play hard. We haven't had that opportunity, so I kind of feel bad for those guys because in the past they would have been able to do some of those things and right now that hasn't happened.”

Fourth year head coach Kevin Keatts bring in his highest-ranked recruiting class in 2020 during his time at NC State. (Jeremy Brevard/USA Today Images)

Where are we with D.J. Funderburk?

“We're telling him and his father to try to get as much information as you can. DJ has done a good job of updating me.

“It's a little different than the past because, at this time last year, Markell Johnson was going through the draft process. He had the opportunity to go work out for a couple of teams and he had some conversations with a few teams.

“It's different with D.J. because there are no workouts, so every informational piece he's able to get has to come from some type of phone conversation. You've got to be able to rely on the information that you get to make the best decision for your future. That's what we want. I want him to gather all the information and I kind of leave it up to the family and the player to decide what's best for them.

“He has done everything we needed him to do so far right now and he's in summer school. We're planning on him finishing this summer. I don't have a date. They kind of put us in a conflict because it was going to be on June 3rd, but that's not happening now.”

Does he have to do anything administratively to return to school?

“Whenever they set a date, he'll have up until that date at midnight to send an official email to the NBA saying that you're going to withdraw from the draft. If you don't, then you're in the draft. To get out of it, there has to be an official email basically signed by him that says 'I'm planning on removing my name from the 2020 draft.'”

If a player comes to you and says, 'I want to be part of this,' what's your role when he asks you that question?

“Our country is upside down right now. If one of my guys came to me and said they wanted to be a part of a protest or get out and support what's going on, I'm all for it.

“My role is to be very supportive. The thing I always tell them, make sure you know what you're protesting about and don't lose sight of what it is.

“I certainly respect that a lot of folks around our country are really angry right now. It's a very unfortunate situation that's going on. If you protest, make it meaningful and don't change it into anything else because I think when you kind of lose sight of what we're fighting for. I'm not one of those guys that's going to say if you're going to protest peacefully then start looting. I don't believe in that. In my opinion, I want to have good healthy protests where they feel good and they're making a change.”

The educational process doesn't only happen in the classroom, these are sort of the life lessons that we always talk about. Isn't this part of the educational process for kids growing up?

“These are life lessons that I wish they didn't have to go through. I talked to my two sons who are 16 and 12. I told them I feel sorry that we have to have these conversations.

“Everybody before my time fought for me to have some safety and respectability. I've done the same thing for my kids and so what I've told our players is, it may not help what's going on right now. You've got to do a good job of protecting others.

“One of the things that we talk about with our guys is, it's important that all these guys register to vote. That's not just for whoever's running for president. You gotta do it at the state level first. If you want to make some change and you want to have a good voice. Not just our basketball players, everybody should get out and vote.”