NC State basketball head coach Kevin Keatts made an appearance on “The OG with Ovies and Giglio” on 99.9 The Fan Monday afternoon to give an update on the Pack’s offseason.

Host Joe Ovies was out on assignment, but the Wolfpack head coach answered questions from co-host Joe Giglio about Josh Hall’s decision to remain in the NBA, the signing of three-star forward Jaylon Gibson and the status of D.J. Funderburk’s potential return next season.

Here are some highlights from the interview:

OG: Can you give us a quick scouting report on Jaylon Gibson?

Keatts: We're excited about Jaylon. It's funny, Joe, his entire family grew up as NC State fans. Just to give you a little bit about the recruiting process, when he was recruited before he signed with Wake, we kind of got mixed signals. They were telling us he really wanted to come to NC State and then when it didn't happen, we kind of moved in a different direction. It kind of came right back to us. But we're talking about a 6-11, four-man that's really skilled. I know this sounds crazy, but he's more of a three than he would be a five. He lives in between as a four. He's very talented, long, athletic, can get the ball off the rim and push it in transition. His biggest thing is he needs weight. He needs to be around a college strength coach. He needs to get three or four meals a day. We can put on a little weight, but he's gonna be a good player for us.

OG: What was your reaction when Josh Hall decided to remain in the NBA Draft?

Keatts: You could say a couple of different things. I was excited for him and disappointed because obviously I want to have the chance to coach him but we live in a world where things change really quickly. One day, there's going to be an opportunity for there to be a one-time transfer exception. Let's just say I'm a little ahead of the curve. I've heard all of the little stuff, "Kevin Keatts is great at none and done." But I embrace it. I tell people, "What do you want me to do, not recruit the best players in the country?" Josh is a little different than Jalen [Lecque]. When Jalen was coming up, it was very clear that he had NBA guys at his games. I don't know that a lot of NBA guys had a chance to watch Josh work out because it wasn't really out there that he was gonna go to the pros. 've said this all along, who am I to tell a family and a kid that it's not the right situation for them? They've got to do what's best for them. I'm happy for Josh, he's a talented player. I certainly hope he makes it, I hope he gets drafted. As a coach, we just have to turn the page and we got to try to fill some voids. We would have loved to have him play for us, but at the same time we've got to coach the guys who really want to be here.

OG: Given the current state of college basketball, do you have to make changes to how you evaluate fifth-year guys, or are the rules going to change so quickly that it’s almost not worth changing your approach?

Keatts: The rules are going to change so quickly. Up until a week and a half ago, every coach was in panic mode because none of us had seen our kids in five or six weeks, our current kids. There was a rumor that was getting some steam that the one-time transfer was going to go into effect this year. What a nightmare that would have been. Everybody would have had two or three guys they'd have to recruit and those guys couldn't even get to campus to see your place and facilities. It's changing so much. We're getting away from originally being amateurism, there's so much different stuff with name, image and likeness. Now that agents are going to be involved because if a kid's gonna be sponsored by someone, they're going to be sponsored by an agent. It's a moving target, you just got to continue to recruit and then you have to have backup plans. You make a mistake if you recruit a guy and then you stop recruiting. When we were recruiting and a lot of people saw our name listed with a bunch of fifth-year guys, they couldn't understand because of the roster. What I would tell guys is you have to go back to the Hargrave days. We honestly have to prepare that maybe one day you have to bring in 13 guys every year. It could happen that way.

OG: How much contact have you had with D.J. Funderburk and do you think he’s leaning toward coming back or leaving?

Keatts: We talk all the time. He had to finish off strong with his academics and he's enrolled in summer school. We're moving forward. I thought it was important for his family and D.J. to get as much feedback as they can. We went through the same process with Markell [Johnson]. The big difference this year is that because of COVID-19, there might not be any workouts. Another thing that I'm hoping for is that the NCAA comes out soon with a [deadline] date. It was June 3, but that's now uncertain because the NBA backed things up. As a coach, we all want to have a date, the date that a kid has to test to come back. I think D.J. is hopeful that in the next two or three weeks, some of these things are lifted. Maybe there will be an opportunity to go to somebody's facility and get a workout, but he understands there's a chance that won't happen. I like where we're at. He and his dad are pretty level-headed about it at this moment. He'll take as much feedback as he can and then we'll see what happens with that.

OG: Obviously things are going to be impacted next year by COVID-19. Can you tell us how your schedule for next season is shaping up and are you aware of any cost-saving measures that may be put in place?

Keatts: Well, Joe, we always love to toss around scheduling, which is a huge thing for you and I. If you ask me that question in about two weeks, I'll tell you. The reason being is that we have some contracts out that haven't been signed yet. I learned a long time ago not to comment on some things that hadn't happened. We are doing some different stuff. It's not going overly crazy. It's not like we're gonna play four or five teams in our region, but it's a little different with our money games or our guaranteed games. Some of them, we won't pay as much, so it's a little different on our end because a lot of the mid-majors want to try to get to six figures. Every team is trying to save some budget, so we're trying to lower how much we pay. I know our two biggest games outside of the Big 10/ACC Challenge have been reported. We're going to go to New York and have the chance to play Villanova, Baylor or Michigan. A couple of those teams, Baylor and Villanova, are Top Five in most preseason polls, so we love the fact that we get a chance to be challenged early in November with those guys.

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