Kevin Keatts has been ball of energy since hired at NC State
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts has completed his staff, nearly finished off his 2017-2018 roster, and even has worked ahead for the future with a class of 2018 pledge and a pair of transfers who will sit out next year. All that in a span of three months since taking the job.
Keatts finalized his staff with the recent hiring of assistant coach A.W. Hamilton, who joins James Johnson and Takayo Siddle. Nearly everyone that Keatts has hired was able to come support the coach’s first appearance at Amedeo's Italian Restaurant on Tuesday afternoon for The Wolfpacker Podcast.
The mixture of coaches and support staff are based on Keatts' past relationships at Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy, Louisville and most recently at North Carolina Wilmington. Each member has been integrally involved with Keatts winning a championship of some sort.
“They can be great mentors to our student-athletes and I wanted to put together a staff that would get along and work hard together,” Keatts said. “Obviously, they can do everything we need to do in our power to be successful here.”
NC State went 15-17 overall and 4-14 in the ACC in 2016-17 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. Thus outward expectations could be low going into next season, which Keatts will use as motivation with the players.
“I think there are 15 teams in the conference and I would be shocked if anybody picked us higher than 15,” Keatts said. “The reason being is that we don’t deserve it. We won four [ACC] games last year, and that’s okay. I never look at where people pick us at or don’t care about that.”
The coach knows there is still a lot of work to be done, but some of the foundation is now in place, starting with an influx of perimeter talent and the return of sophomore center Omer Yurtseven, who flirted with the NBA Draft.
Securing graduate transfers Allerik Freeman (Baylor) and Sam Hunt (North Carolina A&T), who can both play shooting guard, plus four-star prep point guard Lavar Batts Jr. of Concord (N.C.) Robinson High takes care of one potential issue.
Freshman point guard Dennis Smith Jr. and sophomore wing Maverick Rowan turned professional, while fifth-year senior shooting guard Terry Henderson had his bid for a sixth year of eligibility denied by the NCAA. Plus local product Thomas Allen, a combo guard, was let out of his letter of intent and signed with Nebraska.
“We had to bring in some really good players that fit our style,” Keatts said. “When you talk about Lavar Batts, I’m certainly excited about him. He’s a top-100 guard. He is very good and quick with the basketball. He has a chance to be really special in the system that we play.”
The influx of guards along with the return of sophomore point guard Markell Johnson and redshirt junior wing Torin Dorn will hopefully give the Wolfpack enough options.
“I had a really good productive meeting with Markell Johnson [Tuesday morning],” Keatts said. “I told him, ‘The great thing about it, Markell, is you have a great opportunity because Dennis Smith is leaving and you have played one year. … The tough thing about it is that I’ve had some really tough guards I’ve held to a high standard.'”
Keatts is also looking forward to watch senior power forward Abdul-Malik Abu and Yurtseven blossom together in the post. Abu averaged 11.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game as a junior and shot 52.9 percent from the field. Yurtseven went through freshman-year growing pains and averaged 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per contest.
“I’m excited about Omer,” Keatts said. “I know a lot of people were critical of him. I don’t think you’ve seen the best basketball of that young man. I want you to think about this, [being] an 18- or 19-year-old young man and you are coming into a program where due to NCAA rules, you have to sit out part of the nonconference schedule.
“The first time you get a chance to really play college basketball, you are thrown into the best conference in college basketball in the ACC. It’s tough for that kid to be good last year.”
Yurtseven attended the NBA Draft combine in Chicago and worked out for a handful of pro teams. Getting the opportunity to play inside and outside next year will help showcase his pro potential.
“I think he’ll be tremendous in this system,” Keatts noted. “He’s a guy that can shoot shots from beyond the arc a little bit and 15- to 18-foot jump shots. With his size, he can score over both shoulders.”
Add in the healthy return of fifth-year senior center/power forward Lennard Freeman and a solid post rotation should be in place with Freeman, Abu and Yurtseven.
“When you talk about Malik Abu, I think he could have a breakout year for us,” Keatts said. “With his athletic ability, he could be really good for us.
“One of the missing pieces from last year that I think as a team, as I go back and watch the team from last year, they really struggled with was rebounding. When you look at Lennard Freeman, he’ll be able to bring some of that toughness back to our lineup.”
The returning players have also gone through strength and conditioning workouts, led by new strength and conditioning coach Pat Murphy. Being in tip-top shape will go a long ways toward achieving the fast-paced style of play Keatts wants to feature.
“For me, [offseason workouts have] been great, but for the players, it has been a challenge,” he said. “I come in with a reputation of a coach that plays an up-tempo style on both ends of the floor. For those guys, it has been an eye opener. We have always prided on ourselves on being the best-conditioned team in the country.”
NC State also got a jump on the future by landing former UNC Wilmington star junior wing C.J. Bryce and Utah sophomore small forward Devon Daniels. They’ll both be redshirting next season due to NCAA rules, but should help form one heck of a scout team.
Keatts half-joked that he panicked every night until Bryce signed with UNC Wilmington. The former Huntersville (N.C.) North Mecklenburg star made it easier on Keatts in his second recruitment.
“Takayo Siddle, who is on my staff here, did a good job of recruiting him [while at UNCW],” Keatts recalled. “We both stayed on top of him a lot. I’d go to his games and was like, ‘How are we involved with this kid at UNCW?’ We sweated that thing out until we got the scholarship papers.”
The transition period is intense between hiring a new staff, learning the personalities of the returning players, seeing how the roster is finalized and, then on top of that, trying to make a move from Wilmington. Keatts figured his family has seen around 30 houses in the Triangle area and they hope to close on one by the end of June.
Keatts, his wife and two sons were able to attend the Kentucky Derby in Louisville and also take part in a fundraising gala that ESPN college basketball personality Dick Vitale hosted to raise money for The V Foundation, which is part of former NCSU head coach Jim Valvano's lasting legacy.
“Unbelievable, and when you think about what Jim Valvano has done for NC State and cancer research, Dick Vitale has done a great job of carrying that torch on,” Keatts said. “It was a very humbling experience with the money raised. I was able to meet a lot of kids who are battling cancer and have beat cancer. It’s a tough disease.
“For my wife and I, it was a great experience for us and really opened our eyes about a lot of things. It’s a dreadful disease. Anybody that has an opportunity to donate at your level, I think we should. It’s a disease that we have to beat and we will beat.”
NC State has the option of playing in a foreign country in August, which would give the team extra practices and games. NC State canceled the trip last year amidst uncertainty over the roster and concerns about security in Italy. Keatts will finalize the team's summer plans over the next week or so.
“I love the overseas trip,” the coach said. “We are still heavily considering taking a foreign trip. We haven’t decided 100 percent if that is going to happen or not.
"I think it’s bigger than just basketball. It gives you an opportunity to play 3-4 games, but also gives you the opportunity of having 10 official practices during the summer. It gives you a trip where our guys can come together as a family.”
It would also be just one more thing added on the plate for Keatts since arriving in March.
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