Kevin Keatts talks summer, upcoming season

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts joined the ACC Network’s “Packer and Durham” with co-hosts Mark Packer and Wes Durham Monday morning to catch up on a number of offseason items.

The Wolfpack coach offered his thoughts on what the upcoming college basketball season could look like in the wake of COVID-19, scheduling possibilities, how he’s discussed current events with the team as well as the potential return of D.J. Funderburk and Devon Daniels.

Here are the highlights from the interview:

Durham: I'm not sure people are grasping how valuable this time of the year is in college basketball. Have you thought about that? Have you talked to folks about that, maybe some colleagues in the business?

Keatts: “It's a tough time for basketball coaches right now, obviously, because of what's going on.

“I'll look at it from two different perspectives. I've got five freshmen coming in. I usually would have eight weeks to try to bring those guys along and have them become better players, teach them our system, a little bit of teaching my terminology, and that's been tough [not having that time].

“We're trying to recruit the 2021 class and also '22, and because of the pandemic, we certainly can not get out and see guys play. That's the toughest thing. We've had to be very creative, as every coach in the country has been. It's been a lot of text messages, a lot of FaceTime, and a lot of Zoom behind the scenes. It’s tough to get a true evaluation on kids and you just don't want to make mistakes because right now we have so many guys transferring out of basketball, so it makes your job a little bit tougher in that sense.”

Packer: Have you given it some thought about what basketball season could look like assuming we're going to have one?

Keatts: “I'm there. I'm very nervous about it. I do think that we're going to have a season. I don't know what it will look like, but I'm afraid and I'm one of those coaches that's praying that everything goes well with football.

“If you remember, our season stopped abruptly. That changes the way you look at things. When you think about when basketball ended, somewhere in that week of March 12-13th, everything that followed behind it, they canceled. They canceled all of the spring sports.

“I'm praying that we have a great football season, I'm praying that the NBA guys do well in Orlando because I'm afraid that anything that goes negative with that will impact our season also.

Packer: It's been really impressive to watch the student-athletes, not just here in the ACC, but nationally, understand their role by taking their platform, their voice and are trying to make a difference. Number one what's your take on what you've observed here in the last couple of weeks and number two what have you told your players?

Keatts: “Let's start with my own kids. I have two sons who are 16 and 12. I remember when I was 17 or 18-years-old, that was when the Rodney King incident happened. At that time, I didn't quite understand because my parents raised me to love everybody, no matter what the color of their skin was or what they looked like.

“So my first conversation had to go with my two kids. I sat them down and we talked about what was going on with the George Floyd situation. It was a hard conversation because my parents fought so I didn't have to see Rodney King when I was growing up, I fought so my kids wouldn't have to see what was going on today, and I'm using George Floyd as a perfect example for that.

“Then you look at my team, that was a tough conversation. I got them on Zoom and I just wanted to listen. I introduced the topic that we wanted to talk about, I wanted to know how they were doing and how their families were doing and how they were affected by it.

"We were on Zoom for about an hour and 15 minutes, we had a great conversation but I didn't say anything. I didn't want any of my staff to say anything. I thought it was important for our guys to vent and we had some great brainstorming.

“I didn't think anybody was wrong, there was no wrong or right answer. I will tell you now, I think you see people of different colors coming together more now than they have in the past and I'm proud to see that happening.”

Packer: The ACC has considered scheduling games with HBCUs on Martin Luther King Day. Can you talk about what that’s been like behind the scenes?

Keatts: “We’ve talked about the ACC possibly looking at playing a game on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I think that's a great idea.

“What our young people are doing now is they're gonna bring awareness. It has to happen, not when we get into January, it has to happen now and after January's over. It's important that people use their platform to make sure that this is not acceptable and I like today's kids because they're doing that.

“We've talked about it as an ACC and I do think it's a possibility that the [MLK Day] games could happen in the future. I don't know that it will happen this year.

“When you look at most colleges, including the ACC, most of us are finished with our schedule and nobody knows how the pandemic will affect it. If it gets into January, we may have to play all conference games. By opening that discussion about playing on Martin Luther King Day, it opened a discussion to be able to talk about other things that we can do as a conference to bring awareness and make sure that we get rid of some of the racism in America.

“We've talked about a lot of different things, it's important. If you have a voice and you're not speaking out, I think that's a problem right now. Seven, 10, 15 years ago, the word racism or to talk about racism was a tough topic. It's important now for those who have some power and some guys who have a platform to be able to speak out against racism."

Durham: You grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia and you know the footprint of this league as well as anybody. In this movement to coach, it seems like the footprint of this league is well structured to deliver a comprehensive message. It seems like at your school and several others in the conference, that's happening and is gonna happen long after we resume sports and the regularly scheduled programming.

Keatts: “We're going through a national disaster with the pandemic. What I ask folks is please listen to the medical people. I look at it in two parts. I think we can flatten the curve, and make sure the coronavirus eventually goes away. But also, if sports are important to you, then I think you will listen because the more people that get affected across our country, it affects the ability for us to have a sports team, play football or play basketball.

“Our league is unique. We play in the best league in college basketball, but it's a powerful league. We have great leaders, we have Hall of Fame guys, we have young coaches and we have energetic players.

“Whether you are an African-American or if you're a white coach, it's important that everybody stands up because our players and people across the country are watching what we do.”

Durham: The line for a declaration to the draft and staying in the draft keeps moving. Are you continuing to have conversations with D.J. Funderburk about what his status is with your team next year or has he made a final decision?

Keatts: “We're continuing to have conversations with him and I want him to be updated. I'm excited for any of my guys that have an opportunity to go through any type of process.

“A lot of guys, including D.J. [Funderburk], are holding out with the hope that maybe there's a possibility that they can get some type of workout. It's been important. We communicate every-other-day and I'm talking to his dad about it. There is no one conversation.

“With Devon [Daniels], we're excited to have him back and we know that. We could be a really good basketball team if you add a guy like D.J. Funderburk back with some experience playing alongside Manny Bates.”

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