NC State coach Kevin Keatts gradually needed to hire three assistant coaches and fill out five roster spots this spring and summer, while navigating ever-changing NCAA rules.
On the one front, he was able to bring in assistant coach Joel Justice from Arizona State, Kareem Richardson from Clemson and Levi Watkins from Mississippi. The trio have brought new energy to the program and in recruiting.
The Wolfpack tried to hit the portal hard, targeting eight players total, and signing four of them. Centers D.J. Burns (Winthrop) and Dusan Mahorcic (Utah), forward Jack Clark (La Salle) and point guard Jarkel Joiner (Mississippi), all signed with NC State. Landing the 12th scholarship slot proved elusive, but s expected to get filled by freshman power forward Mady Traore in early December.
Another backdrop to the roster management was handling the situations where redshirt sophomore Dereon Seabron and then freshman Terquavion Smith were the testing the NBA Draft waters. Seabron stayed in the draft and went undrafted, but landed a two-way contract with the New Orleans Pelicans. Smith is returning to NC State. That drama lasted until June 1.
Toss in NIL affecting recruiting and whatever was assumed in building a roster in the past, it’s a new playbook.
“I know I am going into year six, whenever you covered the first, second, third, fourth or fifth year, scratch it. It’s different,” said Keatts for emphasis. “When you talk about transfers and immediate eligibility and you throw in NIL, recruiting has completely changed from what it used to be.
“All of it is a challenge 365 days [a year], seven days a week in recruiting. I don’t say that like I’m disappointed about it. You have to adjust to whatever the environment is at the time.”
Creating a new group to turn the program around was crucial after an injury-riddled 11-21 mark and 4-16 in the ACC last year. Keatts wanted to get veteran guys in the portal.
“Every coach in the country pours all his energy and time and effort into the job that they do,” Keatts said. “You certainly want to be rewarded at the end. For me, it was tough. I would be lying to you if it was the toughest season, if not the toughest season, that I’ve ever been through in basketball. It was a very humbling season for me.”
Another offseason concern was the health of power forwards Greg Gantt, a Providence transfer, who missed all of last year, and sophomore Ernest Ross, who suffered a season-ending injury in the middle of the season. Both are back playing.
“Both are full-fledged going and full-fledged practicing,” Keatts said. “Both are healthy right now. I wouldn’t say they are in great right now.”
Finding a firm team has been accomplished with Joiner.
“It is hard for transfers to come into any program because they are still trying to figure their way out and can they say this or say that,” Keatts said. “I think he is one of those guys that found his niche and people listen to him.”
The new staff also had to hit the ground running in trying to fill out the roster. Keatts thinks all three have a chance to be future college head coaches one day, maybe sooner than later.
“All three of those guys are fabulous,” Keatts said. “One thing I wanted, I wanted to get three guys with tremendous energy, and also three guys, I felt that won’t be here long.”
Keatts knows future challenges loom, and one will be trying to figure out how to have just 24 official visits in a two-year period per NCAA rules. The transfer portal and offseason attrition could make like difficult if a program is trying to average 14 visits a year for juniors, seniors and transfers, plus some juniors that end up committing, could want to take a second official visit their senior year. Those are all recent changes in basketball recruiting.
“If you can’t adapt to what is going on right now, it’s probably time to look at a different career,” Keatts said. “It has completely changed. It is completely different.
“You have 28 visits in two years, with the ability to bring young kids [juniors] on a visit, and the ability for so many guys to transfer. I wish we could go to ‘Hey, there should be unlimited visits.’”
To combat so many changes, Keatts would love to see more than four coaches from a school to be able to go out on the road in recruiting.
“The other thing I’d love to see at some point where we have three assistant coaches and myself that can go and recruit,” Keatts said. “I wish we could get to the point where you have staff and you can send anyone out there that you want to.”
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