NC State head coach Kevin Keatts sees NIT as an opportunity for growth

The Wolfpack earned a No. 3 seed and will be the lone representative from the ACC in the condensed 16-team NIT field, but it wasn’t a guarantee a week ago that the Pack would accept a bid if invited.

After NC State’s 89-68 loss to Syracuse in the second round of the ACC Tournament last Wednesday, head coach Kevin Keatts said conversations would need to be had about whether or not the team would make the potential two-week commitment to isolate in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the tournament.

When the NIT Selection Show aired Monday, it didn’t take long to find out the Wolfpack elected to continue its season.

“We had a day off when we got back, and I just wanted those guys to get away from the tournament,” Keatts recalled. “I didn't want to have the conversation with anyone until the next day, the day after the tournament. I had a good talk with Jericole Hellems, DJ Funderburk, Manny Bates and Braxton Beverly. Those were the guys who have had the biggest voice in the locker room, especially since Devon [Daniels] wasn't around. I wanted to get a feel from those guys on what they thought about advancing.

“We talked about if there would be the same excitement if it's not the NCAA. All four of those guys actually said yes. I doubled back with them two days later just to make sure, and I did it individually because I didn't want those guys to feel any pressure from me or for them to hear how I felt about it. Each one of those guys said yes.”

While reaching the NCAA Tournament is every team’s goal at the beginning of any given year, the Pack’s margin for error in the ACC Tournament was slim after emerging as a fringe bubble team following a five-game win streak at the end of the regular season.

After NC State’s early exit from Greensboro, the realistic outcome shifted to the NIT.

It wasn’t just the fact that the veteran players wanted to keep competing, accepting a bid to the NIT with the possibility of playing four more games made a lot of sense considering the Wolfpack’s youthful roster makeup.

“We have three segments of guys on our team,” Keatts said. “One of them being the seniors with those two guys getting the chance to play. Then you have a middle segment with Jericole and Manny. Then the bulk of our team is freshmen. For us, it's really the experience of getting those guys another opportunity to play.

“We played 23 games this year, and we would normally play 31. When you look at that, we've missed eight games. For us, it's about a little bit of everything. Giving our seniors a chance to play, the middle guys some experience and an opportunity to play, and really for the young guys, being able to get the experience of a postseason.”

The freshman backcourt comprised of guards Cam Hayes, Shakeel Moore and Dereon Seabron played a big role in the Pack’s late-season turnaround.

Hayes scored in double figures in four of the last five games of the regular season and had a 19-10 turnover-to-assist ratio during that stretch.

Seabron produced a career-high 14-point, nine-rebound performance in the Wolfpack’s road win over Wake Forest in late February and reset those marks by delivering his first career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds in the regular-season finale victory over Notre Dame.

The freshman guards regressed, however, in their ACC Tournament debuts last Wednesday. The backcourt trio combined for 26 points on 9-of-26 shooting while producing just three assists compared to six turnovers in the conference tournament loss to Syracuse.

For the young guards, the NIT gives them an opportunity to enter the offseason with a better taste in their mouth.

“I want those guys to grow from a week ago playing in the ACC Tournament,” Keatts said. “That was their first ACC Tournament. People don't understand that it's difficult for a freshman. Seniors or upperclassmen typically get you to advance in any tournament situation.

"I just want to see growth. I didn't think any of those guys played great against Syracuse — not that I thought they were bad, but they played as though they were young guys.

“As we move forward, as we advance, you want to see that, so the next opportunity that they have next year, to be able to play in some postseason whether it's the ACC Tournament or NCAA, they've already had that under their belt. We can't teach them what they've never been through. With these guys, it's new to them.”

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The NIT can also be an opportunity for growth within the program as well.

Just look at Texas, the most recent NIT Champion in 2019. Fast forward two seasons, and the Longhorns won their first Big 12 Conference Tournament championship and earned a No. 3 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

Because of the Wolfpack’s roster makeup, Keatts believes the NIT can be a springboard for future success just as it has been for other programs traditionally.

“In our case, I do because we have so many young guys,” Keatts said. “If we were taking a bunch of seniors to play in the NIT, I'm not sure that that would help us in the following year. But our roster has shifted from older guys with Thomas Allen and Devon Daniels to without having those guys now. I think it could certainly pay off.

“Just having the opportunity to experience it, being able to play and try to advance in the postseason, I think it helps your program moving forward.”

NC State will be tested from the beginning Thursday with a tough first-round matchup against in-state foe Davidson, who finished the season third in the Atlantic-10 standings.

The Wildcats are a strong shooting team that ranks 17th nationally in effective field goal percentage (.555) and eighth in two-point field goal percentage (.568).

“It's a great team that is tremendously coached,” Keatts said. “[Bob McKillop] has done a tremendous job with his team for as many years as anyone can remember. They went from a one-bid conference to really an unbelievable conference in the Atlantic-10. It says a lot about their conference just seeing how many teams are playing in the postseason, whether it's the NCAA or the NIT.

“They've got a really good basketball team. Everyone who I've spoken to has talked about how they're one of the best teams, if not the best team, in the Atlantic-10 this year. They've had pauses that certainly didn't work in their favor, just as everyone else has. It's a really tough team, it's a tough opponent, but I'm excited about having a chance to play it.”