NC State coach Kevin Keatts couldn’t do enough this season to save his job, one year removed from winning the ACC Tournament and reaching Final Four.
NC State bottomed out again this season in going 12-19 overall and 5-15 in the ACC, and not reach the ACC Tournament. He was fired Sunday.
Keatts’ summary at NC State led to a 151-113 record and 69-84 in the ACC.
• NC State went to three NCAA Tournaments and maybe would have gone to a third if not for COVID.
• The Wolfpack went 4-2 in the “Big Dance” in his three appearances and reached two NIT quarterfinals.
• The best finish in the ACC was in his first year, tying for third place.
• Consistent issues with roster management that got exacerbated with injuries, attrition or assistant coaches leaving.
Keatts was hired by former athletic director Debbie Yow on March 17, 2017, to replace the fired Mark Gottfried. Keatts was a “hot name” after leading North Carolina-Wilmington to two NCAA Tournament appearances. He went 72-28 overall and 41-13 in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Keatts’ first team overachieved, and maybe that hurt him by doing too well. Keatts immediately landed Baylor shooting guard transfer Allerik Freeman, Ohio State guard transfer Braxton Beverly, North Carolina A&T guard transfer Sam Hunt and freshman point guard Lavar Batts, and it worked.
NC State served notice that it wasn’t going to be a pushover with an impressive 90-84 win over Arizona in the fifth game of the season in the Bahamas. NCSU went on to top No. 2-ranked Duke 96-85 on Jan. 6, 2018, and then had a memorable 95-91 overtime victory at North Carolina on Jan. 27.
Adversity hit with a ACC Tournament exit vs. Boston Boston College, and then a 94-83 loss against Seton Hall on March 15, 2018, in the NCAA Tournament. NC State finished 21-12 overall and 11-7 in the ACC and vibes were running high after Keatts’ first season.
The 2018-19 ripped through the non-conference schedule with a 12-1 mark, but that proved to be problematic in the end. Despite an impressive home win over No. 7-ranked Auburn on Dec. 19, 2018 — the last time NC State had a big non-conference home game at PNC Arena — NC State ended up in the NIT due to the worst non-conference strength of schedule in the country at No. 352.
The ACC was loaded with Virginia, Duke and North Carolina, all ranked highly, plus Virginia Tech was No. 12 in the country prior to the infamous 47-24 win by the Hokies at PNC Arena on Feb. 2.
NC State finished 24-12 overall and 9-9 in the ACC, and had a No. 33 NET ranking, but left to play at Reynolds Coliseum in March.
NC State added a few more wrinkles to the 2019-20 schedule, and went 10-2 in non-conference with losses against Memphis and Auburn. NC State crushed No. 6-ranked Duke 88-66 on Feb. 19, 2020, and was set to play the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., on March 12. The world changed COVID canceling sports events throughout the United States, and NC State finished 20-12 overall and 10-10 in the ACC.
The 2020-21 season was also marred by COVID and only 24 games were played. The Wolfpack won at home against North Carolina 79-76 on Dec. 22, 2020, but six games were canceled and one was postponed to a month later. NC State lost to Colorado State in the NIT quarterfinal and finished 14-11 overall and 9-8 in the ACC.
If COVID disrupted two different years for Keatts, injuries and inexperience ruined the 2021-22 squad. Center Manny Bates got injured less than a minute into the first game of the season. Following shoulder surgery and the end of the year, he transferred to Butler.
NC State went 11-21 overall and 4-16 in the ACC with the one-two punch of Dereon Seabron and Terquavion Smith keeping the Wolfpack in games, only to falter in the last five minutes. Without Bates, opposing centers had their best games against young backups Ebenezer Dowuona and Jaylon Gibson.
That season put Keatts firmly on the hot seat going into 2022-23, and it was also the start of the NIL/transfer era. Keatts lost Bates and Seabron, who went to the NBA/G-League, but added Ole Miss point guard Jarkel Joiner, LaSalle forward Jack Clark, Illinois State center Dusan Mahorcic and Winthrop center D.J. Burns. Mahorcic lasted 10 games before he sadly re-injured a past knee injury, but the squad had enough depth and did well enough to make the NCAA Tournament.
NC State did not have a challenging non-conference schedule once again, but defeated Dayton and Vanderbilt to go 10-1. The team needed some key ACC victories and delivered by defeating No. 16-ranked Duke 84-60 at PNC Arena on Jan. 4, 2023. Combine that with wins over No. 16-ranked Miami (Fla.) and North Carolina, both at home, and the Wolfpack squeezed into the tourney.
The problem was that it resulted in a No. 11 seed, which led to playing a talented first-round Creighton squad. Add in the high altitude of Denver, Colo., and Creighton made enough big plays down the stretch to win 72-63 and advance in the “Big Dance.”
That saved Keatts’ job, but then the focus became on having to do it once again with hitting another double or triple in the portal like the spring of 2022.
The portal brought Arizona State shooting guard D.J. Horne, Butler shooting guard Jayden Taylor, Clemson center Ben Middlebrooks, Missouri power forward Mohamed Diarra, Kansas forward M.J. Rice, Stanford point guard Michael O’Connell and North Carolina A&T guard Kam Woods. Some worked, some didn’t, and for the majority of the season speculation began about Keatts' future.
NC State proved to have a competitive spirit all season, but the close losses usually resulted in not making enough plays in the final three minutes. NCSU finished the regular season 17-14 overall and 9-11 in the ACC.
Then the magic began. NC State took care of Louisville in the first round of the ACC Tournament, playing without Horne. After losing twice against Syracuse in the regular season, the Wolfpack won in the second round.
NC State had just lost to Duke on March 4, but dominated the Blue Devils in the rematch in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. O'Connell hit his miracle three-pointer to force overtime, and NC State dispatched Virginia in overtime. The last obstacle for the first ACC Tournament championship since 1987 was North Carolina. Horne had 29 points and Burns added 20 points and the Wolfpack completed the historic five-day run with a 84-76 championship in Washington, D.C.
NC State didn't run out of gas or emotion in the NCAA Tournament. NC State posted wins over Texas Tech, Oakland and Marquette, and then played Duke for a third time. NC State defeated Duke 76-64 on March 31, 2024, to reach the Final Four for the first time since 1983.
NC State's dream run ended against Purdue and 7-foot-3 giant Zach Edey, 63-50, but Keatts gave Wolfpack fans the run of a lifetime.
The problem was trying to build off of it, and NC State showed early in the 2024-25 season, that the momentum left with many of the seniors that graduated. NC State couldn't win on the road or neutral location — going 0-14 — and had difficult scoring 80 points against high-major opponents or closing games out in the last five minutes. NC State had 85 points in a win over Wake Forest and 84 in a overtime victory against Florida State.
NC State finished going 12-19 overall and 5-15 in the ACC, and weren't one of the 15 teams to qualify for the ACC Tournament.
Follow on Twitter:
@NCStateRivals or @JaceyZembal
Subscribe for free on YouTube:
For Jacey Zembal or The Wolfpack Central
Like on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/TheWolfpackCentral
Follow on Instagram/Threads/Blue Sky:
www.instagram.com/thewolfpackcentral
ATTENTION SUBSCRIBERS: Our NETWORK-WIDE, all-access pass allows you to read every premium message board in the Rivals.com network as part of a bundled add-on to your subscription!
Subscribers can add the All-Access Pass or a 3-Site Bundle in your account profile, under the Subscriptions tab: HERE
