NC State new assistant coaches Joel Justus, Kareem Richardson and Levi Watkins, have all bonded over two key aspects.

The trio all have their separate reasons, but they wanted to live in the Raleigh area, and they all had to hit the ground running when hired by coach Kevin Keatts. Justus came from Arizona State, Richardson from Clemson and Watkins had been at Mississippi.

The common bond is simple for all involved — help NC State bounce back from a 11-21 overall season, and 4-16 mark in the ACC. The Wolfpack have made sure they have an older roster.

“I’ve been here long enough to know you don’t make expectations,” Watkins said. “You just kind of grind every day to get better. I like our group. There is no telling in college basketball.”

Watkins bore the brunt of trying to navigate the transfer market due to being the first of the three assistant coaches hired April 1.

Watkins quickly had former Ole Miss players Luis Rodriguez and Jarkel Joiner officially visit, with the latter picking the Wolfpack and solidifying the all-important point guard position.

The trio of Keatts, Watkins and former assistant coach James Johnson, added La Salle transfer Jack Clark at forward, and eventually former Utah transfer Dusan Mahorcic. Winthrop center transfer D.J. Burns was the fourth addition this past spring.

Watkins had numerous reasons to accept the challenge of trying to turn around the Wolfpack program. He played for NC State from 2001-05, and then immediately joined the staff, where he coached under both Sidney Lowe and Mark Gottfried.

Watkins injured his knee at NC State, which in turn led him down the coaching path. A former top 60 recruit, who knows if he would have become a coach following playing professional somewhere in the world.

“I think everything that has happened, pushed me in the direction of coaching,” Watkins said. “I had opportunities to go overseas and play. It was like, ‘Do I play or do I get into coaching?’

“I graduated on May 8, and then I started two days later on May 10. It was a tough decision because everybody had gone on and played.”

Watkins’ wife is also from the area and she and their two boys all were born at Rex Hospital in Raleigh.

“My phone was just blowing up non-stop and I had to just put it down,” Watkins said. “It was a unique situation for me because I played and then went right on to the staff. I spent 12 years of my life here with the Wolfpack. There are so many people I have come across during my time.”

Watkins understood the challenges better than anyone before taking the job. He has been an assistant coach at Buffalo, Arizona State and Ole Miss, and never inherited a good situation.

“Buffalo lost 20 games the year before I got there, and then had a great year,” Watkins said. “Arizona State had struggled, and then we had a really good non-conference [that first year], but struggled in conference. Ole Miss was finished last and we were picked last.

“I never really talk about the team before. I never did that. The guys that were in the locker room before, they were all ears because they wanted to be better. The new guys wanted to be a part of the change. I lived it as a player as well and we had a top recruiting class. They were 13-16 the year before and the fans were on coach Herb Sendek’s butt.”

Raleigh is the 10th city Richardson has lived in since graduating college in 1997. It’s part of being an assistant coach, but his connection to NC State is the most obvious — Keatts. The two were assistant coaches along with former California coach Wyking Jones at Louisville under coach Rick Pitino in 2012-13, when the Cardinals won the national championship.

Richardson was immediately hired at Missouri-Kansas City, where he guided the Kangaroos for six years (2013-19). He was an assistant coach at Indiana State and Clemson the last three years, before reuniting with Keatts.

Richardson and Keatts know the same defensive terminology and schemes from their time together at Louisville.

“People would ask me, what is one place you’d want to live, and North Carolina was always a place I wanted to live,” said Richardson, who played point guard at East Carolina for two years. “That played a big role in wanting to be here in North Carolina, and then re-joining Coach Keatts, that’s two no-brainers for me.”

Richardson was hired April 21, just in time to experience a “home” adidas recruiting event April 23-25 in Spartanburg, S.C., which was about 65 miles down the road from his previous stop.

“It was a whirlwind and it still has been,” Richardson said. “It just never stops now and we are still looking to take one [as the 12th scholarship player]. We are trying to dig up any stones unturned, and now we’ll be going to the Bahamas.”

Richardson admitted that he never could beat Keatts in ping pong. As for Keatts’ jump shot, there is work needed to be done. They often played pickup basketball together at Louisville, which is a staple of being on a Pitino coaching staff.

“Coach Keatts will let you know about that [the ping pong],” Richardson said. “I can’t give him the jumper. We played a lot of pick up. We played together and won a lot of games.”

Richardson’s son will be a 17-year-old senior point guard next year at Cary (N.C.) Panther Creek. Having a son helps him stay both young and understand the lingo and social media of the recruits he is chasing.

“I don’t know if I can get that age group figured out, but it helps,” Richardson said. “I think I am still cool a little bit.”

Richardson will be working with the NC State guards, and he seems some similarities in the approach of NC State sophomore shooting guard Terquavion Smith and former Louisville combo guard Russell Smith. The latter averaged 18.7 points per game during the national championship season.

“The two Smith guys can go get one,” Richardson said. “Russ had that New York/East Coast off the dribble reckless things than Terquavion does. Both have that ability to go get a lot of buckets.”

Justus was the last to get hired, and missed some of the transfer portal madness. However, his whirlwind stretch started with getting married, getting contacted by Keatts, recruiting for Arizona State in Tijuana, Mexico, and then formally getting hired by NC State.

Justus was hired June 8 and arrived right before NC State started team camp in mid-June. One day he’s recruiting for Arizona State, and the next he’s evaluating Pittsboro (N.C.) Seaforth junior power forward Jarin Stevenson and Pittsboro Northwood junior wing Drake Powell. Justus then hit the road for recruiting events in June and July.

“The first conversation I had [with Keatts] was the week of my wedding,” Justus said. “I got married May 28, and then I was taking my son back to Knoxville, Tenn., back to his house [and talked to Keatts, and was driving from Nashville to Knoxville.

“The final two conversations were in Tijuana, Mexico, when I was there for the FIBA under-18 tournament. It happened pretty quick. It was quick, but also great timing.”

Justus had a burning desire to get back to his home state with all the changes going on with his life. He grew up in Winston-Salem and attended Mount Tabor High. He played at North Carolina-Wilmington, where he graduated in 2004. He caught the coaching bug early and worked at Elon from 2004-08, and eventually was an assistant coach at Kentucky. His parents, John Justus and Mary Ann Justus, were Wake Forest institutions, with his mother an administrative assistant for men’s and women’s basketball, and his dad the Demon Deacons’ sports information director from 1983-99.

Growing up, he understood the magic of Reynolds Coliseum and he vividly remembers the Senior Night that former NC State star Todd Fuller had in 1996. Justus was raised on the ACC Tournament growing up in the 1980s and 1990s. He was a ball boy at the event.

“You saw the emotion of the coaching staff and saw the emotion of his family,” Justus said. “That was something I always remembered that I wanted to be a part of.

“I always thought that Reynolds and NC State fans were the best fans in the ACC.”

When Justus walked around the Rise Indoor Sports complex in Bermuda Run, N.C., while recruiting for the Wolfpack in mid-June, it felt like everyone knew who he was.

“The reason I got into coaching is the same reason I went into work today, and that is the relationships you have with young people,” Justus said. “That is what made my career special, both as a high school player in this state and basketball is important to so many people in Winston-Salem.”

Justus had known Keatts over the years and recruited players when Keatts coached at Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy. Justus and Watkins both learned from Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, and Justus played for Clemson coach Brad Brownell at UNCW, and Richardson just had coached under Brownell last year.

“We had conversations when he [Keatts] got the Wilmington job,” Justus said. “We had mutual connections.”

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