New Head Basketball Coach Kevin Keatts takes over a very proud NC State program. This proud program has won 2 NCAA National championships, been to 5 Final Fours, won 13 regulars season conference titles and made 26 NCAA Tournament appearances. In fact, under previous Head Coach Mark Gottfried, NC State had appeared in 4 of the previous 6 NCAA Tournaments with two Sweet 16 Appearances.
Keatts himself is no stranger to college basketball success. In his three seasons as the Head Coach at UNC-Wilmington, Keatts finished first (either outright or tied) in the CAA all three seasons. He made two NCAA tournament appearances and finished with a 72-28 overall record (72%). Keatts was also an assistant coach at Louisville during their 2013 run to the NCAA National Champion.
The last two seasons were counted as a hiccup for the program. Over the two year period they finished 31-34 overall, going 9-27 in the ACC finishing in 13th place both seasons.
Keatts inherits a roster that is filled with talent. He has a 5-star player (in Omer Yurtseven), 3 4-stars and 4 3-stars. In his first recruiting class, Keatts also brought in a 4-start prospect in Lavar Batts. He currently has two transfers sitting out, former 4-star transfer from Utah Devan Daniels and reigning CAA Player of the Year CJ Bryce.
This team has a lot more going for it than many are giving it credit for…
Questions:
Who Will Man the Point Guard'
This team is deep with wings and forward. Especially with the way Keatts plays, there are a lot of players to fit what he does, and provide depth and multiple looks. On paper, the only position of question may be the point guard spot. This is not to say the cupboard is bare, Keatts has a lot of talent at the point guard spot, the question comes because that talent is young. 4-star recruit Lavar Batts is probably the most talented player, but he was play 3A basketball at this time last year. Markell Johnson will probably get the first crack at it, but he is more of a true combo guard. There are also questions about true freshman Braxton Beverly