NC State fires Kevin Keatts after 8 years, Final Four in 2024

Kevin Keatts has been fired as the boys’s basketball coach at NC State, the varsity introduced Sunday, making the transfer lower than one yr after he led the Wolfpack to the Last 4.

The Wolfpack went 12-19 this season, together with a 5-15 file within the ACC. They didn’t qualify for this yr’s convention event.

Keatts was on the helm for eight seasons, taking NC State to 3 NCAA tournaments. He completed his time in Raleigh with an general file of 151-113, going 69-84 in ACC play.

“I am extremely proud of what we accomplished during my time here,” Keatts said on social media, noting his tenure began with an NCAA investigation from the earlier workers. “… As we enter this new era of college sports, I wholeheartedly believe that I am leaving the program in better position to succeed than when I started — and that the basketball program will continue to thrive when supported to the level necessary to compete.”

He concluded his message by saying he was “officially entering the portal.”

Two potential targets for NC State are VCU’s Ryan Odom and McNeese’s Will Wade, sources instructed ESPN.

“I want to thank Coach Keatts for his contributions to NC State and for always representing the university with class,” athletic director Boo Corrigan mentioned in a press release. “He will always have a treasured place in Wolfpack history for the accomplishments of his 2023-24 squad and I appreciate the passion he brought to this role. We wish him and his family the best in the future.”

Keatts took over in 2017, main NC State to the NCAA event in his first season with this system. The Wolfpack had been on the bubble the following two seasons however doubtless would have sneaked into the 2020 event if it had not been canceled as a result of COVID-19. They struggled in 2021 and 2022, going 25-36 in these two seasons.

However Keatts turned it round in 2023, guiding NC State again to the NCAA event earlier than final season’s historic run by way of the ACC and NCAA tournaments. The Wolfpack ended the 2023-24 common season on a four-game dropping streak and appeared poised to overlook the postseason solely, however they gained 5 video games in 5 days on the ACC event — together with victories over Duke and North Carolina — to earn the league’s automated bid.

As an 11-seed within the NCAA event, NC State beat Texas Tech and Oakland, then they upset Marquette and Duke to advance to this system’s first Last 4 since 1983.

Keatts’ contract was routinely prolonged by two seasons as a result of run, that means NC State will owe him round $7 million.