Kevin Keatts explains playing Terquavion Smith in foul trouble

Terquavion Smith did all he could for NC State in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, dropping 32 points against Creighton as the Wolfpack saw their season come to an end. But he also got into early foul trouble, and Kevin Keatts made the decision to keep him in the game despite those two early fouls.

After the big performance, Keatts shared the reason behind that move, and it was simple. He didn’t want Smith to risk ending his NC State career on the bench.

“From the time he got the second foul, he’s like, ‘Oh, I got it,'” Keatts said. “It was the end of the year, and, listen, these two guys have been tremendous. If I’m going to go down, I wasn’t going to have him sitting on the bench with two fouls. I made the decision. If he fouled out, he fouled out. Luckily, he didn’t. I haven’t said this enough, but what a special backcourt this has been. You look at two guys that are right over 17 points a game, they trust each other, they fight each other, they compete against each other, they love each other, they hang out with each other. It’s been a really special group.

“As a coach, you don’t get that all the time. You don’t get two guys who are really winners who compete the way they do. I’m really grateful that both of those guys decided to come to NC State and play for NC State because we wouldn’t be in the position without those guys. But I wasn’t going to sit him down. We were going to go out, and if we were going to go out and we’re going to win the game, it was because of our guard play.”

Smith could’ve tested the NBA Draft waters last year, but opted to come back for another year in Raleigh. It worked out well as he put up even better numbers than he did a season ago, averaging 17.9 points per game to lead the NC State offense.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony projected Smith to go No. 34 overall in his latest NBA mock draft, and he reflected on his two years with the Wolfpack if this is indeed the end for him.

“I’m just blessed and glad that I got to play with the group of guys I got to play with, and I’m glad I got the coaches I have and I’ve got the staff that I have, and I’m glad I chose NC State,” Smith said. “Every time I talked to Coach and when he was recruiting me all the way till now, everything he told me that would happen happened. I just had to believe in it and put the work in for it. I’m just glad to have this group of guys and the coaching staff that I have.”