NC State balancing enjoying, locking in at Final Four
GLENDALE, Ariz. — NC State coach Kevin Keatts made a simple comparison to his team’s stay at the Final Four this weekend: when someone checks into a hotel, they ask if they’re here for business or pleasure.
And if the Wolfpack was asked that question when it checked into the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Phoenix on Wednesday, Keatts wanted his team’s answer to be both.
“I’ve talked to these guys about having fun, then getting down to business,” Keatts said Thursday in his initial Final Four press conference. “I want 100% business by the time we get to Saturday. This group has fun. They understand how to have fun. I don’t want to take that away from them.”
The seventh-year coach has been on college basketball’s biggest stage twice, both with as an assistant at Louisville in 2012 and 2013. With this being NC State’s first trip to the Final Four since 1983, its last national championship season, Keatts wanted his team to soak it all in.
He said it could be a nearly 50-50 enjoyment vs. business practice on Thursday, with a 75-25 practice Friday before a 100% locked in mindset for the game Saturday against top-seed Purdue.
For practically NC State’s entire roster, they grew up watching the Final Four on TV. Graduate guard Casey Morsell sat with his father, Michael, and made it an appointment TV time. Even junior forward Mohamed Diarra, who grew up in France, knew how big of a deal the Final Four was.
Now, they are living it at State Farm Stadium in the middle of the Arizona desert.
“It’s a great feeling, man,” Diarra said of being at the Final Four. “Everybody dreams about this moment. Everybody dreams when they’re kids about playing in the Final Four. Right now, we’re here. It’s a great moment.”
The entire Wolfpack locker room was buzzing with excitement during the open locker room portion for the media on Thursday afternoon. NC State’s logos were all over the place, including wrapped on the door, while the team’s tournament run was documented on an oversized bracket against the wall.
In their first practice on the court inside the Arizona Cardinals’ football stadium, Keatts wanted his team to continue to soak in the moment. For the first time this season, he invited each player to bring their phone to practice to gather photos and videos of the big stage.
“I wanted to make sure they got pictures and memories,” Keatts said. “It won’t happen again. I just wanted them to enjoy that moment before we started practice.”
For junior forward Ernest Ross, the trip to the Phoenix area checked an accomplishment off his bucket list.
“It’s a dream come true,” Ross said. “It’s also something that we’ve been working toward for a long time, it’s unbelievable.”
But Ross, who has been a big energy spark in the locker room with his personality, is one of the three scholarship players left from NC State’s 11-21 (4-16 ACC) team from two years ago.
If someone told him then what the next two seasons would hold, would Ross have believed them?
“Yes,” Ross said. “The hard work and dedication, staying in the gym, believing in coach and him believing in us, we felt we always had opportunities. People hadn’t given us the time to shine and show it, but now we have the platform to show our talent and everything that we can do.”
Now, the Wolfpack is 40 minutes away from a national championship game appearance. But Purdue stands in its way, which it will tipoff against Saturday at 6:10 p.m. ET on TBS.
