Kevin Keatts is energized by offseason roster developments
Offseason? ‘What offseason?’ would be the question asked by NC State basketball head coach Kevin Keatts.
“I think I echo this for most coaches in college basketball,” Keatts noted. “There’s no such thing as an offseason. Just lose the word offseason. Basketball has now become 365 [days], 24/7.”
Keatts cited deadlines like May 1 to enter the NCAA transfer portal without having to sit out a season and June 1 for withdrawing from the NBA Draft. Both of those were pertinent dates for Keatts’ program this offseason.
On the latter, he received mixed news. All-ACC redshirt sophomore guard Dereon Seabron turned pro, but All-ACC Freshman Team member and potential first-round NBA Draft pick Terquavion Smith decided to return to NC State.
“I’ve had a lot of guys who went through the process during my entire career,” Keatts noted, ”when I was an assistant coach, when I was at UNCW and now at NC State. Terquavion and I probably had the best communication of anybody that I’ve ever dealt with.
“He had a small group. It was just him and his dad, and then he had an NCAA-certified agent that we would have some conversations with.”
On-court decision-making and adding strength are two priorities that Keatts said NBA scouts identified for Smith this season.
Keatts added one more: leadership.
“He has no choice,” Keatts added. “He is locked in, and he is going to be the leader. He’s been through a process that most guys have not been through. He had a chance to sit down with some NBA officials, talk to them and got feedback.
“I think that’s great what he went through.”
Kevin Keatts updates roster status for 2021-22
With the exception of post players D.J. Burns Jr., a fifth-year senior transfer addition from Winthrop (with technically two seasons of eligibility remaining due to COVID-19 freezing status in 2020-21), and Dusan Mahorcic, a portal find from Utah and super senior next season, the entire roster is on campus at the moment.
The addition of Burns and Mahorcic completed a quest to add more post players. They join Ole Miss super senior guard Jarkel Joiner and La Salle fifth-year senior forward Jack Clark (who technically, like Burns, has two years of eligibility left) as the offseason transfer additions.
“We wanted to go out there and get bigger, stronger and older, and I think we did,” Kevin Keatts said.
There might be the potential to add one more player, Keatts confirmed. The Pack has a scholarship remaining.
“We’re trying to figure out where to go with that,” Keatts added. “We’ve got some good pieces. We’re going to be very patient in figuring that out. I know that’s weird because I’m telling you to be patient in the middle of June, but we’re not the only program that has a scholarship or two available.
“We just want the right fit. If we can find the right fit, then obviously we’ll bring someone in.”
Waiting for decisions from Smith and Seabron did complicate building the roster.
“The guys who we’re recruiting are asking questions about who we think is coming back,” Keatts confirmed.
Two players working their way back from injuries are redshirt junior forward Greg Gantt and sophomore forward Ernest Ross. Keatts said each is “making positive strides.”
Ross was recently cleared for full contact after breaking his ankle. Gantt has worked to bring down the added weight he gained while recovering from a sports hernia and is at 219 pounds. Keatts would like Gantt to get down to 215.
Ross and Gantt are part of six players returning from last season mixed with five newcomers, thus far. Keatts is comfortable with the roster turnover. He dealt with that while being a highly successful prep coach at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va.
“If there’s anybody who is not bothered by turning over a roster, it’s me,” Keatts said. “I get it. I understand the world that we’re in as far as transfers go. It doesn’t bother me as long as we go out and fill the needs that we have and get some really good players to come into our program.”
No changing approach for season
After going 11-21 last season, Kevin Keatts received a vote of confidence from NC State director of athletics Boo Corrigan. But while some may suspect Keatts feels the pressure to win this season, he insisted he is treating the upcoming campaign like he has any other.
“I think you guys know my background,” Keatts said. “I don’t like to lose. I’ve never really been a part of losing. I don’t want to make that something that happens all the time.
“I don’t feel any more pressure than I did when I took the job. When I come into program, I want to come in and be great in every area. We have a lot of things that we have to get better at.”
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