Just one year ago, NC State basketball was one of the best stories in all of sports. 12 months later, a disaster of a season has finally come to an end, and a final decision has been made on the future of head coach Kevin Keatts.
NC State is firing Keatts less than 24 hours after the Wolfpack’s regular season ended with a dramatic loss to Miami, according to Joe Giglio of OG Media.
Blowing a double-digit lead against Miami, the worst team in the ACC, may have been the final straw for Keatts, but things had been trending this way for a while over the course of the 2024-25 campaign. NC State has a 12-19 overall record and finished 16th in a lackluster 18-team ACC at 5-15 in league play.
Shortly after the move was announced, Keatts released a statement on social media.
— Kevin Keatts (@CoachKeattsNCSU) March 9, 2025
“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,” part of the statement read. “Finally, thank you to all the players, assistant coaches, managers, staff and supporters that joined my family and I on this journey. I am officially entering the portal.”
Keatts and NC State were the talk of college basketball last March, when they shocked the world with a stunning ACC Tournament championship despite finishing 10th in the conference during the regular season. With that, the Wolfpack qualified for the NCAA Tournament and made a Cinderella run to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed before losing to Purdue.
Keatts spent much of last season on the hot seat before the Wolfpack made that run, but his job seemed safe after taking NC State deep into the Big Dance. However, another lackluster regular season was enough to turn the tide and now the program is making a change.
Keatts finishes his eight-year stint at NC State with a 151-113 record and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
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