With the NC State Wolfpack losing to Miami (Fl) 72-70 to end its regular season outside of the ACC Tournament, Head Coach Kevin Keatts was fired by the school.
NC State Athletics Director Boo Corrigan confirmed the firing in a statement.
“I want to thank Coach Keatts for his contributions to NC State and for always representing the university with class,” the statement read. “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.”
For his part, Keatts released a statement on social media, half-jokingly stating that he is “officially entering the portal.”
Keatts was no stranger to job insecurity with many thinking last year might’ve been the nail in his coffin in Raleigh until a stunning run in March saved his job.
Entering the ACC Tournament as a No. 10 seed and having lost seven of its last nine games, NC State was far from any NCAA Tournament radars.
In Washington D.C., however, the Wolfpack got hot, beating Louisville, Syracuse, No. 11 Duke, Virginia and No. 4 North Carolina en route to a stunning ACC Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
This improbable change in performance continued in the big dance as the Wolfpack, given a No. 11 seed, bested No. 6 Texas Tech in the first round, took down Oakland – fresh off an upset of No. 3 Kentucky – in the second round, stunned No. 2 Marquette in the Sweet Sixteen and even knocked off No. 4 Duke, again, in the Elite Eight.
NC State was finally taken down in the Final Four by eventual runner-up No. 1 Purdue, but the hot streak with internet sensation D.J. Burns Jr. on the roster left a lasting impression and earned Keatts a two-year extension.
With his firing, NC State owes Keatts a buyout of $7.8 million dollars, though, if he is hired elsewhere, his new job will offset a portion of that money.
The move by the school could hardly be considered a rash one as, for a coach who’s run saved his job, the 2024-25 season has not been kind to NC State.
After not taking any particularly poor losses in non-conference play, though it also didn’t get any strong wins, NC State has struggled immensely in ACC play.
The Wolfpack’s most recent loss to Miami (Fl), another team that is not retaining its head coach, ended its season at just 12-19 overall and 5-15 in the conference, knocking it out of the ACC Tournament with the conference’s expansion meaning not all teams will make the postseason.
Making matters worse for Keatts, the ACC is experiencing an extremely poor season overall with the once famed conference gauntlet being relegated to fifth in the conference rankings, just narrowly beating out the A10 and Mountain West.
Despite once being one of the best conferences in college basketball, the ACC is only expected to get three teams — Duke, Clemson, Louisville — into the NCAA Tournament with only one more, North Carolina, having any real chance of sneaking its way in after SMU’s blunder against Florida State. The Mustangs also don’t have a single Quad-1 win on their resume.
Instead of taking advantage of this down year, however, NC State was a major part of the problem, suffering a nine-game losing streak in conference play at one point.
Looking around the conference, Keatts is far from alone in terms of ACC coaches not set to return next year as the conference looks desperately to rebuild its once famed status.
First, the school that ended Keatts’ career, Miami (Fl), saw legendary head coach Jim Larranaga step down midway through the season and the Hurricanes have already hired former Kentucky and Duke assistant Jai Lucas to fill the role.
Former Kentucky assistant Leonard Hamilton also announced he’d be stepping down at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season for Florida State. Outside of solid confirmations, multiple coaches are struggling at their respective schools and, if they are not cut loose this season, will enter the 2025-26 season on the hot seat. This list includes the likes of Boston College’s Earl Grant, Syracuse’s Red Autry, Virginia interim Ron Sanchez — who took over after Tony Bennett stepped down in the preseason — and possibly Virginia Tech’s Mike Young.
None of that is to mention the fact that North Carolina’s Hubert Davis had calls for his job as the Tar Heels are trending toward missing an NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years after first doing so as a preseason No. 1 seed in 2022-23. The school, instead, revealed that Davis had signed an extension through 2030 and the school would be hiring a general manager to assist him.
All in all, it seems like an uphill battle for the ACC to get back to the highest level of the sport, especially with how dominant the SEC has been this year, but the next two seasons are destined to create plenty of buzz within the coaching carousel and have SEC programs take steps to ensure they don’t lose the coaches who helped build the conference into what it is today.
