NC State takes on the University of Missouri Kansas City at Reynolds Coliseum on Saturday at 2pm. Kevin Keatts talked to the media about the upcoming game. Here is the summary.
Kevin Keatts
SC State’s Ty Solomon and his dad called Keatts to let him know everything is good and he’s been released from the hospital.
Team took Sunday and Monday off to heal up. Keatts and team have worked on themselves the past few days and these next two days they will work on prepping for UMKC
Abu is doing better. Knee is feeling better and he has started practicing again. Still unsure if he will play on Saturday.
Abu’s knee soreness is normal and he should be fine. Sometimes for superior athletes who haven’t ever been injured like that, it’s more mental.
Excited to play in Reynolds. Grew up seeing great games played there and glad they do one game a year there.
Biggest takeaway from SC State was getting off to great start. Hadn’t really gotten off to good starts at home. Played well on both ends of the floor. Got out in transition.
Al Freeman
Extra time off has been great. Been able to work on themselves. Fix some kinks and really compete in practice.
Against grat teams, especially in ACC, the team has to get off to a good start. Can’t get down like they did to Penn State. Need to make sure they play a full 40 minutes with no mental lapses.
Team is used to playing back to back with some fatigue, so guys aren’t used to this much time in between games.
Tough practices had team ready for first 7 games.
Omer and Lennard’s play make it easier on guards. In the future teams will double down, opening up shots for guards or rotations that will allow drives
Losses were tough, but team focused on defense, getting into transition and controlling the pace. Last two games they have done that.
Going to Bahamas was good to see how team matched up with top major teams.
Wants to create chaos on the defensive end. Need to make point to point passes tough and get deflections.
Excited for the atmosphere in Reynolds. Wished they had more games in Reynolds and maybe some ACC games.
Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar (6’4″) is currently on an Official Visit to NC State.
Sources tell me Caitlin Weimar (6’4” Forward transfer from Boston U) is currently on a visit to NC State.
She ranked 44th in D1 (scoring) last season at 18.7 ppg & 15th in rebounding at 10.6 rpg, in addition to 2.0 apg, 1.3 spg & 2.8 bpg. pic.twitter.com/d2y4jACx2K
Weimar is the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, and has been named Defensive Player of the Year the past two years. She has earned 1st Team Patriot League Honors the past two seasons.
This year, Weimar averaged 18.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. As a Junior, she averaged 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds. She shot 55.5% this year, and 59.7% last year.
With NC State not having River Baldwin at Center next year, adding Weimar is an extremely exciting possibility.
What did an ACC Title & Final Four mean to NC State Legend TJ Warren? I caught up with the man who won the ACC Player of the Year Award in 2014 to get his take.
What was it like for you watching NC State go from the #10 seed in the ACC Tournament, to winning the Championship, to going to the Final Four?
I’m a second generation Wolfpack basketball player. Wolf blood runs through my veins, so to be able to witness a ride like that was truly amazing.
What did this run say about Kevin Keatts and these players? In what ways did you see them adapt, change or persevere?
I think that is speaks to the heart that the players have. As a 10th seed in the ACC tournament, it’s easy to pack it in and look towards the offseason, but they did the opposite. They bonded together over adversity and that’s what made them so endearing. Hard work in the face of adversity, that’s something that Wolfpack fans can relate to.
As one of the best players to ever wear the Red & White, what did this run mean to you personally?
As I mentioned earlier, NCSU hoops has been in my family for a long time, so it meant a whole lot personally. This run definitely took me back to some of the fond memories I have of putting on the Red & White and playing in front of a packed house at the PNC.
What was the most memorable moment for you?
I think Mike’s shot to tie the game at the end of regulation. It just felt like destiny at that point. Anytime you get to beat UNC and Duke days apart is special too.
How do you think this run can change things for the NC State Basketball program going forward?
I think that it puts us back on the national radar where we belong. After a magical run like that, I think it makes players want to be a part of that. A run like that reinvigorates a program definitely.
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Warren is 1 of only 6 NC State players to ever be named the ACC Player of the Year. In his Sophomore season, Warren was named a 2nd Team All-American by Sporting News and the AP. He averaged 24.9 points per game, which is the 5th best mark in a single season in NC State history. Warren scored 871 points that year, which is the most points ever scored in a single season by a Wolfpack player.
TJ was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 14th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
Ross played in 14 games this year, averaging 3.4 minutes per contest. After playing in 34 games last season, averaging 11.4 minutes per contest, Ross saw his participation dip to a career low this season, but that didn’t for a second break his infectious personality. On the sideline, you could count on Ross every single game to be the heart and soul of the Wolfpack on the bench. To watch a player who played as little as he did, care as much as he did, makes me super proud that this young man represented NC State so well.
Ross was a consensus 4-star player in the 2021 recruiting class, with 247Sports ranking him as the #60 overall player nationally. ESPN ranked him as the #5 overall player in the state of Florida.