Keatts nearing hire of James Johnson as first assistant

According to Joe Giglio at the N&O, NC State’s new head basketball coach Kevin Keatts is about to start filling out his staff.

Former Virginia Tech coach James Johnson is expected to join Kevin Keatts' staff at N.C. State

— Joe Giglio (@jwgiglio) March 21, 2017

First up seems to be James Johnson, the former Virginia Tech head coach. Johnson and Keatts were teammates at Ferrum College in Virginia. They both had stints at Hargrave (Johnson’s was only 1 year) before moving into the college ranks. Johnson has been an assistant at ODU, College of Charleston, Penn State, George Mason (during their Final Four run), Virginia Tech, Clemson and now Miami.

After the Clemson gig, Johnson went back to V-Tech and moved into the head coaching role. That, however, didn’t go over so well. Johnson was 22-41 prior to his release.