NC State picked up their 20th win in head coach Kevin Keatts first season last night, defeating #25 FSU 92-72.
It was their 10th ACC victory of the season. The last 1st-year NC State Head Coach to win 10 ACC games was Press Maravich in 1964-65 (10-4 ACC Record).
It was their 5th victory over a Top-25 opponent. The last time NC State picked up 5 Top-25 victories in a single season was back in 1990-91, and this is only the 9th time its ever been done.
The Wolfpack has now won 4 consecutive ACC games for the first time since 2006.
They currently sit in 4th place in the ACC with two regular-season games remaining.
Obviously, the season isn’t over. There are two more games, the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament (Yes, I said it).
But let’s take a look at how Keatts 1st year resume compares to other 1st year coaches in NC State history.
Total Victories
Everett Case holds the record for the most wins by a 1st-year head coach. In 1946-47, he led NC State to a 26-5 record, an 11-2 record in the Southern Conference (Regular Season Champs) and a Southern Conference Tournament Championship. Five of the Twenty-Six wins came in the Southern Conference Tournament and the NIT.
Mark Gottfried’s Wolfpack squad finished with a 24-13 overall record, and a 9-7 ACC record (T-4th). Four of the Twenty-Four wins came in the ACC and the NCAA Tournaments.
Press Maravich led NC State to a 21-5 overall record in his 1st year at the helm, and a 10-4 ACC record (T-2nd). They also went on to win the ACC Tournament. Four of the Twenty-One wins came in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments.
Les Robinson was 20-11 in his first season at NC State and 8-6 (T-3rd) in conference play. Two of the Twenty wins came in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments.
Sidney Lowe was 20-16 in his first year, and 5-11 in ACC play (T-10th). Five of the Twenty wins came in the ACC and NIT Tournaments.
If Keatts wins one of the final two regular-season games, he will tie Maravich for the most regular season wins ever by a first-year coach at NC State. If he wins both, he will be in a league of his own.
ACC Record
Everett Case’s 11 Southern Conference wins in his first season are the most conference wins by an NC State coach in their first year.
Keatts has already tied Maravich for the most ACC wins in a coach’s 1st season.
Obviously, prior coaches didn’t play an 18-game ACC slate like we do in the present, so ACC winning percentage might be a more accurate way to look at this.
Everett Case (Southern Conference) – 84.6%
Press Maravich – 71.4%
Kevin Keatts (If he wins the next 2 games) – 66.7%
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To sum things up, if Kevin Keatts picks up 12 ACC wins, it will be only the 5th time in NC State history.
If Keatts wins the next two games, Keatts will have won the most regular season games by a first-year coach at NC State.
If the Wolfpack wins the next two games and then picks up 4 more wins in the ACC and NCAA tournaments, Keatts can tie Maravich’s record for the most wins by a first-year coach in NC State history.
Or maybe he just picks up more than four. Don’t doubt Kevin Keatts.