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VIDEO: Kevin Keatts Press Conference After NC State’s 78-71 Victory Over #7 Auburn

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5 years ago

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Head Coach Kevin Keatts met with the media for his postgame press conference after his team knocked off #7 Auburn 78-71 in PNC Arena last night. The video is ABOVE, and a bulleted breakdown is BELOW.

  • Probably the most pressure I’ve ever had going into a game. When they hand out 1,000 shirts that say “Kevin Keatts is a Winner,” you better win that game, or those shirts aren’t going to be good.
  • Give a lot of credit to Auburn. Bruce Pearl has put together an unbelievable team. I believe they have Elite Eight or Final Four talent. They are tremendous. Tough to guard. Very similar to us in the way that they pressure you.
  • Both teams had 13 assists.
  • We had 22 turnovers, which was uncharacteristic of us.
  • We forced them into 25 turnovers and had seven steals.
  • I thought our guys came out to play. Thought we competed. Thought we fought for 40 minutes, which is what I’ve been asking them to do. Great program win for us and we want to continue to build on this.
  • I want Markell Johnson to stay aggressive. He has the ability to be one of the best guards in the nation when he stays aggressive. That is on both ends of the floor. I don’t like for him to take breaks. I like for him to stay engaged and get after it. I jumped all over him 1 time when he went under a screen, and they made a shot. From that point on, he became very offensive-minded. I like where he is right now. He’s competing hard for us. He’s growing up before our eyes. It’s hard to believe that he’s been here three years, but he’s playing a great role for us.
  • The 4 guys I really challenge are the 4 guys that have played for me before. I’m talking about Markell Johnson, Braxton Beverly, Torin Dorn, and CJ Bryce. Because we have so many new pieces, I need those guys to be leaders, and I think they are maturing in that area.
  • I love my team. I’ve said that all along. I think that we have a very good team. When you look at the guys we have played, especially the 4 Power 5 teams, we could easily be undefeated against them.
  • I like our scheduling. We played 2 Power 5 teams on a neutral court. We went into 1 of the most hostile environments in the country in Wisconsin, and had our chances to win.
  • I thought Wolfpack Nation was great tonight.
  • I thought Devon Daniels was great. In the second half I thought Markell Johnson and Devon Daniels were playing HORSE for a while. I think they scored all the points to start the second half. Give him credit. He could’ve pouted because he was coming off the bench. I felt like Braxton Beverly has been playing really great basketball since the Penn State game. I wanted to put him in the lineup, but told Devon to stay ready. He stayed ready and he played well off the bench.
  • That’s the place where we’re maturing (Defensively). Today’s kids define how they’re playing by whether the ball goes in the hole or not. If you’re not scoring, that’s not the end of the world, but make sure the other team isn’t scoring. We’re maturing in that area, and a lot of time it takes the air out of you. When we were up 16-6, I think Auburn struggled defensively because the ball wasn’t going in.
  • We didn’t accidentally become 10-1. Our guys have worked extremely hard to get there. Hopefully, we’re going to continue to get better and stay hungry and stay humble.
  • If the Wisconsin game was a learning opportunity for us, I’ll take that loss any time if we’re going to continue to get better from it.
  • Are you sure we are going to get national exposure? (smile on face) I think we’ll be fine. We are going to stay in the moment. I am going to take their phones away so they can’t use Twitter or Instagram, or for any of you guys that still use Facebook, I’m going to take that away too.
  • If it happens, it happens. I said this before the game…I really don’t care about rankings. If I’m in the Top-25, that’s okay. If I’m not, I’m okay. I look at the rankings when it comes time to pick the teams for the NCAA Tournament. I want to have the opportunity to win the conference regular season and the ACC Tournament.

P.S. Kevin Keatts is a Top-10 Killer. 

ACCDN Highlight Reel of the Game

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Matthew is Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, and is in charge of business strategy. He is an NC State alum who majored in business. Matthew is also the lead pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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NC State Basketball

NC State’s Mohamed Diarra Will Not Return to NC State for Final Season

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8 mins ago

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April 24, 2024

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NC State Forward Mohamed Diarra will not be returning to NC State for his final season of eligibility. Rather, he will give 100% of his focus to pursuing his professional career.

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Diarra is declaring for the NBA Draft, and will explore that possibility as far as it goes, but the likelihood of him playing professionally in his home country of France are high.

Diarra was a significant player for NC State all season long, averaging 6.3 points and 7.8 rebounds (team high), but his impact in March was tremendous, recording 10+ rebounds in 7 of the Wolfpack’s 10 postseason games, and five of those performances were double-doubles.

Wolfpack fans will always remember the grit and mental toughness that Diarra put on display in the NCAA Tournament, playing game-after-game while fasting for Ramadan.

The Wolfpack’s frontcourt just got a little bit thinner. In the past two weeks, NC State has lost Diarra and Ernest Ross.  Ben Middlebrooks is returning, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield transferred in from Louisville. Dontrez Styles transferred in from Georgetown, and while he is more of a Small Forward, in certain lineups, he could play the Small 4 position. With all that being said, I fully expect NC State to try to find another post player in the Transfer Portal with Diarra’s exodus now official.

With Diarra not returning in 2024, NC State now has 2 scholarships available for next season.

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NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

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1 day ago

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April 23, 2024

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Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) has announced his commitment to NC State!

 

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A post shared by Tipton Edits (@tiptonedits)

This past year, James averaged 12.6 points per game (3rd on the team) and 5 rebounds. He’s extremely physical and aggressive, taking 47% of his field goal attempts at the rim (making 46%). As a result, he draws a lot of fouls, ranking 10th in the ACC in Fouls Drawn, and 4th in Free Throw Rate. James made opponents pay this year when they put him on the line, making 81.8% from the charity stripe, which ranked 15th in the ACC.

James shot the ball better as a Redshirt Freshman, than he did this past season. His Effective Field Goal Percentage in 2022-23 was 55.8%, which ranked 19th in the ACC, and his True Shooting Percentage of 59.6% ranked 14th.

News broke about James entering the Transfer Portal back on March 25th, and NC State was quick to reach out. Kevin Keatts and his staff recruited the former 4-star prospect out of high school heavily, but he ultimately chose the Cardinals.

After redshirting his first year in Louisville due to torn achilles, James has been a starter for the Cardinals the past two years.

He does have the ability to knock down a three, making 34.8% for his career.

James has 2 years of eligibility remaining. With James’ commitment, NC State currently has 1 scholarship available for next season.

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NC State Basketball

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill is on a Visit to NC State

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2 days ago

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April 22, 2024

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Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) confirmed with me that he is currently on a visit at NC State.

Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons this season. He earned 1st Team All-MAC honors. Even though he was only at Bowling Green one season, he had one of the best seasons in school history, scoring 698 points, which ranks 5th all-time in program history for a single season.

For his first two years of collegiate ball, Hill played for Southern Union State College (JUCO) in Alabama. In 2022-23, Hill earned 3rd Team NJCAA All-American honors, and ranked as the #32 overall Junior College prospect.

247Sports ranks Hill as a 4-Star Transfer Prospect, and the #78 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.

According to a source, the NC State Coaching Staff is extremely high on Hill, and they are recruiting him as a Point Guard.

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NC State Basketball

What did an ACC Title & Final Four Mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.?

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2 days ago

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April 22, 2024

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What did an ACC Title & Final Four mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.? The man who won the ACC Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 gave me a statement.

It means a lot. It means a lot to the university, the state of North Carolina and a lot more to my dad, grandma, and myself. They have been NC State fans since forever, so their excitement level was though the roof when they saw BOTH of our basketball teams shining like that. It was a great feeling!

2017 was Smith Jr.’s only year of College ball, averaging 18.1 points, 6.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals. He earned 2nd Team All-ACC honors, and obviously, he earned a spot on the ACC All-Freshman Team.

DSJ was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 9th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Smith Jr. just wrapped up his 7th season in the NBA. This was his 1st season with Brooklyn, playing in 56 games for the Nets. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, averaging 18.9 minutes per contest.

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