Just over eleven months after taking NC State on a surprise run to the Final Four, Kevin Keatts has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the Wolfpack. A former national champion as an assistant at Louisville, Keatts had been entrenched at NC State since 2017 and has over two decades of head coaching experience both at the high school and college level, but his recent run in Raleigh just wasn’t enough.
Keatts took NC State to just three NCAA Tournaments in his eight seasons and had NC State just 12-19 this season, with a 16th place finish in a historically weak ACC. Many figured last year’s deep postseason run would’ve bought Keatts more leeway, but the brass in Raleigh is making a change. The next head coach will have heightened expectations and likely more NIL support from the school.
There are a number of directions that the Wolfpack can go with this next hire, though they’ll likely want to make a splashy hire or bring in someone with significant experience. We’ll briefly consider a number of potential names here. Is the next leader of NC State basketball on our list?
Justin Gainey
The only non-head coach on the list, Gainey played point guard at NC State in the late 90’s and was later on staff under Herb Sendek a decade later. He’s bounced around at half a dozen other schools as an assistant, recently working at Arizona and Marquette. Gainey has been associate head coach under Rick Barnes at Tennessee for three years and seems ready for his shot, though jumping right into an ACC head coaching job would be quite the move.
Alan Huss
After success at the high school level for a decade, Huss has quickly adhered himself at the collegiate level. He aided some really solid teams at New Mexico and Creighton before taking over at High Point two seasons ago. Although he has just these two years of collegiate head coaching experience, he’s just taken the Panthers to their first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. Would he be able to maneuver jumping from the Big South to the ACC? Either way there’s no question he’s a coach on the rise, with an 80% winning percentage.
Ben McCollum
Another coach rising through the ranks is McCollum, who went on an absolute tear at his alma mater, coaching D2 Northwest Missouri State to four national championships. After many years, he finally jumped to the D1 level at Drake and has the Bulldogs on the precipice of the NCAA Tournament with a fantastic first season. The bottom line is that McCollum is an absolute winner who seems destined to end up at power conference program someday, but would the native Iowan stay at Drake and wait for a different job to open up?
Bucky McMillan
Whether or not he’d be the best fit at NC State, McMillan is another name on the rising who’s going to get his chance someday soon. He was one of the nation’s most successful high school coaches in Birmingham before taking the Samford job back in 2020. He’s won a pair of SoCon regular season crowns and took the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament last season, making great strides in a hurry with this program. There are currently two other ACC head coaches who made the transition from the SoCon, though McMillan still might not be one of the first names that NC State considers.
Ryan Odom
Still infamous for his historic upset while at UMBC, Odom has extensive coaching experience and has even worked in the ACC. He’s been head coach at four different schools and was also an assistant for seven years at Virginia Tech. His recent work with both Utah State and VCU has been just as outstanding as that breakthrough with the Retrievers and he almost seems destined for a job like NC State or Virginia in one of these offseasons. He’s definitely one of the more high-profile and experienced names on this list.
Richard Pitino
Not just the son of one of the sport’s greatest coaches, Pitino has carved his own path and really revitalized his head coaching career these last few seasons. After great work at FIU, his success stalled at Minnesota, but his recent work suggests he’s due for a second shot at the power conference level. Pitino took over at New Mexico in 2021 and has really turned things around in Albuquerque, winning the MWC regular season crown and having the Lobos set for another trip to the NCAA Tournament. The former Florida and Louisville assistant is a great recruiter and that’s certainly a big box for NC State to check in this search.
Bob Richey
While his star may have dulled recently, Richey is another rising name in coaching circles who should still get looks for higher jobs. He became Furman’s head coach in 2017 at just 34 years old and has done wonderful work with the Paladins. Richey has won 180 games already in these eight seasons, finishing top half in the SoCon every season. Most notably, his team upset Virginia during the 2023 NCAA Tournament, so he may know a thing or two about game planning against the ACC.
Tony Skinn
Yet another rising name, Skinn might not be on the move just quite yet unless the right job comes along. He was a star guard on George Mason’s Final Four team back in 2006 and has been head coach at his alma mater since 2023. Between then, he played internationally and was an assistant at prominent schools like Ohio State and Maryland. Since returning, he’s made the Patriots a top team in the A-10 in just two years and will certainly get plenty of looks from more prominent programs, especially with his prior experience on Big Ten and Big East benches.
Preston Spradlin
A former Kentucky grad assistant under John Calipari, Spradlin got his head coaching start when he was named interim head coach at Morehead State late in 2016 after a coaching change. He really caught on, taking the Eagles to a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament and four straight 20-win seasons. Spradlin was hired at James Madison this past offseason and won the regular season crown right out the gate in the Sun Belt. He’s a major name on the rise, has shown he can win at multiple schools, and has that experience on staffs at much more prominent schools.
Will Wade
The name that most power conferences will want their schools to target, Wade has consistently been a winner everywhere he’s been. Even before becoming a head coach, he was on that VCU staff when the Rams went to the Final Four in 2011. He won games leading Chattanooga, VCU, and LSU before recruiting allegations ended his tenure in Baton Rouge. Wade has been masterful these last two seasons at McNeese State and is due for another big time shot. It’s all about him finding the right fit at a school willing to disregard his violations from just a few years ago.