First-year NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts is off to a good start. With the commitment of Ian Steere, the program continues to improve.
Ian Steere is rated a three-star recruit and ranked at No. 105 in the class of 2018 by 247Sports. The Fayetteville, North Carolina native originally committed to Creighton on July 6, but de-committed and reopened his recruitment on Sept. 22. NC State and Missouri were the major teams to receive visits after this date. In the end, it was the Wolfpack who received the commitment from Steere.
With the forward choosing NC State, that makes the second commit for 2018, joining another forward in Immanuel Bates, the No. 98 player by 247sports. Bates is the more athletic and versatile player while Steere is more of a post threat at 230 pounds. These two should complement each other while on the court, with both being able to play quality defense and rebound.
It is important for Keatts to have his frontcourt for the future set up as Abdul-Malik Abu is graduating and Omer Yurtseven could be playing his last year with the program depending on how well he meshes with the new staff.
Also, there appears to be a culture overhaul with the program. Under former head coach Mark Gottfried, there were plenty of highlight-reel athletes, but there was not enough coherence to make a difference. With the lack of defense and players not playing together as a team, Keatts has brought in more grit and grind players. They might not make the highlight reel, but they will win more games than the previous teams.
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NC State will not be standing in line for the top players in the recruiting class, but getting players around the top 100 is a very solid group for the program looking to get back in the ACC conversation. How far can Keatts take the program in his first few seasons will rest on these recruits.