NC State basketball is having a ton of recruiting success under new head coach Kevin Keatts. What does this mean for the future of the Wolf Pack?
Former UNC-Wilmington and now current Wolf Pack head coach Kevin Keatts has made it very clear how his roster is going to look with his first recruiting class. He focused first on the frontline with top-100 forwards Ian Steere and Manny Bates. Both players are athletic and versatile but come with a defensive mentality.
The third recruit committed a little while ago in the form of wing Jericole Hellums, who has a ton of upside in his game. One wing wasn’t enough, though, as another one comes into the fold in 6’7″ Saddiq Bey. 247sports Composite has him ranked No. 83, and similar to Hellums, he is considered a late riser with a high ceiling.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Keatts has a knack for finding diamonds in the rough. As a former coach in the Colonial Athletic Conference, he’s always had to find talent that power five schools pass on. Now at NC State, he still has that mentality, but more so in the realm of going after top-100 talent that could end up in the top-50, rather than going for the home runs.
This is now the fourth four-star commit for NC State and their class is currently ranked No. 12 in the 247sports class rankings for 2018. It hasn’t been all great news, as the NCAA inexplicably denied Braxton Beverly’s request to play this season after previously taking classes at Ohio State.
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Still, this class is a double win for Keatts. Not only are these guys players that can be plugged in immediately, these are likely four-year players. And even if they go pro early, it’s still good publicity for a program trying to keep up with North Carolina and Duke. It’s way too early to declare the Wolf Pack a threat to their local heavyweight rivals, but fans couldn’t have asked for a better start in the beginning phase of the Keatts era.