NC State Basketball: In-depth look at Wolfpack Head Coach Kevin Keatts

By Zac Voynow | Jan 14, 2019

WICHITA, KS - MARCH 15: Head coach Kevin Keatts of the North Carolina State Wolfpack calls out instructions in the first half against the Seton Hall Pirates during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at INTRUST Arena on March 15, 2018 in Wichita, Kansas. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) /

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CHAPEL HILL, NC – JANUARY 27: Head coach Kevin Keatts of the North Carolina State Wolfpack watches his team during their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center on January 27, 2018 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina State won 95-91 in overtime. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

Kevin Keatts is the current head coach for NC State Basketball, but he’s made several stops along the way to becoming a successful ACC coach.

The phrase “Kevin Keatts is a winner” gained traction during his time at UNC Wilmington. It’s now caught fire as the 46 year old is having short-term success many didn’t expect at NC State Basketball.

We know Coach Keatts as the fiery, yet personable guy whose booming voice echoes through PNC Arena by day, and buys his players ice cream after a win by night. However, it’s taken him a surprisingly brief amount of time to get to where he is today. Usually when you’re dealing with head coaches in power house conferences, you’ll see old guys who have been around the game of Division one college basketball for seemingly forever. Kevin Keatts is not that. Simply put, he’s just a guy who knows how to win.

Paving the way

Keatts enjoyed playing collegiate basketball for Division three side Ferrum. He played from 1991-1995, and then immediately got into the coaching game. He started with a brief one year stint at Southwestern Michigan as an assistant before moving on to Hargrave Military Academy. Coaching at Hargrave is an honor, and shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s not just another prep school. Hargrave is at the top of the list along with schools like Oak Hill, St. Anthony’s, and Dematha. After two years of leading Hargrave to massive success, he took his first Division one job as an assistant at Marshall University. He was only there for a couple seasons before returning back to Hargrave, where he made a living making young men great basketball players, and better students.

Hargrave was putting players into the Division one game as well as any other prep school under Keatts. In his combined ten years as the head coach at Hargrave Military Academy, his overall record was 262-17. In 2009, he told a news reporter that he planned on never leaving Hargrave. In fact, he referenced Fork Union Military Academy head coach Fletcher Arritt as his role model. He wanted to have that strong impact at a local prep school, as Keatts is from nearby Chatham, Virginia. In 2009 I’m sure he believed he would stay at Hargrave, but when opportunity comes knocking you have to answer the door.

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