KJ Keatts Is Going To Have The Opportunity To Play For His Dad Who Is NC State Head Coach Kevin Keatts As He Is Freshman On NC State's 2022-2023 Men's Basketball Team
In the past a couple seasons in the Atlantic Coast Conference there have been players playing for their relatives!
Examples?
Buddy Boeheim, Jimmy Boeheim played at Syracuse for their dad who is Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim.
KJ Keatts who is a guard is going to have opportunity to play for his Dad who is NC State Head Coach Kevin Keatts as he is a freshman on NC State’s 2022-2023 Men’s Basketball Team.
Though,
K.J. Keatts isn’t a scholarship player!
Instead he is a walk on.
“According to Jonas Pope’s article on newsobserver.com”
Before coming to NC State KJ Keatts played at Grace Christian School!
“According to his biography on gopack.com”
Kevin Keatts is in his 6th season as NC State’s Head Coach!
Keatts has an overall record of 90-68 and has guided NC State to a .500 or better record in ACC play in four of his five seasons.
He is just the second coach in the last 40 years to lead NC State to four consecutive seasons of .500 or better play in the ACC.
Keatts' NC State teams have a 61-26 home record in his five years as head coach. The Pack has defeated six ranked opponents at home, including three wins over top-10 ranked teams.
For the third consecutive season, injuries made an impact on NC State’s season as the 2021-22 season started with the Pack losing Manny Bates for the season just one minute into its season-opening contest. Bates was the two-time reigning shot block champion in the ACC.
Despite solid seasons from sophomore Dereon Seabron and freshman Terquavion Smith, the Pack finished with a losing record for the first time in Keatts’ head coaching career.
Seabron was an All-ACC Second Team selection after leading NC State in scoring (17.3 points per game), rebounds (8.2 rebounds per game) and assists (3.2 assist per game). He was also named the ACC’s Most Improved Player. Seabron is the first NC State player to win that award.
Terquavion Smith burst on the scene as a freshman in the 2021-22 as he averaged 16.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game to make the All-ACC Rookie team. Smith made 96 three-pointers which set the NC State program record for most three-pointers by a freshman and he led the ACC in three-pointers made, becoming the first freshman to lead the ACC in three-pointers made since Duke’s J.J. Redick in the 2002-03 season.
Keatts had to deal with numerous injuries as only two players appeared in all 25 games in the 2020-21 season. Midway through the season, the Pack was dealt a crippling blow as senior guard Devon Daniels, who was leading the team in points and rebounds at the time, suffered a torn ACL late in the team’s win over Wake Forest on Jan. 27.
Despite the injuries, Keatts rallied the team in February as the Pack ended the regular season with five consecutive wins to clinch a winning ACC record for the fourth consecutive season. The five-game win streak for NC State was the longest ACC win streak for NC State since the 2003-04 season.
In February, NC State went 5-0 in ACC road games, marking the first time the Pack has won five consecutive ACC road games since the 1973-74 season.
Manny Bates was named to the ACC’s All-Defensive team. He was the first NC State player to make the league’s All-Defensive team since Beejay Anya in 2015.
Jericole Hellems earned ACC Honorable Mention honors.
NC State ended the season in the NIT, defeating Davidson before falling in the quarterfinals to Colorado State.
Despite a rash of injuries that saw only two players play all 32 games, Keatts guided his 2019-20 NC State team to its third consecutive 20-win season. The Pack’s season was highlighted by a win over reigning National Champion Virginia in January and a 22-point blowout of sixth-ranked Duke in February. The win over Virginia was the Pack’s first win in Charlottesville since March 2005. NC State’s 88-66 win over Duke was the largest for the Pack over a top-10 opponent since March 13, 1965 when NC State beat third-ranked Saint Joseph's, 103-81, in a consolation game of the NCAA Tournament in College Park, Md. It also marked the largest margin of defeat for Duke to an unranked opponent in the Mike Krzyzewski era.
The Pack’s offense averaged over 80 points in the first two seasons under Keatts. Prior to Keatts taking over the program, NC State hadn’t averaged over 80 points per game since the 1995-96 season. The 2018-19 NC State team averaged 80.1 points per game and scored 2,882 points which is the most points scored by an NC State team in program history.
The 2018-19 also hit 292 three-pointers, the second-most in program history. Both of Keatts’ NC State teams have been prolific from three-point range as both rank in the top-10 for season three-point field goals made in program history.
In 2018-19, NC State won 24 games, its most wins since the 2012-13 season as the Pack advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT. The Pack defeated eventual Final Four participant Auburn in non-conference play and went 9-9 in the ACC portion of its schedule.
In the 2017-18 season, Keatts took a program that was preseason picked 12th in the ACC and led them to five wins over ranked opponents and a 11-7 record in the ACC to finish in a tie for third place. Overall, the Pack finished the season with a 21-12 record and returned to the NCAA Tournament.
Keatts’ first squad served notice of its penchant for taking down ranked foes in November when the Pack defeated second-ranked Arizona and eventual number one pick in the NBA Draft Deandre Ayton in the opening round of the Battle for Atlantis. NC State entered ACC play with a 10-3 record and faced another second-ranked foe when Duke came to PNC Arena for the Pack’s ACC opener. Like the Arizona game, the Pack took down the highly ranked Blue Devils, pulling away in the second half for a double-digit win. Five days later, the Pack added another win over a ranked opponent as the Pack held off No. 19 Clemson by one point.
At the end of January, NC State secured its third win over a top-10 opponent as the Pack went to Chapel Hill and defeated the Tar Heels in overtime. The Pack’s final win over a ranked opponent came at the end of February when NC State dispatched 25th-ranked and eventual Elite 8 team Florida State by 20 points.
Keatts finished the regular season with 21 wins, tying with legendary coach Everett Case (21-4 in 1946-47) for the most regular season wins by a first year head coach in program history. The Pack’s 11 ACC wins are the most for a first-year head coach in program history and the best ACC record for the team since the 2012-13 season.
The Pack’s tie for third place finish in the ACC is the best regular season finish for the Pack in the ACC since the 2003-04 team finished in second place.
Keatts’ first team at NC State set numerous program marks. The Pack set the program and PNC Arena for three-pointers with 19 in the win over Jacksonville in December. The Pack also set the PNC Arena record for points in a game with 116 in the win over Jacksonville. NC State set the PNC Arena record for assists in a game with 31 against South Carolina State and also twice tied the PNC Arena for fewest turnovers in a game with four against Clemson and Louisville.
“According to Kevin Keatts biography on gopack.com”