1a. There has always been speculation around NC State men’s basketball coach Kevin Keatts, starting with going 11-21 in 2021-22.
Keatts reinvented his staff and program and the timing also coincided with the major changes that have happened in college basketball. Like it or not, the old way of judging coaches kind of ended post-COVID and the new way of transfers not having sit out a year, and the beginning of pay-for-play from collectives.
The transfer rulings we’ve seen over the last two years have had moving goalposts. Players had to be one-time transfers in the spring of 2023, and players needed a waiver to be eligible in 2022, unless a graduate transfer. Then all the players ended up getting waivers.
Now, the courts have made sure the rules of the transfer game aren’t going to have any more wiggle room, with the schools seemingly excited again about players moving freely again.
The three new assistant coaches and solid group of transfers led to going 23-11 overall and 12-8 in the ACC, and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. NC State could end up doing something similar this season, but the last five games won’t be easy, with two home games vs. Boston College and Duke, and road trips to Florida State, North Carolina and Pittsburgh.
I personally never thought this season was NCAA Tournament or bust, but the key in the “new era” of college basketball is can NC State add 2-3 key pieces this offseason to the nucleus returning, will that get the Wolfpack back in the chase again next year. History says that can happen with incoming freshman Paul McNeil and 2-3 key transfers.
Where it gets murky is that the tug of war over money between NC State football and basketball could also affect things. Does NC State want to pay off Keatts, the assistant coaches and then hire another new staff? If so, that’s some good amount of money being spent. That’s money that isn’t going to the football program and pay Wolfpack football recruits. Now is not the time to have things slack off in football.
The reality is that the conference realignment game is strong on recency bias. That means that if NC State can win big in football, it can remain at the “big boy” table that is coming down the pike. The ACC and Big 12 are losing the public relations battle where the perception is that the SEC and Big Ten are running college football, and maybe they are.
Ten years ago Virginia Tech would have been likely wanted, and now they are going to have the same struggle as others. NC State will financially need to do everything they can to avoid getting tagged as a “mid-major” program.
Another aspect that could play a role, or not, is that the Poe Hall cancer scandal, could lead to some serious litigation. Will the financials of that spill over to athletics in any way? Remains to be seen. Chancellor Randy Woodson got a vote of no confidence from the faculty, and he’s expected to retire in the next few years.
Athletic directors are judged by who they hire, and Boo Corrigan has been connected to high profile coaching searches, and he likely has his favorite search company to do the heavy lifting as part of the quid pro quo of placing him at NC State, but it will be a different world to go through a coaching search in 2024. That goes back to the old way of judging coaches has gone out the window.
The fact the players have played hard for Keatts this season, it would be mildly surprising if Corrigan made a move on him, with so much other stuff going on. Combine that with Keatts should be able to add 2-3 key pieces this spring. With a coaching change, NC State would probably have to bring in 8-9 newcomers.
1b. To show how the college basketball world has changed, one simple look at Washington State is a perfect example. They have a roster no one knows and a coach few have heard of, but coach Kyle Smith has the Cougars at 21-6 overall and 12-4 and in first place of the Pac-12, which won’t even exist in a few months.
Washington State has swept Arizona and split the series with Colorado and Washington.
Smith coached at Columbia in the Ivy League for six years, and three years at San Francisco, getting over 20 wins in five of the nine years. Smith made the NIT in his third year and went 22-15, and went 17-17 last year in reaching the NIT. Now, he’ll be a hot name in the coaching carousel this spring.
Washington State is built around five main players — redshirt freshman guard Myles Rice, junior center Oscar Cluff, senior power forward Andrej Jakimovski, junior forward Jaylen Wells and junior post player Isaac Jones. Jones, Rice and Jakimovski have been full-time starters, with Cluff and Wells as part-time starters. Kymany Houinsou from Mulhouse, France, is a sophomore wing.
• Rice had to come back from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2022-23, and is at 15.5 points per game.
• Wells came from Division II Sonoma State this season and is one of the best 3-point shooters in the country.
• Jones went to Wenatchee Valley Junior College, had a really good year at Idaho in 2022-23 and then crossed the state border this season to WSU.
• Cluff played two years of junior college at Cochise College and arrived this season.
• Jakimovski is in his fourth year at Washington State.
There have only been three successful coaches at Washington State — George Raveling, Kelvin Sampson and Tony Bennett. Now add Smith.
2. The Wolfpack Central went to Winston-Salem (N.C.) Christian for a pair of games to see two different kind of guards.
Junior point guard Jordan Lowery, who Rivals.com ranks No. 127 overall in the class of 2025, is a smooth operator. The 6-foot-2 Lowery was offered by NC State on Sept. 12, 2023, and assistant coach Joel Justus has been the point man on him.
Lowery isn’t a mixtape type of point guard, but he’s efficient and has a smooth jumper. He had 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals in a win over SFBA Trinity Prep on Sunday, so I’ll assume I saw him at his best.
After seeing the success of Georgia Tech freshman point guard Naithan George (9.0 points and 4.7 assists per game) and Pittsburgh freshman point guard Jaland Lowe (8.6 ppg, 2.8 apg), that bodes well for Lowery. He’s similar to both.
Lowery has been to NC State a few times during football season, and he just took in Virginia Tech’s blowout win over Virginia in Blacksburg, Va. Lowery will join the Team Thad traveling squad out of Memphis, Tenn., this spring and summer in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League.
The other guard Sunday was reclassed sophomore combo guard Yohance Connor of 1 of 1 Prep of Charlotte, N.C. Connor is ranked No. 46 in the class of 2026 by Rivals.com and his play with LaMelo Ball’s program has created buzz with college coaches. 1 of 1 is tied to Ball’s Puma brand, so Connor hasn’t played in the Nike EYBL, adidas 3SSB or Under Armour Rise circuits.
Connor had 21 points, three rebounds and five steals in a 92-77 win over Pace Academy of Texas. He’s from Salisbury, N.C., and is actually related to former NBA point guard Bobby Jackson.
Connor’s defense and energy is similar to NC State junior guard Jayden Taylor, and in a best case scenario, he could be similar to former Marquette and NBA guard Jerel McNeal, who was in the class of 2005. He averaged 15.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game in 130 career games (all starts). McNeal had 20 points against NC State in 2008.
3. The road tour goes to Roxboro (N.C.) Person tonight for Hillsborough (N.C.) Orange vs. Mebane (N.C.) Eastern Alamance for the conference tournament championship.
Sophomore wing Cole Cloer has scored 122 points in the last four games, so he’s been rolling. Funny story, his family knew he was very sick last Friday and weren’t sure he was going to play. I ended up seeing junior wing Jackson Keith of Southern Durham (N.C.) High instead, and Cloer ended up with 31 against Eastern Alamance. He’s goine 15 of 32 from three-point land and has grabbed 34 rebounds during that stretch.
I’ve long said the top two class of 2026 targets for NC State are Cloer and Richmond (Va.) John Marshall power forward Latrell Allmond, who is from Southern Pines, N.C.
Another key prospect plays Saturday at Raleigh Ravenscroft — Arden (N.C.) Chris School junior power forward Zymicah Wilkins. Christ School will be playing Charlotte Providence Day for the NCISAA 4A state title. NC State coaches in theory could get over there during the second quarter after the Wolfpack host Boston College at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The other game of note Saturday is in the NCISAA 2A state title game — Wilson (N.C.) Greenfield School vs. Davidson (N.C.) Day. Sophomore point guard Kobe Edwards of Greenfield School and junior guard Isaiah Denis of Davidson Day have both unofficially visited NC State this season. Coach Justus will be checking out that game for the Wolfpack.
Edwards isn’t done growing yet, but he’s got some flash to him, is a slick passer and has enough offense to keep a defense honest. He had 28 points in the semifinals Thursday. Denis was with Connor last year at 1 of 1 Prep, but is a bouncy 6-4 and skinny streak shooter. Both players will likely pick up major offers this spring and summer, with Edwards playing for Boo Williams 16s and it will be interesting to see what program Denis ends up with.
