From Final Four magic to a freefall through the ACC cliffs, Kevin Keatts’ Wolfpack has unraveled in spectacular fashion. They were among the college basketball’s elite, yet now suffer at the bottom of the pack. The spark that once defined Keatts’ gritty, up-tempo brand of basketball has flickered out, and a lack of talent has turned last season’s underdog story into a full-blown March Madness disaster. Analysts are questioning the sudden drop-off in quality, and for good reason.

On ESPN’s The Drive w/ Tim Donnelly, the show host questioned Kevin Keatts’ incompetence and the horrid season that NC State has been having. After losing to Syracuse, Keatts gave a flimsy answer as to why his offense didn’t pan out. The Wolfpack head coach admitted that his team was ‘bullied’ by the Orange and that they could not make a shot.

Donnelly outright called the head coach out, as he said “there’s no more trees to hide behind.” The head coach has to be accountable and answer the tough questions. “Questions like this–why isn’t your roster more talented?” He talked about how there’s no ‘next game’ to look forward to, as the Wolfpack face elimination from contention in March.

As for talent, Keatts isn’t dealing with a Michigan State kind of situation. There is no system to buy into, no undying loyalty towards the coach. Not every program can achieve what Tom Izzo has. Last year, he had his core in Casey Morsell, DJ Horne, and DJ Burns. This year, he just has Marcus Hill and Jayden Taylor to rely on. He needs the top-end talent, but it continues to evade him. It raises even more questions regarding scouting and offers that maybe the Wolfpack isn’t ready for right now.

With the amount of money that Kevin Keatts is making as head coach, a lot is expected from him. After making the Final Four last year, and winning the ACC Tournament, Keatts signed a monstrous extension and is making $3.1M per year. However, Donnelly wasn’t sold on his coaching prowess either.

He mentioned that there were quite a few detractors from the coach’s end as well. “Even if you gave the best coach in college basketball to NC State right now, I don’t see that roster as a top 6 roster in the ACC? You’re coming off a Final Four, why is your roster not better?” 

There are a lot of questions being raised, and not enough answers. But it might not just be on Kevin Keatts’ head. NIL plays a huge role in how teams are formed in this day and age. According to the Wolfpack head coach, that’s also where the team lacks the most.

Did NIL crush Kevin Keatts, NC State’s Final Four dreams?

Not a single person can deny that Keatts had an amazing season last year. For such a small program, he truly pushed their success to new limits. However, after this failure of a year, he had a lot to say about Name, Image, and Likeliness and its impact on scouting.

“This team doesn’t have superstars,” Keatts said when talking about talent on his team. “There’s no Jarkel Joiner, Terquavion Smith or DJ Horne or Burns — guys that can go out and average 18 points a game.” Their top guy currently is Marcus Hill, who is averaging just 11.7 points per game.

According to Keatts, NIL played a huge role in the formation of his team. “You take a look at the top five teams in the league and look at their numbers, and it’ll tell you a story.” And even Donnelly agreed. On his podcast, he talked about how there was minimal buy-in from the fans. Even after a winning season, they weren’t willing to invest in their team.

It will be interesting to see how the team reconstructs itself in this off-season. There is no question that changes need to be made, and they need to be made soon. However, after this post-season elimination, the Wolfpack front-office have some crucial decisions to make.