Kevin Keatts

{{short description|American college basketball coach (born 1972)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Kevin Keatts

| image = Kevin Keatts at the White House in 2013.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Keatts at the White House in 2013

| current_title =

| current_team =

| current_conference =

| current_record =

| contract =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1972|7|28}}

| birth_place = Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1991–1995

| player_team1 = Ferrum

| player_positions = Guard

| coach_years1 = 1996–1997

| coach_team1 = Southwestern Michigan (assistant)

| coach_years2 = 1997–1999

| coach_team2 = Hargrave Military Academy (assistant)

| coach_years3 = 1999–2001

| coach_team3 = Hargrave Military Academy

| coach_years4 = 2001–2003

| coach_team4 = Marshall (assistant)

| coach_years5 = 2003–2011

| coach_team5 = Hargrave Military Academy

| coach_years6 = 2011–2014

| coach_team6 = Louisville (assistant)

| coach_years7 = 2014–2017

| coach_team7 = UNC Wilmington

| coach_years8 = 2017–2025

| coach_team8 = NC State

| overall_record = {{winpct|223|141|record=y}} (college)

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record = 4–5 (NCAA Division I)
3–2 (NIT)
0–1 (CIT)
7–5 (ACC)

| championships = NCAA Division I Regional – Final Four (2024)
2 National Prep (2004, 2008)
3 CAA regular season (2015–2017)
2 CAA tournament (2016, 2017)
ACC tournament (2024)

| awards = 2× CAA Coach of the Year (2015, 2016)

| coaching_records =

}}

Kevin Andre Keatts (born July 28, 1972) is an American college basketball coach who was most recently the head coach at North Carolina State University.

Early life and playing career

Keatts grew up as an only child in Lynchburg, Virginia. His father was a masonry instructor at Amherst County High School, and Keatts worked as his apprentice on the weekends.{{Cite web|url=https://www.alumni.ncsu.edu/s/1209/16/interior.aspx?sid=1209&gid=1001&pgid=5636&cid=9258&ecid=9258&crid=0&calpgid=5907&calcid=9656|title=The KEATTS Report|website=www.alumni.ncsu.edu|language=en|access-date=July 28, 2019}}{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He attended Heritage High School and played point guard on their basketball team as well as quarterback on their football team. As starting quarterback, Keatts led the football team to be ranked the best in the state, losing only one game his entire career.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsadvance.com/sports/keatts-authors-a-script-for-coaching-perseverance/article_1cb7aaf0-88c2-11e4-9e0c-a73c981221d3.html|title=Keatts authors a script for coaching perseverance|last=Lang|first=Chris|website=NewsAdvance.com|date=December 21, 2014 |language=en|access-date=July 28, 2019}} He played basketball for Ferrum College, averaging 13.3 points per game by his senior year.{{Cite web|url=https://www.waltermagazine.com/people/profile-coach-kevin-keatts/|title=Profile: Coach Kevin Keatts|date=November 1, 2017|website=WALTER Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=July 28, 2019}}

Coaching career

Keatts began his coaching career as an assistant at Southwestern Michigan College for the 1996–97 season.{{cite news|title=Kevin Keatts Bio |author=Louisville Athletic Department |work=Louisville Cardinals |date=2013 |url=http://www.gocards.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/keatts_kevin00.html |access-date=March 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714144827/http://www.gocards.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/keatts_kevin00.html |archive-date=July 14, 2014 }} He then went to Hargrave Military Academy as an assistant coach for two seasons before being promoted to head coach in 1999. In 2001, Keatts moved to Marshall as an assistant coach to Greg White. He returned to Hargrave in 2003 and served as the head coach until 2011. During his ten years (over two stints) as the head coach at Hargrave, Keatts had a record of 262–17.{{cite news|title=Kevin Keatts accepts job with UNC-Wilmington Seahawks|author=Jeff Goodman|work=ESPN|date=March 27, 2014|url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10681931/kevin-keatts-accepts-job-unc-wilmington-seahawks|access-date=March 27, 2014}} He coached several future NBA players at Hargrave including Marreese Speights and Mike Scott.{{cite news |title=Louisville basketball assistant Kevin Keatts promoted to associate head coach |url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2014/01/15/louisville-basketball-assistant-kevin-keatts-promoted-to-associate-head-coach/4493575/ |access-date=April 1, 2024 |work=The Courier-Journal |date=January 15, 2014}}

In 2011, he earned a degree from Marshall University. Keatts then joined the staff of Rick Pitino at Louisville and was a part of the Cardinals' 2013 NCAA Division I national championship team which was later vacated by the NCAA due to recruiting violations.{{cite news|last=Tracy|first=Marc|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/sports/ncaabasketball/louisville-mens-basketball-investigation.html|title=Louisville Men's Basketball Team Is Out of Post-Season|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209130741/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/sports/ncaabasketball/louisville-mens-basketball-investigation.html|archive-date=February 9, 2016}} Citing Keatts' coaching and recruiting prowess, Pitino promoted Keatts to the position of associate head coach in January 2014.

On March 27, 2014, he was named the head coach of UNC Wilmington (UNCW), succeeding Buzz Peterson.{{Cite web |title=Keatts Named UNCW Head Basketball Coach: UNCW News |url=https://uncw.edu/news/2014/03/keatts.html |access-date=June 30, 2022 |website=uncw.edu |language=en}} In Keatts' first season at UNCW he was named CAA Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Seahawks to their first conference championship in nine years, and first winning season in seven years.{{Cite web |date=March 6, 2015 |title=UNCW's Kevin Keatts named CAA Coach of the Year |url=https://portcitydaily.com/community-and-events/2015/03/06/sports-kevin-keatts-turns-seahawks-from-worst-to-first-named-caa-coach-of-the-year/ |access-date=June 30, 2022 |website=Port City Daily |language=en-US}}

In his second year, Keatts repeated his rookie-year double, once again winning the CAA regular-season championship and Conference Coach of the Year. In winning the 2016 conference coach of the year, he became the first coach in CAA history to ever win the award in consecutive years.{{Cite web |title=Keatts Headlines UNCW's CAA Award Winners |url=https://uncw.edu/news/2016/03/keatts-headlines-uncws-caa-award-winners.html |access-date=June 30, 2022 |website=uncw.edu |language=en}}

On March 17, 2017, Keatts became the 23rd head coach at North Carolina State University, succeeding Mark Gottfried.{{cite news|url=http://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/nc-state-hires-unc-wilmingtons-kevin-keatts-to-be-next-wolfpack-coach/|title=NC State hires UNC-Wilmington's Kevin Keatts to be next Wolfpack coach|publisher=cbssports.com|author=Gary Parrish|date=March 17, 2017|access-date=March 17, 2017}} Keatts is the first Wolfpack head coach to defeat Duke, North Carolina, and Wake Forest in his first attempt since Tal Stafford during the 1918–19 season.{{cite web|last1=McLamb|first1=Rob|title=NOTABLE NUMBERS: The UNC Win|url=https://insidepacksports.com/s/1356/notable-numbers-the-unc-win|website=Inside Pack Sports|date=January 29, 2018 |access-date=February 22, 2018}} After being projected to finish 12th in the ACC,{{cite web|title=Duke Voted ACC Basketball Preseason Favorite|url=http://theacc.com/news/2017/10/26/mens-basketball-duke-voted-acc-basketball-preseason-favorite.aspx|website=Atlantic Coast Conference|date=October 26, 2017 |access-date=March 16, 2018}} Keatts led what recruits were left from Mark Gottfried Wolfpack to a tied-for-third-place finish in the conference, as well as earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

In 2024, the Wolfpack finished the regular season with a 17–14 overall record and a 9–11 record in the ACC, good for 10th place in the conference. However, Keatts' team rallied to win five games in five days in the ACC Tournament, including wins over No. 15 seed Louisville, No. 7 seed Syracuse, No. 2 seed and No. 11 ranked Duke, No. 3 seed Virginia, and No. 1 seed and No. 4 ranked North Carolina to earn the ACC's automatic NCAA tournament bid.

In the 2024 NCAA Tournament they were placed in the South Region and seeded No. 11. There the Wolfpack defeated No. 6 seed and No. 22 ranked Texas Tech, No. 14 seed Oakland, No. 2 seed and No. 8 ranked Marquette, and No. 4 seed and No. 13 ranked Duke to advance to their first Final Four since 1983, becoming only the sixth ever 11 seed to reach the Final Four.

In 2025, the Wolfpack were unable to carry over their Final Four success from the prior season, finishing with a 12–19 overall record and a 5–15 record in the ACC. On March 9, 2025, NC State announced that Keatts would be fired at the conclusion of the season.{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=R. Cory |date=March 9, 2025 |title=BREAKING: NC State has announced Kevin Keatts will not return after 2024-25 season |url=https://247sports.com/college/north-carolina-state/article/breaking-nc-state-has-announced-kevin-keatts-will-not-return-after-2024-25-season-246731914/ |access-date=March 9, 2025 |website=247Sports |language=en}}