Most major conference tournaments are set to get underway this week before Selection Sunday on March 16 decides the fate of many college basketball teams this spring.
One basketball program had a great deal of success in the NCAA Tournament last season but will be looking for a new coach for 2025-26 after a dismal season.
College basketball coach fired after making the Final Four in 2024
Per ESPN, North Carolina State fired Kevin Keatts a year after taking the program to the Final Four in 2024.
NC State fired Kevin Keatts as the school’s men’s basketball coach Sunday, making the move a year after he led the Wolfpack on an unexpected run to the Final Four.
Keatts had served as NC State coach since 2017, posting five 20-win seasons and making three NCAA tournament appearances. Last year, he guided the team to the ACC tournament title as a No. 10 seed then into the Final Four as a No. 11.
But the Wolfpack were 12-19 this season, including a 5-15 record in the ACC. They did not qualify for this year’s conference tournament
NC State basketball: Kevin Keatts is proud of what he accomplished
In a post on social media Sunday morning, Keatts wrote that he was “proud” of what the program accomplished during his time at NC State.
“I am extremely proud of what we accomplished during my time here,” Keatts wrote, explaining that he had to deal with an NCAA investigation in his first season.
“As we enter this new era of college sports, I wholeheartedly believe that I am leaving the program in better position to succeed than when I started — and that the basketball program will continue to thrive when supported to the level necessary to compete,” he wrote.
— Kevin Keatts (@CoachKeattsNCSU) March 9, 2025
Keatts took over the head coaching job in 2017. He went 151-113 and 69-84 in ACC play during his eight seasons with the Wolfpack. Keats went 72-28 with UNC Wilmington before taking the job at NC State, taking the Seahawks to two NCAA Tournament appearances.
At 52, Keatts led the Wolfpack to three NCAA Tournament appearances. They only got out of the Round of 64 in 2024 when the No. 10 seed NC State made it to the Final Four in Phoenix before losing 63-50 to Purdue in the semifinals.
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