Kevin Keatts explains his reaction to hearing NC State's name called

It was close for Kevin Keatts and his NC State Wolfpack regarding their chances of making the NCAA tournament. In the end, NC State earned a bid as the 11-seed in the South region. After holding his breath on Selection Sunday until it was announced that his Wolfpack was a part of this year’s field, Keatts revealed what his reaction was to hearing NC State’s name called.

“It’s always an exciting time when you get to Selection Sunday,” said Keatts. “Even the coaches that know that they’re in the tournament, at large, there’s still some anxiety. The only time that I’ve ever really slept well is when I was at Wilmington, when we won the tournament. And you knew that you were in any way; you just didn’t know what seeds you were going to be. Anxiety, even going back to my days in Louisville, you know you’re in the field, you’ve done enough, and you just kind of wondering like: ‘Hey, is my name gonna get called?'”

Keatts actually didn’t have to wait too long to hear NC State’s name called, as the South bracket was the first bracket revealed. And for the committee getting that out of the way early for him, Keatts gave them a special thank you from the heart.

“I think it was a great shout-out to the committee for not making us wait a long time. It’s really good to see your name in the first bracket that came out. And our guys were excited, and you know we had just finished up practice and you could just hear everybody just start yelling. It’s a very exciting time.”

NC State will kick off this year’s tournament against the Creighton Blue Jays, the South region’s 6-seed. That game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. tipoff on Friday and can be seen on TNT. ESPN’s matchup predictor only gives NC State a 26.1 percent chance of advancing to the round of 32. Keatts might be able to breathe a sigh of relief about making it into the tournament. Still, his worries have only begun if he has plans on winning it.