Kevin Keatts cuts down nets as N.C. State advances to first Final Four since 1983

N.C. State’s magical run to the Final Four marches onward. The Wolfpack have rattled off nine straight wins in the past few weeks, etching their names in college basketball history in the process. The Wolfpack fed the rock to their big man, D.J. Burns, and Duke could simply find no answer for him on Sunday night in their Elite Eight matchup in the NCAA Tournament. In punching their tickets to the Final Four, N.C. State will be making their first trip there since 1983. To celebrate the historic accomplishment, Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts cut down the nets.

Kevin Keatts. A winner. pic.twitter.com/49aNHt23fw

— Noah Fleischman (@fleischman_noah) March 31, 2024

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D.J. Burns saved his best performance for the biggest stage on Sunday, stuffing the stat sheet with 29 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. He drilled 13 of his 19 field goal attempts in lifting his team to a 76-64 victory over Duke. It was their second win over Duke in the past few weeks, as the Wolfpack had just recently defeated them in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.

D.J. Horne continued to be one of the most explosive scorers on the N.C. State roster, pouring in 20 points in 38 minutes of work. He’s been one of their most dangerous players all season long and he showed up in a big way on Sunday.

The N.C. State defense had the Duke offense “disjointed” for much of the game and the Blue Devils really couldn’t get anything going. They shot just five of 20 from three-point range (25%) and 19 of 59 from the field (32.2%). That’s not going to get it done in most games, especially the NCAA Tournament.

It’s been an absolutely wild, magical ride for N.C. State head basketball coach Kevin Keatts. The Wolfpack’s NCAA Tourney hopes seemed all but dead in the closing minute of their ACC Tournament semifinal matchup with the Virginia Cavaliers.

But Mikey O’Connell banked in a miraculous three-pointer at the buzzer, and N.C. State prevailed in overtime. They went on to defeat UNC in the ACC Tournament Championship, officially punching their tickets to the NCAA Tournament.

And now they’re onto N.C. State’s first Final Four in 41 years, earning Keatts a hefty contract extension and bonuses along the way.

Just think, Keatts’ first head coaching job was at Hargrave Military Academy (Chatham, Virginia). He drove the team bus and washed the jerseys himself. In 2017, NC State hired Keatts just a few years into his college head coaching career. And now the Wolfpack have been on one of the wildest runs in college basketball history. College basketball is wildly unpredictable, and this year has been a great example of it.