NC State Basketball Coaching Staff
Last Game
Rider
Win
89-63
Dec 22, 2024
Raleigh, N.C.
Next Game
Virginia
Dec 31, 12:00pm
Charlottesville, Va.
ESPN2
Kevin Keatts
Head Coach
The 2024-25 season will be Kevin Keatts’ eighth year as head men’s basketball coach at NC State.
Keatts has an overall record of 139-94 and has guided NC State to a .500 or better record in ACC play in five of his seven seasons.
He is just the second coach in the last 40 years to lead NC State to four consecutive seasons of .500 or better play in the ACC.
Keatts’ led NC State teams have won 20 or more games in five of his seven seasons at the helm.
Keatts' NC State teams have an 88-33 home record in his seven years as head coach. The Pack has defeated 10 ranked opponents at home, including three wins over top-10 ranked teams.
In the 2023-24 season, Keatts guided NC State back to the top of the ACC as the Pack won five games in five days to capture the 2024 ACC Championship. The ACC Tournament title was the first for NC State since 1987.
The Pack was not done winning though as NC State ran its winning streak to nine games as it dispatched Texas Tech and Oakland to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and then defeated higher-seeded Marquette and Duke to head to the Final Four for the first time since 1983.
Overall, the Pack finished the 2023-24 season with a 26-15 record and Keatts was rewarded following the season by being named the Clarence ‘Big House’ Gaines DI Coach of the Year.
The 2023-24 NC State team was led by DJ Horne and DJ Burns. Horne was the Pack’s most consistent player in the regular season, averaging a team-best 16.9 points per game as he became the fourth NC State guard in the last three seasons to be named Second-Team All-ACC.
March belonged to DJ Burns though as the already insanely popular in Raleigh big man became a nation-wide sensation. Burns powered NC State to the ACC Championship to be named ACC Tournament MVP and then willed the Pack to four more wins in the NCAA Tournament to be named the South Region’s Most Outstanding Player.
The Pack’s 2022-23 season saw NC State finish with a 23-11 record as NC State returned to the NCAA Tournament.
NC State was led by the dynamic backcourt duo of Jarkel Joiner and Terquavion Smith who both finished the season as second team members on the All-ACC team.
Smith led the team in scoring, assists and steals while also making a team-best 91 three-pointers in his sophomore campaign. He ranked second in the ACC in scoring and sixth in three-pointers made. Smith turned pro at the end of the season and will begin his NBA career in 2023-24 with the Philadelphia 76ers.
In his one season with the Pack, Joiner finished second on the team in scoring, assists and steals. He signed an offseason contract with the Atlanta Hawks.
With the two guards at the helm of the offense, NC State set a program record for fewest turnovers in a season, only turning it over 320 times in 34 games. The 9.4 turnovers per game ranked as the seventh fewest in the NCAA.
The 2022-23 Pack team also led the ACC in steals and turnover margin. NC State’s +3.8 turnover margin ranked 15th in the NCAA.
For the third consecutive season, injuries made an impact on NC State’s season as the 2021-22 season started with the Pack losing Manny Bates for the season just one minute into its season-opening contest. Bates was the two-time reigning shot block champion in the ACC.
Despite solid seasons from sophomore Dereon Seabron and freshman Terquavion Smith, the Pack finished with a losing record for the first time in Keatts’ head coaching career.
Seabron was an All-ACC Second Team selection after leading NC State in scoring (17.3 points per game), rebounds (8.2 rebounds per game) and assists (3.2 assist per game). He was also named the ACC’s Most Improved Player. Seabron is the first NC State player to win that award.
Terquavion Smith burst on the scene as a freshman in the 2021-22 as he averaged 16.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game to make the All-ACC Rookie team. Smith made 96 three-pointers which set the NC State program record for most three-pointers by a freshman and he led the ACC in three-pointers made, becoming the first freshman to lead the ACC in three-pointers made since Duke’s J.J. Redick in the 2002-03 season.
Keatts had to deal with numerous injuries as only two players appeared in all 25 games in the 2020-21 season. Midway through the season, the Pack was dealt a crippling blow as senior guard Devon Daniels, who was leading the team in points and rebounds at the time, suffered a torn ACL late in the team’s win over Wake Forest on Jan. 27.
Despite the injuries, Keatts rallied the team in February as the Pack ended the regular season with five consecutive wins to clinch a winning ACC record for the fourth consecutive season. The five-game win streak for NC State was the longest ACC win streak for NC State since the 2003-04 season.
In February, NC State went 5-0 in ACC road games, marking the first time the Pack has won five consecutive ACC road games since the 1973-74 season.
Manny Bates was named to the ACC’s All-Defensive team. He was the first NC State player to make the league’s All-Defensive team since Beejay Anya in 2015.
Jericole Hellems earned ACC Honorable Mention honors.
NC State ended the season in the NIT, defeating Davidson before falling in the quarterfinals to Colorado State.
Despite a rash of injuries that saw only two players play all 32 games, Keatts guided his 2019-20 NC State team to its third consecutive 20-win season. The Pack’s season was highlighted by a win over reigning National Champion Virginia in January and a 22-point blowout of sixth-ranked Duke in February. The win over Virginia was the Pack’s first win in Charlottesville since March 2005. NC State’s 88-66 win over Duke was the largest for the Pack over a top-10 opponent since March 13, 1965 when NC State beat third-ranked Saint Joseph's, 103-81, in a consolation game of the NCAA Tournament in College Park, Md. It also marked the largest margin of defeat for Duke to an unranked opponent in the Mike Krzyzewski era.
The Pack’s offense averaged over 80 points in the first two seasons under Keatts. Prior to Keatts taking over the program, NC State hadn’t averaged over 80 points per game since the 1995-96 season. The 2018-19 NC State team averaged 80.1 points per game and scored 2,882 points which is the most points scored by an NC State team in program history.
The 2018-19 also hit 292 three-pointers, the second-most in program history. Both of Keatts’ NC State teams have been prolific from three-point range as both rank in the top-10 for season three-point field goals made in program history.
In 2018-19, NC State won 24 games, its most wins since the 2012-13 season as the Pack advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT. The Pack defeated eventual Final Four participant Auburn in non-conference play and went 9-9 in the ACC portion of its schedule.
In the 2017-18 season, Keatts took a program that was preseason picked 12th in the ACC and led them to five wins over ranked opponents and a 11-7 record in the ACC to finish in a tie for third place. Overall, the Pack finished the season with a 21-12 record and returned to the NCAA Tournament.
Keatts’ first squad served notice of its penchant for taking down ranked foes in November when the Pack defeated second-ranked Arizona and eventual number one pick in the NBA Draft Deandre Ayton in the opening round of the Battle for Atlantis. NC State entered ACC play with a 10-3 record and faced another second-ranked foe when Duke came to PNC Arena for the Pack’s ACC opener. Like the Arizona game, the Pack took down the highly ranked Blue Devils, pulling away in the second half for a double-digit win. Five days later, the Pack added another win over a ranked opponent as the Pack held off No. 19 Clemson by one point.
At the end of January, NC State secured its third win over a top-10 opponent as the Pack went to Chapel Hill and defeated the Tar Heels in overtime. The Pack’s final win over a ranked opponent came at the end of February when NC State dispatched 25th-ranked and eventual Elite 8 team Florida State by 20 points.
Keatts finished the regular season with 21 wins, tying with legendary coach Everett Case (21-4 in 1946-47) for the most regular season wins by a first year head coach in program history. The Pack’s 11 ACC wins are the most for a first-year head coach in program history and the best ACC record for the team since the 2012-13 season.
The Pack’s tie for third place finish in the ACC is the best regular season finish for the Pack in the ACC since the 2003-04 team finished in second place.
Keatts’ first team at NC State set numerous program marks. The Pack set the program and PNC Arena for three-pointers with 19 in the win over Jacksonville in December. The Pack also set the PNC Arena record for points in a game with 116 in the win over Jacksonville. NC State set the PNC Arena record for assists in a game with 31 against South Carolina State and also twice tied the PNC Arena for fewest turnovers in a game with four against Clemson and Louisville.
Keatts came to NC State after three seasons as head coach of UNC-Wilmington. With the Seahawks, Keatts complied a record of 72-28 (.720) and a 41-13 (.759) mark in Colonial Athletic Association play.
"When we set out to hire our next men's basketball coach, we wanted to identify someone with the pedigree, vision and plan to serve as the architect of NC State basketball," said Yow. "Kevin quickly emerged as the perfect fit in each of these areas. His history of success in building programs, of competing at a championship-level in every stop of his career, his commitment to player development and priority in academics make him a tremendous hire for us. We welcome Kevin, his wife Georgette, and two sons K.J. and Kaden to the Wolfpack family."
Keatts led the Seahawks to postseason play all three years he was at UNC-Wilmington after taking over a program without a postseason berth in the previous eight seasons. The Seahawks went to the CIT in 2015 before making back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2016 and 2017. The 2016 NCAA Tournament appearance was the school's first since the 2005-06 campaign.
A native of Lynchburg, Va., he guided the Seahawks to CAA regular season titles all three years in Wilmington and was named CAA Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2016. He was the first coach in conference history to earn Coach of the Year accolades in back-to-back seasons.
The 2016-17 UNC-Wilmington team won a school-record 29 games as the team led the conference and ranked 10th in the nation in scoring heading into the NCAA Tournament, averaging 85.2 points per game.
In 2015-16, the Seahawks were tabbed to finish sixth in the CAA prior to the season, but UNCW tied the then school-record with 25 wins as Keatts piloted the team to its first CAA tournament title since 2006.
Keatts took over a program that finished last in the CAA in 2013-14 and led them to a a share of the regular season title for its sixth regular season conference championship in 2014-15.
He came to UNC-Wilmington after three seasons as an assistant coach on Pitino's staff at Louisville and was elevated to associate head coach in January of 2014.
While on staff at Louisville, Keatts and the Cardinals went 96-21 (.821) and Keatts helped the Cardinals compile two straight top-10 recruiting classes en route to a pair of Big East Conference championships and NCAA Final Four appearances in 2012 and 2013.
In July 2013, after surveying more than 200 collegiate coaches, ESPN.com named him the third most respected/feared assistant coach in the nation.
Prior to arriving at Louisville, Keatts served as the head coach at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va. In 10 seasons with two separate stints at Hargrave (1999-2001, 2003-2011), he compiled a 263-17 record with two national prep championships (2004, 2008), three runner-up finishes (2005, 2006, 2009) and two other appearances among the final four prep teams (2007, 2010).
Keatts, who was inducted into Hargrave's Hall of Fame in 2011, won his second national prep title in 2008 with an unblemished 29-0 record – the school's first undefeated season. His teams lost one or fewer games six times.
Hargrave produced 103 players who signed NCAA Division I men's basketball scholarships during his 10 seasons and 18 others played on the NCAA Division II level.
He has coached nine players at the prep level who have reached the NBA, including Joe Alexander, Jordan Crawford, Josh Howard, Vernon Macklin, Mike Scott, Marreese Speights, Sam Young, David West and Korleone Young.
Keatts has also had stops as an assistant coach at Marshall and Southwestern Michigan College. He worked for two seasons at Marshall from 2001-03 and assisted with the program at Southwestern Michigan in Dowagiac, Mich., during the 1996-97 campaign.
He was a two-sport standout in football and basketball at Heritage High School in Lynchburg, Va., and went on to play four seasons of basketball as a point guard at Ferrum (Va.) College. He later earned his Bachelor's Degree while at Marshall.
Keatts and his wife Georgette, have two sons, K.J. and Kaden.
Kareem Richardson
Associate Head Coach
Richardson joined NC State in April 2022 and the 2023-24 season is his second as an assistant coach with the Pack.
In his first season with NC State, Richardson helped guide the program back to the NCAA Tournament as the Pack went 23-11. The Pack deployed one of the ACC's most lethal offenses as NC State averaged 77.7 points per game. NC State also ranked among the nation's leaders in turnovers per game, ranking seventh in the NCAA averaging just 9.4 turnovers per game. NC State also led the ACC in steals and turnover margin.
Richardson and the NC State staff helped mentor one of the nation's top backcourts as Jarkel Joiner and Terquavion Smith both finished on the All-ACC Second Team.
Richardson was head coach at UMKC for 2013-19 and has been an assistant coach at power conference programs such as Louisville, Xavier and Clemson in his 25-year coaching career.
Richardson comes to NC State after one season as an assistant coach at Clemson. Prior to the Tigers, Richardson spent two seasons at Indiana State (2019-21). The Sycamores finished 33-22 and 22-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference over those seasons while producing four All-MVC players.
From 2013-19, Richardson was head coach at UMKC.
He guided the 2016-17 UMKC squad to the second-most victories in a season (18) in school history. The Roos were selected for a postseason tournament for the first time in the program's 30-year Division I history, which included a victory over Green Bay in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational. In 2016-17, UMKC set program records for points (2,691), field goals (911), rebounds (1,213), defensive rebounds (860), 3-pointers (315) and free throws (554). The Roos finished second in team history in assists (451) and third in steals (236). UMKC posted the longest winning streak for the program in 12 years from Jan. 31 – Feb. 18, 2017. The Roos got off to the program's best start in 15 years and advanced to the semifinals of the WAC Tournament for the third straight year.
The 2015-16 team started the season with their best nonconference performances since 2010-11, winning seven games, including a home victory over Mississippi State and against NCAA Tournament participant South Dakota State. Boyd added a scoring punch to the lineup, being named to the WAC All-Newcomer Team, hitting 81 threes. The Roos won a quarterfinal game for the second year in a row in the WAC Tournament, the first time since 2003 and 2004 that UMKC has done it in back to back seasons.
His second season in Kansas City as the head coach was another step in the right direction in 2014-15, and generated several program firsts. The 8-6 WAC record was the first above .500 at UMKC since 2005-06, and its second place finish matched the highest ever in league play. UMKC finished with a 6-1 WAC home record, the best in school history in league play. The 'Roos picked up a win in the WAC Tournament, the first for UMKC in the postseason since 2007. The Roos also played 33 games, the most in school history.
In his first year with the Roos in 2013-14, he led the team to a fifth place finish in the WAC, and the fourth seed in the conference tournament, both of which were the highest since 2006 at UMKC.
Prior to his arrival at UMKC, Richardson served as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville. He helped the Cardinals to the Big East tournament crown and the NCAA Tournament No. 1 overall seed, on the way to the 2012-13 National Championship.
Prior to his year at Louisville, Richardson made the most of one season at Xavier, helping the Musketeers reach the NCAA Sweet 16 and the finals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament that season while posting a 23-12 record. He helped the Musketeers land a Top 20 recruiting class in 2011.
Richardson has been ranked as one of the top assistants in college basketball according to the basketball website Collegeinsider.com. He earned a reputation as a top-level recruiter during his time at Drake, serving as recruiting coordinator and helping head coach Mark Phelps secure the top-rated recruited class in the Missouri Valley Conference in two of his three years there. In his first year as assistant coach at Drake, Richardson helped lead the Bulldogs to post-season play during the 2008-09 season, in the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
As a player, Richardson played in an NCAA Tournament as a freshman at East Carolina University. He then transferred to Evansville in 1995 and quickly established himself as the Purple Aces' top point guard. Richardson, who was a team captain two years, was selected to the Missouri Valley Conference all-academic team in both 1996 and 1997. In 1996, he received notoriety on the MVC all-underrated team.
He graduated from Evansville with a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications and interpersonal communication in 1997 and received his MBA from the University of Indianapolis in 1999.
Richardson, who was born in Tacoma, Wash., was a first team all-state selection at Rantoul (Ill.) Township High School in 1992 and was twice named conference player of the year.
Richardson has three children, Jasmiyn, Amari and Andre.
Levi Watkins
Assistant Coach
Watkins re-joined his alma mater in April 2022 and the 2023-24 season is his second as an assistant coach.
Watkins is an NC State graduate, who played for the Pack from 2001-05. He played in 97 career games for NC State, and the Pack advanced to the NCAA Tournament all four years he was with the program.
After graduating from NC State with a bachelor's degree in business management, Watkins started his coaching career at his alma mater. He spent the 2005-06 season as administrator coordinator, before being elevated prior to the 2006-07 season to video coordinator. After three years as video coordinator, he became director of operations for the Pack prior to the 2009-10 season and spent four years in that role.
After nine years away from Raleigh, Watkins returned home for the 2022-23 as an assistant coach and made an immediate impact on the program as he helped lead NC State to a 23-11 record and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Watkins helped engineer NC State's frontcourt attack as DJ Burns became a cult hero in Raleigh as he averaged 16.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in ACC play.
Watkins return to NC State also helped the Pack land Jarkel Joiner as a grad transfer. Joiner played for three years under Watkins at Ole Miss. Joiner became one of the NCAA's best grad transfers in the 2023-24 season as Joiner averaged 17.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.6 assist per game to garner All-ACC Second Team honors.
Watkins got his first on-court coaching role in 2023 when he became an assistant coach at the University of Buffalo. He spent two seasons with the Bulls, who went a combined 42-20 in his two years with the program and advanced to the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
In the spring of 2015, Watkins moved onto Arizona State as an assistant coach. He spent three season with the Sun Devils . In Watkins’ final season at Arizona State, the Sun Devils were ranked as high as No. 3 in the AP poll (highest in school history) and was the last undefeated team in Division I men’s basketball. Arizona State went 12-0 in non-conference play and defeated two eventual 2018 NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds (Kansas, Xavier). Arizona State was the only major conference team to lead their conference in scoring and turnover margin. Also in Watkins’ final season at Arizona State, the Sun Devils broke their home basketball attendance record and participated in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
He spent the last four season as an assistant at Ole Miss. In his first season with the Rebels, Watkins helped bring Ole Miss to the NCAA Tournament as part of one of the nation’s biggest turnaround seasons. Predicted to finish last in the SEC by the media, the Rebels tied for sixth with a 10-8 conference mark.
Primarily coaching the post players, Watkins was instrumental in the growth and production of the Ole Miss frontcourt. After recruiting graduate transfer Romello White to Oxford, Watkins mentored the new Rebel as he embarked on a record-breaking 2020-21 season. White made an impact in his graduate season, breaking the school record for field goal percentage in a single season (64.9 percent). He also led the team in blocks (1.3 per game). Monitoring the pain and protecting the rim, Watkins’ big men helped Ole Miss lead the SEC in scoring defense. In Watkins' season, KJ Buffen blossomed into a starting role to average 10.1 ppg and a team-high 6.1 rpg. Watkins guided Khadim Sy in the transfer’s first season in Oxford, as the forward immediately contributed 9.0 ppg and 5.5 rpg.
A skilled recruiter with a keen eye for talent, Watkins' last recruiting class at Ole Miss was ranked 12th in the country and featured three players that were ranked in the Top-100 individual rankings by ESPN.
While prepped at Montrose Christian High School in Rockville, Maryland. He was a 2001 Parade All-American and led his team to a final top 25 national ranking. As a senior, Watkins was named the Gatorade and USA Today Maryland State Player of the Year.
Watkins and his wife, Monica - also an NC State graduate - have two children: Levi (III) and Leah.
Brett Nelson
Assistant Coach
Nelson joined NC State’s program in May 2024 and the 2024-25 season marks his first as an assistant coach with the Pack.
Nelson comes to NC State from UMass where he spent one season on Frank Martin’s staff.
Prior to UMass, Nelson was the head coach of Holy Cross for four seasons. The Crusaders compiled a record of 27-84 overall in four seasons under Nelson after he was hired on July 3, 2019.
For five years prior to being the head coach of Holy Cross, Nelson was an assistant coach at Marquette, including spending the last two seasons in Milwaukee as the associate head coach. Nelson helped Marquette develop into one of the top programs in the Big East during his tenure. The Golden Eagles posted an overall record of 97-69 during that time, with two trips to the NCAA Tournament and one to the National Invitation Tournament.
Prior to his time at Marquette, Nelson spent one season as the associate head coach at Ball State in 2013-2014. He was previously an assistant coach at Drake for two seasons, with the Bulldogs tying for third in the Missouri Valley Conference and advancing to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in 2011-2012.
Nelson served as an assistant coach at Arkansas in 2010-2011, helping the Razorbacks to a third-place finish in the SEC Western Division, and was an assistant coach at Marshall from 2007-2010, with the Thundering Herd going 24-10 and earning a berth in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in 2009-2010.
Before landing his first coaching position, Nelson served as the director of basketball operations at VCU in 2006-2007 and Colorado State in 2005-2006.
Nelson, was a three-year starter at Florida after a stellar high school career that saw him named to the 1999 McDonald’s All-American team. While with the Gators, Nelson was a member of four NCAA tournament teams, including the 1999-2000 squad that reached the national championship game. At the time of his graduation, Nelson ranked first in school history in 3-pointers made (274) and attempted (689), second in steals (198) and 14th in points scored (1,417). He was a two-time All-SEC selection in addition to earning third team All-America honors in 2001.
After graduating from Florida in 2004 with a B.A. in sociology, Nelson went on to play professionally in Sweden.