Keatts: "They Are Dangerous"

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media today to discuss the upcoming game against Florida State.

Opening Statement:
I found out about the Yahoo report probably about the same time you guys did this morning. Coach Yow has released a statement and I really don't have anything left to add to it.

You said previously that you were not concerned about the FBI and NC State. Are you now?
I'll refer back to coach Yow's statement. She released a statement on behalf of the university.

How vulnerable are these kids to these people looking to prey on them?
Once again, I'll refer back to the statement coach Yow released and that's all I can really comment on.

What do you see from the Seminoles?
They are dangerous. They are one of the most athletic teams in the country. I think they are in the ACC top third in tempo, 34th in the country. They are long, athletic, and love to play in transition. They are probably one of the better one-on-one teams that we'll play against.

You're at a point where things are more at stake. How do you keep the pressure off your guys?
It's tough. I never talk about it and I know you guys do, so it's tough because I know these kids are on social media a lot.

I say this all the time, I just try to concentrate on the next opponent.  I'm not sure these guys are mature enough to look ahead, so all we've talked about is Florida State.

Have you re-established a set of goals since the UNC loss?
We haven't. They may have, but as a team we haven't talked about this is what you have to do. Literally it's been this is our next opponent.

We play in such an outstanding league, I don't think you have the ability to look ahead because if you look ahead it can cost you some games.

What does it mean to you that this program is at the place you're at this season?
I'm human and you get into coaching to help young men achieve their goals. I'm excited about where we're at.  

When you think about this team being 9-6 and winning 19 games with a team we've put together at the last minute, we've accomplished some great things, but I hope we're not done.

How much before the season did you emphasize the NCAA Tournament as a goal?
We didn't talk about it one time. 

We didn't talk about the NCAAs or postseason because I didn't think we had the type of team that could handle that. So all we concentrated on was getting better every practice and every game sitaution.

We had a nonconference schedule where I didn't know how many games we'd win. We came out with 10 wins highlighted by beating Arizona. Then we started ACC play 0-2, and it wasn't the most promising 0-2.

After that we turned things around and found a way to win, and now we're sitting here with nine wins.

How much has your team changed on that topic since then?
I don't know if we could handle it now. I'm living in the dark a little bit. I'm sure others are talking about the NCAAs... I'm probably the only one in the program not talking about it.

I don't know if we can handle it. We've had some great wins and it's been a very good season, but I don't want to be defined by the great wins. 

I want to continue to build on what we have right now.

You talked after the BC game about Sam Hunt hitting corner three's. Have you had a guy who could hit those shots like he can?
I don't know. He's shooting the ball very well when you think about his concentrations to this team right now, he and Braxton Beverly. Those two guys the last two or three games are shooting at a big rim.

The shot he made against BC by the bench in the corner, I didn't think it had a chance to go in because he got it off so quick.  

Those two guys, Al Freeman and Sam Hunt, have been so valuable to us because those are two guys you'd normally be replacing with freshmen but we were able to get some fifth-year guys who have played in college and scored a lot of points in college.

More on Al Freeman...
I think the biggest change in our team is Al Freeman has played with some composure and played as a veteran.

When you look at the last three games, I thought he took one bad shot. He had that heat check with about 3:40 left in the game, and I couldn't get to him quick enough to sub him out.

If you look at his numbers the last three or four games, they've been unbelievable. He's played in the last three or four as an All-ACC performer.  He's helped our team because of  his maturity.

You've had the Abu knee injury, the uncertainty with Braxton, Markell's suspension.  Talk about where you are right now given what you've been through.
It's amazing that we are where we're at because of that. If you look at our team for a small amount of time we had everyone on the floor.

I didn't realize this is crazy because time flies, but Markell Johnson missed seven games.  We were 4-3 during that but he missed the two key ACC games and the crazy thing is he missed two big wins.

Malik is starting to play better now. I think he's been healthy and mentally he's starting to play better basketball.

What is it going to take to clean up college basketball?
I knew you'd come in late and I'm going to tell you what I told the rest because they would get mad at me.

Coach Yow released a statement today on behalf of the university and I'm not going to add anything else to that.