KEATTS: "We're Moving in the Right Direction"
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media following the Wolfpack’s 87-64 win over Alcorn State Tuesday evening.
NOTE: Click the video in the player above to watch Keatts’ press conference.
Opening Statement:
“I know we played a game tonight which is great, but I am excited too about our future. We signed five really good basketball players that can certainly help us in the future, and it helps us continue to develop our culture. When you look at the guys we signed, all five of those guys fill a need for us. I’m excited about this bunch. When I took the job, I wanted to get some homegrown guys that could be able to help us win a championship one day. Four of those five guys are from the state of North Carolina, and that was a priority for our staff and me. Give our staff a lot of credit. My assistant coaches did a tremendous job recruiting those guys. It is an exciting class. I am ecstatic about those guys.
“When you look at the guys we have in the program and take into consideration the fact that Thomas Allen is sitting out - and he’s going to be a really good player - and then Dereon Seabron, who is an academic redshirt and who has a chance to really be good along with the guys that are returning, I think we’re heading in the right direction. Actually, I know we are heading in the right direction and I am excited about that.
“The game...I thought we played good in stretches. My team is a little tired. We had three games this week, so we didn’t have our traditional day off. We had to take two days off the previous week. So tomorrow, I told everybody in the locker room to stay away from basketball a little bit.
They thought I was saying stay away from the academics, but I said ‘No, we aren’t doing that.’ Everybody has instructions. For those guys who need to get in the gym like C.J. Bryce, Devon Daniels and Braxton Beverly, I told them if you come in the gym, spend about 30 minutes and get some shots up and then get some rest. We needed some rest.
“That being said, I think we did some great things in the second half. We had a great spurt where I think we shot the ball well behind the three-point line. There were some times in the first half where I think we should have driven it and gotten some easy baskets, but that being said, I am happy with our win and I like where we are at. We are moving in the right direction.”
On Devon Daniels shooting consistently:
“When you look at Devon and you look at D.J. Funderburk, they both could certainly be starters, and they will probably end up starting in some games. I am playing eight guys right now, and all eight guys could be starters, so the three guys that come off the bench, they have been tremendous.
“Our bench is scoring just as much as the guys who start the game. Devon was really good tonight. He was aggressive and made shots and mixed his game up. He was very solid on the defensive end, and he is a good player. He is starting to buy in and understand what I am looking for. I thought he played well. It was good to see Markell Johnson score 16 points. I thought he felt a little bit better, a little more comfortable shooting the basketball. Our team is good. I have eight guys I think I can start at any point. I give Pat Andree, Devon and D.J. a lot of credit because not once have they powered the ball coming off the bench. They just come in and do their job. With eight guys playing, everyone knows they’re going to play so no one complains.”
On Manny Bates in the second half:
“I didn’t say anything to Manny (Bates) during halftime. Players know when they aren’t playing well. Manny (Bates) is a freshman, and we forget because he is such a tremendous shotblocker on the defensive end, so because he has been here, even my staff will say he needs to do these things, but he is a freshman. The kid hasn’t played in two years. It is going to take some time, and he just came out and played. I didn’t say one word to him. Sometimes when you are dealing with a young kid, it is better to not say anything to them. It is better to just let it play and so I didn’t say anything.”
On Markell Johnson playing well again:
“I don’t worry about him. I think he will be okay. I don’t think he played great tonight. I think he played well. It was good to see him play, and it was good for him to see the ball go in the hole.”
On Heritage Games and Reynolds Coliseum:
“These conversations are always going to happen. This is a great venue to play in. That being said, we also have a really great venue to play in at PNC Arena. This is great because everyone is right on top of you, and it is a legendary place. I love playing here. That being said, we have contracts where we have to play a certain number of games at PNC. I am not giving up on that arena because I love PNC Arena. PNC helps us with recruits. It’s a pro arena. It helps us to play in front of 20,000 people when we sell it out. It is a great place. I look at it like this: we are fortunate to have two great arenas to play in. I wish it was a little bigger, maybe holding 10,000. But it is beautiful the way it is.”
On the way Markell Johnson distributes the ball:
“What’s lost in the fact that I know we’ve all said: Markell (Johnson) hasn’t played well, but he’s passed the ball well. He’s had a few more turnovers than I would like. That being said I think he’s played well. When he’s not scoring the ball, he’s done different stuff. He’s gotten people involved, but he’s passing the ball at a high level. I can’t get him to go back. I don’t want him to be sophomore Markell (Johnson) where he thinks he’s got to lead the league in assists. On this particular team, we need him to have a balance of scoring and passing the basketball.”
On his reaction to Education Day and to his 2020 signing class:
“The fans today (at this morning’s women’s basketball Education Day) were the best fans that you could ever have. They were elementary school kids. They have no idea about our recruiting class. It’s so funny, and I’m glad we do that. That’s exciting. Those kids get to have fun. They get a break from school, and they yell. It takes them a while to realize what team they’re rooting for because when the ball goes in the hole, they start rooting for everybody, and then when they get this whole NC State chant, it’s pretty loud in there. I’ve got to work with our fans because we won’t have an elementary school game that will be as loud as them. Right now, they’re blowing us out of the water with the atmosphere there was today. I’ve been here all day. Kids don’t know it. I’m excited. I’m pumped about this class, and it was one that we needed to have. It was one that I felt was going to be good, and we got the pieces that we really wanted, and there’s not a guy that we recruited in this class that we didn’t get that we really wanted. They were all guys that we prioritized, and we knew that we could have a chance to get.”
On seeing Josh Hall’s changes and Cam Hayes helping piece the recruiting class together:
“Cam Hayes texted me when Josh (Hall) committed and said, ‘Man I did a great job,’ like what are you talking about Cam (Hayes)? But it’s becoming popular for guys in-state to come to NC State, and that’s one of the things that I wanted to happen.
We’ve lost some of those recruiting battles. It’s always been tough because we’ve got some pretty good programs in this state, and a lot of times, those guys have decided to go elsewhere instead of coming to NC State. We won a couple of recruiting battles here where even when guys didn’t go to the schools in the neighborhood. They would leave and go to schools like Florida State or maybe Clemson or somewhere else. With this group of guys, they decided that NC State was good enough, and we only do well with people who want to come to our program.
I’m excited that all four of the in-state guys felt like this program was good enough for them to come here. It started with Manny Bates. Manny Bates was recruited, and he could have gone to a lot of programs, but he decided to stay in-state, and I’m happy for him. That’s why I want him to do so well and the other guys that are coming to the program will do the same thing.”
On the similarity between Ebenezer Dowuona and Manny Bates:
“(Ebenezer Dowuona) is a little bit more skilled offensively at this point than Manny (Bates). He actually can step out and do a few more things than Manny (Bates), but he’s a tremendous shot blocker similar to Manny (Bates).”
On play-calling regrets when Manny Bates was in foul trouble and Alcorn State had a scoring run:
“When you’re early in the year and early in the season, you want to see what kind of combinations play well. That combination has been playing good for us at times this year. It’s crazy. I don't think that they beat us or made shots off the backboard during that time. I just thought we had too many breakdowns. We didn’t do a great job in my opinion tonight rotating out of the press and finding guys, and we left some guys open for some wide-open shots. They were five-for-seven from the three-point line going into the half, and a lot of them were because of the press. We just didn’t rotate out of them. I thought we did a good job, a solid job, defensively, but all of the press we gave up some easy shots. It’s different because when we’re playing Jericole (Hellems) and when we’re playing Pat (Andree) at that kind of four position, they’re not used to it, so they don’t know where to rotate to.”
On the impact his first two years had on the 2020 recruiting class:
“We started the majority of these guys we signed. We started from the day we got here recruiting them, and we started building a relationship with them. We started selling them on the opportunity to come to NC State and get a great education, and we talked about a lot of things. We talked about our fan base, and we talked about the opportunity to play the style of play that we play. We talked about obviously being an alumni of NC State. I just think it worked off. We worked extremely hard for these guys, and give them credit. All of these guys could have chosen to go somewhere else, and they decided to come to NC State.”
On evaluation of his signees at team camp:
“Team camp is so tough because a lot of the team camps don’t have their entire team. Most of the football guys are away playing and so you don't get a true understanding of how good each guy is. It certainly helped that I could spend a little time and watch them play. I don't think that made it as far as me deciding whether to take them or not.
I think the biggest thing just is Josh Hall - two or three years ago, I think he was in teen camp, and I mean that kid has gotten a lot better. He’s grown, he’s talented, he’s put on a little bit of bulk and he’s gotten better. I can say that about each guy.
Nick (Farrar) is a kid that came from nowhere and certainly disappointed in Nick (Farrar) tonight a little bit because he played against Broughton and it was KJ (Kevin Keatts, Jr.)’s first varsity game and Nick (Farrar) beat him bad, so he’s going to have a little extra suicides for that when he gets here. You can never beat the coach’s son in his first game ever, and Nick (Farrar) won the game.
I’m excited. Cam Hayes, he’s a talented guard. He reclassified back up to his regular class. He can play the one and two. He’s a really good basketball player. When you talk about Shak (Shakeel) Moore, he’s probably one of the best defensive guards in the country. He’s a guy who stepped up and made seven three-pointers. That’s not who he is, so certainly you know he’s able to do those types of things.
But I love the bunch. I love what Ebenezer (Dowuona) brings to our class. Not only are those guys good basketball players, but they’re good people, and all of them are coming in with a really good academic background. If I could get two out of the three I’m lucky, but with the majority of those guys I got three out of three with those guys so I’m pumped about that.”
On having both Shakeel Moore and Cam Hayes playing off the ball:
Yeah I wouldn’t have ever taken Shak (Shakeel Moore) if he was just locked in to being a point guard. He is a combo guard, and it’s so funny the relationship has grown because each guy with Cam (Hayes).
Cam (Hayes) and Shak (Shakeel Moore) played together in AAU and I asked them after we got the commitment from Cam (Hayes), I said ‘Would you, do you mind playing with Shak (Shakeel Moore)?’ and they were all for it. It was weird how this relationship has developed with those guys, because we would go back and say, ‘How do you feel about playing with so and so?’ and, ‘How do you feel about __?’ and all of them were like, “Man, I’m excited about it.’
So hopefully we’ve got something special in this group. I would love for those guys to develop a relationship before they get here, because I think if they do they’ll come in as a strong unit and get better in a lot of areas.”