Kevin Keatts: "I've been excited to play college basketball for months"

There was a lot for NC State men’s basketball to like in a 95-61 season-opening win over Charleston Southern. The veterans led the way, with Devon Daniels posting a career-high 29 points to go with 10 rebounds, Braxton Beverly posting 13 and Devon Daniels 10. 

The freshmen got valuable playing time, as every player on scholarship who dressed played and found the scoresheet. Head coach Kevin Keatts spoke to the media following the big win, here’s a full breakdown of everything he had to say: 

Opening statement

I’m excited about how hard we played. I thought after halftime, we adjusted and our press was very effective. Give Devon Daniels a lot of credit. He played like a senior. When you talk about how efficient he was, 29 points, 10 rebounds. I thought DJ Funderburk gave us a lift. 

I thought our defense was really good. Anytime you can force 32 turnovers and have 18 steals, that’s how we want to play. I thought we ramped up our defense in the second half. Some of these guys, we haven’t played a basketball game in about 256 days. For some of these guys, obviously the veterans, it’s been a long time. 

But for the newcomers, it’s one of those things, this is their first college game. I wanted to bring those guys off the bench and play the veterans because I wanted them to see the game and see how the game would flow. I thought they did a good job once everybody settled in.

Did you spend a while trying to get your rotation where you wanted it subbing guys in and out?

As I said earlier this week, I went into this game knowing that I could have eight starters. Of those eight starters, at one point it could have been Shakeel Moore, at one point it could have been Jericole Hellems in the game, and then Cam Hayes. Right after shoot around today, I decided I wanted to go with the veterans because I wanted those younger guys to see how the game would flow. I wanted to get DJ Funderburk some work at the four, and obviously see him and Manny play together even though we were playing against a smaller team. I just wanted to see how they would play. 

I thought we did a good job, I liked the way we were going to play. I don’t know that that will be our lineup on Friday. It could change. But I thought we did a good job. And then the young guys came in and I thought they did a great job. Cam Hayes comes in the game and makes a play right away, gets in transition to get a steal and get a dunk. I thought we had some good stuff from the younger guys. 

I feel bad for a guy like Manny Bates, because he’s worked so hard, but we’re playing a smaller team. And once again, he got into foul trouble. So I know that will be the narrative, how can you keep Manny out of foul trouble. Some of those came because our guards got beat off the dribble. 

Players have to ease into that first game and get into a rhythm. Do coaches have to get into a rhythm of subbing in and getting guys in and out like they want to?

I was in a rhythm as soon as I showed up at Reynolds today. I was ready to go. It doesn’t take me that long to get in a rhythm. I’ve been excited to play college basketball for months. I’ve been sitting at home. My wife is tired of me. I was ready. I was in a rhythm. I’ve been practicing for this first game for several months now. 

How impressed were you with the ability of the freshmen to step right in?

I thought they played hard. I knew they were going to make some mistakes. I knew that they were going to miss some shots. I knew they were going to blow some assignments because that’s what freshmen do. But I thought all three of those guys, and then add Ebenezer Dowuona and Jaylon Gibson to the mix of those guys, and they all played extremely hard. That’s kind of what I wanted to do with those guys, to have them see how hard the veteran guys play and then they come in and give us a lift by playing hard. 

I thought when we went to the bench, we were slow. Devon was the only guy scoring. I thought those guys came in and gave us a lift right away. 

How much does it help to have two extra freshmen be able to step in if a guy like Manny Bates gets in foul trouble?

It’s tough, because I normally would have had two games before those guys got a chance to play, because I think we were scheduled to scrimmage South Carolina in the secret scrimmage, and then we would have had the exhibition. And so I’ve had to create some atmosphere if Manny got in foul trouble and held him out in practice, so some of those guys could play a little bit more in practice. I tried to get the young guys, especially the young bigs, more reps in practice than normal.

When’s the last time you coached in front of a crowd like that? 

I don’t know that I ever have. I’m thinking back to my Hargrave days, I really don’t know that I’ve coaches in front of a crowd like that. But once the game started, I didn’t realize we didn’t have a crowd. I’ve got to talk to my folks here, when we make a 3, it’s like a delayed 3. It’s almost like we’re back on defense, before you know it. Basketball is basketball. 

Of course, you know I love our fans. They’re passionate. We don’t have them. I know they were at home rooting for us as loud as they can. But once they tipped, it was almost like it was full. 

How important is it to have veteran guys to set an example mentor the freshmen? 

The crazy thing is, I’ve asked those guys to be mentors, and I haven’t told them who to mentor. But you can see, everybody’s grabbing one of the young guys and being a mentor to them. Braxton’s done it with Dereon Seabron. DJ loves to pull Jaylon Gibson to the side. Devon Daniels, I had to talk to him because he’s so competitive. When Jaylon would make a mistake in practice, he would just kind of lose it and get a bad attitude. I was like “Dude, he’s a freshman, what do you want him to do? Teach him.”

And so I think now those guys are understanding. They’re listening. They’re trying to help these guys along. We’re teaching them that no one’s coming in to take anybody’s position. We’re all on the same team now. On any given night, I could have a different starter, so I want you to work together to become a great team.

What was it that you saw that helped your team create separation?

We ramped up our presses, and the reason why we ramped up our presses was because there was a point where I thought the game was 17-16, 16-15, and we couldn’t get into the press because we weren’t scoring at the point. Once we started scoring, we were able to pick up our full-court. I thought with Jericole Hellems, even though he didn’t have a great game offensively, when he came in the game and started denying the point guard, as we like to do in our press, we got a couple steals off it. So that was a good thing for us.

What does a healthy Braxton Beverly mean to this team?

He’s a shot maker. He’s a smart player. He makes great decisions. When he’s playing good basketball, it’s another dimension that it adds to our team. Braxton Beverly falls every game, and he’s going to fall every game. But one thing about it is he’s always going to get up. So he’s a tough kid and he plays through stuff that most people would sit out for months. So that’s why I like the kid. He’s what NC State’s all about. Hard hat, brings it every game. When he’s playing good basketball, that makes us a good basketball team.