NC State introduces Kevin Keatts: Here’s the full press conference

If you didn’t catch it Sunday afternoon, below is the full introductory press conference for Kevin Keatts, who laid out his expectations for NC State moving forward and answered a few questions from media members. Among a bunch of other things, he talked about recruiting the guys on the current team (and he specifically mentioned Malik Abu) and building a staff. Both of those things will be important to his short term success.

His energy and enthusiasm are obvious, and I’m hopeful that will translate into results down the line, though it’s almost always difficult to handicap stuff like that. What will be telling in the next few weeks is how many guys stay, how Keatts’ staff comes together, and the roster additions he makes for next season.

We need to be realistic about NC State’s current roster situation and understand that things are not going to turn on a dime, but that said, if Keatts can keep the core of this team together (and Terry gets his sixth year), State can be better next season. Sometimes the start of improvement is as fundamental as getting kids to buy in and execute the system.

This season NC State looked unprepared and didn’t seem to care, and if you fix those two things off the bat, you’re gonna win more games. I don’t know how far that can go in year one, but if Keatts can check off those two boxes, I’ll be more than happy to let the chips fall where they may.