UNCW Students react to NC State Coach Kevin Keatts’ firing

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Less than a year after an unprecedented final four run, NC State Men’s Basketball Coach Kevin Keatts has been fired. 

Keatts coached the team for eight years and was fired with five years remaining on his contract.  After last year’s miracle run, the program failed to qualify for the ACC Tournament this season, and did not win a single road game. 

Keatts was 151 and 113 overall at NC State but had a losing record in conference play.

WWAY asked a number of UNCW students about their reactions to the firing of the former UNCW coach. 

“It’s a little bit of a surprise considering the success that he did here for UNCW,” Seahawk Central Sports Reporter Dylan Thompson said. “As a student, it’s shocking but at the end of the day you have to understand that basketball’s a business.” 

“You know, last year was a Cinderella run. Like, that lucky shot in the tournament, that’s the only reason he didn’t get fired last year and then having a losing record in conference play every year he’s been there, or overall, it’s just inexcusable,” another student noted. 

“I feel like firing him after one bad season when he didn’t have the players, really to go that far, I feel like that’s more on the culture of the school than on the coach, I would say,” another student added.  

After winning the CAA Championship for the second time, Keatts left UNCW to coach at NC State back in 2017.