“I think basketball now is a year-to-year thing. Because there are so many new faces and guys are transferring. If you get the right amount of NIL or rev sharing, things can change.” said head coach of the NC State Kevin Keatts after his side lost to Miami in the final game of the season. It definitely is a year to year thing as the champions of the ACC tournament won’t be taking part in the tournament this season. And there are consequences.

Just last year, the Wolfpack pulled off one of the biggest Cinderella stories in the big dance by making it to the Final Four. Fast forward a year, and they’re letting go of the man behind it all. Yes, Kevin Keatts and NC State have officially parted ways, as reported by journalist Jon Rothstein.

“I want to thank Coach Keatts for his contributions to NC State and for always representing the university with class,” said director Boo Corrigan after confirming the departure. “He will always have a special place in Wolfpack history for what his 2023-24 squad accomplished. We appreciate the passion he brought to this role and wish him and his family the best in the future.”

Keatts and NC State had a season to remember in 2023. The Wolfpack ended the regular season on a four-game losing streak and looked set to miss the postseason. But they won five games in five days at the ACC tournament, beating Duke and North Carolina to secure an automatic bid.

As an 11-seed in the NCAA Tournament, they took down Texas Tech and Oakland. But they didn’t stop there. They stunned Marquette and Duke to reach their first Final Four since 1983. This incredible run put Coach Keatts in line for a raise. His contract was automatically extended by two seasons after winning the ACC Tournament and he received a $400,000 raise, bringing his base salary to $3.1 million. According to ESPN, NC State now owes him around $7 million.

But what really went wrong for Coach Keatts that led NC State to make this tough decision? Let’s take a closer look.

What went wrong for Kevin Keatts?

It’s rare to see a program part ways with a coach who led them to a Final Four against all odds. So what really went wrong at NC State this season? This year’s team struggled, finishing with a 12-19 overall record and a 5-15 mark in the ACC. They failed to qualify for the ACC Tournament and lost three of their last four games to end the regular season.

Why did this happen? Well, a simple answer to this is their offense. It was coach Keatt’s strength but if completely fell off this season. The Wolfpack had ranked top-50 in adjusted offensive efficiency in five of his first seven seasons and never outside the top 65. This year, they crashed down to 156th nationally, per KenPom.

To make matters worse, NC State lost key players like DJ Horne, DJ Burns, and Mo Diarra and couldn’t build on their March Madness success. It’s hard to part ways with a coach who had a Cinderella run and led you to a Final Four. But with this season’s struggles and player losses, it makes some sense. Maybe Coach Keatts could’ve turned it around with more time, but we’ll never know that for sure!