Excited about ‘new energy’ at NC State, Keatts watches Pack players at NBA combine

Amid growing buzz throughout NBA scouting circles, based on his testing and shooting performances the day before, N.C State’s Terquavion Smith continued to stand out at the NBA draft combine with 17 points in a Thursday scrimmage.

From the stands, Kevin Keatts found himself equal parts proud and anxious.

The Wolfpack coach traveled to Chicago to support Smith, a freshman guard at N.C. State last season, and Dereon Seabron, a Wolfpack sophomore forward who also entered his name for NBA draft consideration.

“My job as a coach is to make sure that I’m very supportive of them,” Keatts said in an exclusive interview with The News & Observer. “I’ll talk to them. I’ll text with them to let them know what I think. But at the end of the day, everything is completely up to them.”

Yes, Smith and Seabron both have the option of returning to college basketball and playing for the Wolfpack next season. Keatts, of course, would welcome that.

Smith’s play thus far this week, though, appears to have diminished his chances of continuing his college career.

On Wednesday during the combine’s skill drills and agility testing, Smith wowed with a 38.5-inch maximum vertical leap that was sixth-best among the field of invited players. Tennessee’s Kennedy Chandler had the best at 41.5 inches.

Smith’s time in the lane agility drill of 10.63 seconds was No. 4 in the combine as Gonzaga’s Julian Strawther had the best at 10.3 seconds.

Smith hit 18 of 25 shots (72%) during a 3-point shooting drill.

Against live competition in Thursday’s 40-minute scrimmage, Smith hit 6 of 17 shots, including 3 of 10 3-pointers, to score his 17 points. He added six rebounds and two assists.

It’s the kind of production Smith regularly turned last season at N.C. State, where he averaged 16.3 points per game.

Seabron also scored 17 points while playing Thursday’s final scrimmage. He did so on 5 of 8 shooting from the field in 26 minutes of play. He added five rebounds and two steals.

Keatts could use that kind of scorer on his next Wolfpack team. Despite strong play from Smith and Seabron (17.3 points per game), N.C. State went 11-21 overall and finished last in the ACC with a 4-16 league mark.

Keatts has been hard at work rebuilding his roster, even as Smith and Seabron weigh their futures.

“We didn’t have a good year last year,” Keatts said. “And you can point to a lot of things. You can say injuries. You can talk about, you know, just some guys didn’t play well. But at the end of the day, I’m the coach and my job during the offseason is to fix it. I’ve addressed some of the needs and I’m excited we’ve got new energy in the building. I love the guys that we have coming in.”

Standout center Manny Bates, who missed the season after injuring his shoulder in November, transferred to Butler.

But, in the transfer portal, the Wolfpack added 6-1 point guard Jarkel Joiner from Mississippi, 6-8 guard Jack Clark from La Salle, 6-9 forward D.J. Burns from Winthrop and 6-10 forward Dusan Mahorcic from Utah.

Burns was the Big South player of the year last season while Joiner has averaged in double figures each season while playing college basketball at Cal State Bakersfield and Mississippi.

That’s a solid start as Keatts tries to get the Wolfpack back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since his initial season on the job in 2017-18.

“We lost a few good players to the portal,” Keatts said. “But that’s today’s basketball. That’s today’s athletics. I think we were able to go out there and identify some guys and fix some needs for our program.”

Of course, having Smith or Seabron would improve things even more for the Wolfpack. All Keatts can do is watch as the two get information from NBA scouts and decide if now is the time to begin their professional careers or not.

“Listen, I’m not going to make the decision for them,” Keatts said. “If they want to, if they ask me for my advice or something, I’m only going to tell them the truth. But I’m strictly here as a cheerleader for those guys and being very supportive for whatever decision they make.”