BOZICH | How Rick Pitino helped Kevin Keatts makes his dreams come true

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Kevin Keatts had his basketball coaching career on a direct route to happiness. He had settled on a plan.

There was no reason to jump on the unpredictable college basketball assistant coaching merry go round, working incalculable hours while dancing to the schedule set by a demanding head coach.

At 39 years old, Keatts would stay the course at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, about 50 miles from Lynchburg, where Keatts grew up. He would drive the team bus, wash the uniforms, sweep the floors and find scholarships for his players.

Then, in the spring of 2011, Rick Pitino called.

Turnover washed across Pitino’s staff at the University of Louisville. He needed multiple new assistants. He wanted Keatts to give up his head coaching position at Hargrave to work a million hours a week for him.

Keatts had made a similar move once, leaving the head coaching position at Hargrave in 2001 to work as an assistant at Marshall University. Two years of that is all Keatts needed to rush back to Hargrave.

He was convinced he would be a prep school lifer, living happily ever after in Virginia, less than an hour from his parents.

Except, who says "No," to Rick Pitino?

Not Kevin Keatts.

"Coach told me, 'I don’t hire assistant coaches," Keatts said. "'I hire future head coaches.'"

On the long and prominent list of Pitino former assistants, Keatts has taken it up a notch the last three weeks. By winning five Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament games and four more in the NCAA Tournament, Keatts put North Carolina State, a team carrying 14 losses, in the national semifinals against Purdue Saturday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Make Keatts the fourth former Pitino assistant to crash a Final Four, joining Tubby Smith, Billy Donovan and Mick Cronin. Not a terrible club to join.

And, considering the N.C. State playbook, he is the most unlikely.

"Dreams do come true," Keatts said. "And mine came true."

For that, Keatts puts Pitino atop of the list of people to thank. Keatts worked three seasons for the Cards before accepting the head coach position at North Carolina-Wilmington in 2014.

He jumped to N.C. State in 2017. Keatts has won 20 or more game five times in Raleigh but this is the first time his Wolfpack have won an NCAA Tournament game. Three weeks ago, when N.C. State was 17-14, reasonable people wondered if Keatts would be fired, especially if the Wolfpack lost their ACC Tournament opener to Louisville. Now, Keatts has already earned a two-year contract extension and become the talk of the town.

"I had no intent on going back to college until I got a call from Rick Pitino," Keatts said. "And believe it or not, he sold me on the opportunity."

Believe it.

The 2012 Cardinals were a surprise visitor to the Final Four, where they lost to Kentucky in the semifinals.

The 2013 Cardinals won the Big East Tournament as well as the national title.

The 2014 Cards won the American Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles before UK eliminated them in the Sweet Sixteen.

"Coach is The GOAT," Keatts said. "I was thinking last night how blessed I was, number one to be going to my third Final Four but it’s even better to be leading the team.

"Coach challenged you every day. There wasn’t a day that I wasn’t challenged. And I was challenged, not only me but everybody in the office, not to be good but to be great.

"I think the preparation (helped). We were in the office at 6 a.m. all the way until night time at all times. What I learned is how to be organized, how to prepare, how to run a program.

"I will say this about Rick Pitino, he doesn’t put you in a box. He doesn’t bring you there just as a recruiter. He doesn’t bring you there just to be a scout guy. You’ve got to do everything.

"I think that’s one of the bigger things. Some coaches who are at his level as Hall of Famers don’t allow their staff to grow. He allows you to grow."

Those Louisville teams achieved things they were supposed to achieve. This North Carolina State team was five minutes away from being sent home for the spring when the Wolfpack were tied with Louisville with five minutes to play in a first-round game on a late Tuesday afternoon in the ACC Tournament.

"This one is different than anything I've ever been around," Keatts said. "You know, we’ve had nine elimination games. You think about that. Back then, obviously winning the Big East, you had to win three, which which was really good. We had a tough stretch to where to go through.

"Well, winning five games, starting on Tuesday as a number 10 seed, and to go through the really good teams at the back end of it, if you lose any of those games, you don't go to the NCAA, including the championship (game against North Carolina) probably.

"And then after that, you go on and you got four games, which we all know in the NCAA Tournament, you lose a game and you go home.

"I don't know that I've ever seen a run that's similar to this … there could be some similarities (to 2013 Louisville) but I don’t think there could be a lot of them because they’re completely different. Our team back in 2013 was completely different in how they were motivated compared to the guys we have today."

And with two more victories, Keatts has his shot to become the third former Pitino assistant to win a national title and the first No. 11 seed to win it all.

"I was that young kid running around in Lynchburg that didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do," Keatts said. "I had no clue what path I was going to take.

"So I would say stay true to your dreams."

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• BOZICH | N.C. State ends Louisville's winning streak at one, 89-83
• Tall Final Four task: Beating reigning champion UConn will not be an easy task in the desert

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