That didn't take long at all.
Kevin Keatts will be N.C. State's next basketball coach.
Working efficiently, to avoid the mistakes of her last coaching search, N.C. State athletic director Debbie Yow lined up an interview with Keatts on Friday and worked out the details to replace Mark Gottfried, according to sources close to the program and as reported by other media outlets.
Keatts, 44, led UNC-Wilmington to a 72-28 record in three seasons and the NCAA Tournament the past two years. The Seahawks had suffered through six straight losing seasons before Keatts was hired in 2014.
A long, protracted search netted Gottfried in 2011 and Yow was intent on making this one as smooth as possible. Yow decided to fire Gottfried on Feb. 16. Gottfried led N.C. State to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four seasons but the Wolfpack went 9-27 in the ACC the past two years.
UNCW has won the Colonial Athletic Association title the past two years and has at least tied for the regular-season crown in each of Keatts' three seasons.
Keatts, who is from Lynchburg, Va., was the primary recruiter for Louisville's 2013 national championship team and worked for coach Rick Pitino for three seasons.
A former point guard for Ferrum College in the early 1990s, Keatts made his name as the head coach at Hargrave Military Academy, a prep school in Chatham, Va., where he won 263 games in 10 seasons.
UNCW lost to Virginia in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon in Orlando, Fla. Keatts made about $600,000 with UNCW this season. Keatts does have a $200,000 buyout in his contract with UNCW.
