‘We Stole March’

The NC State men’s and women’s basketball teams didn’t just win their way to the NCAA men’s and women’s Final Fours with upset after upset on their way to the last weekend of the season in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Seattle, Washington. They became a whirling dervish drawing attention to the university from every corner of the basketball world.

“We stole March,” men’s coach Kevin Keatts said Thursday during his annual summer press conference.

It’s certainly true that the unexpected five-game run to the ACC championship for the men and the second-place finish by the women caught the attention of every NC State fan; but the additional wins in the NCAA Championship tournaments by both teams made the university the talk of the spring, with the men’s 26-15 overall and women’s 31-7 overall records.

In an already successful academic year, in which the women’s cross-country team won its third consecutive NCAA championship and football went to a postseason bowl game, this spring the baseball team advanced to the College World Series for the third time since 2013 and the Wolfpack won ACC titles in men’s swimming, wrestling and gymnastics.

State became one of only 15 schools in the history of March Madness to send both its men’s and women’s teams to the Final Four, a feat matched this year by Connecticut. It was the first time since the NCAA began conducting postseason championships that two schools had both the men’s and women’s squads qualify for the final weekend. (Connecticut won its second consecutive men’s title, while undefeated South Carolina, which eliminated the Wolfpack Women in the semifinals, won the women’s title.)

Famously, the last time the NC State men won the ACC title and advanced to the Final Four, head coach Jim Valvano went on an expanded summer victory tour, adding more activities to his regular summer schedule of coaching clinics, speaking engagements and recruiting. He wrote a book, developed his own clothing line, added 150 events to his calendar and raised his speaking fees to $50,000 per event. He also did commercials for Hardee’s and Mountain Dew, and he accepted every interview request that crossed his desk.

Even for him, it was a busy summer.

Keatts has been exactly the opposite, trying to maintain the same schedule he’s had every off-season.

“I try not to change,” Keatts said. “I have the same routine. I have just gone back and watched each of the nine [postseason] games to try to see what our secret sauce was. I’m the same guy. I recruit the same way. I’m doing everything I’ve always done.

“I didn’t get high, didn’t get low. I heard so much chatter throughout our season. It didn’t matter to me.”

The biggest change? Maybe the notch Keatts uses to tighten his belt.

“I’ve been getting on the treadmill and watching each of our games,” he said. “It takes me about an hour, which is longer than I usually am on there. So I’m getting good exercise.”

Women’s basketball coach Wes Moore, who has been a head coach on all three NCAA levels, making his first career trip to the Final Four (and only the second in NC State women’s basketball history) has been a little more life-altering.

A veteran head coach for more than 35 years, he’s been getting recognized more often. More people come up to him in airports. Recruiting, while still difficult, has had more open doors and advanced opportunities.

An usher at a Texas Rangers baseball game said, “Hey, you’re the women’s coach at NC State, aren’t you?” The guitarist for a Chicago cover band at a Dallas night club also came off the stage to talk Wolfpack basketball with him.

“It’s been pretty fun, seeing the reaction of all the people I’ve met and all the fans of our program,” Moore said from the Atlanta airport during a recruiting trip. “I’ve been in basketball for a long time, so people have been awfully kind talking about our season.”

Most of them, anyway. His oldest high school and childhood friends, who follow the Wolfpack from city to city during the postseason, have taken to calling the coach “Finally Four Moore.”

He loves it.

Good news always comes in bunches, of course. Keatts on Thursday acknowledged the importance of former Wolfpack guard Lorenzo Brown (2010-13) earning a spot on Spain’s Olympic team. Brown, who played one year for Keatts at Hargrave Military Academy before joining the Wolfpack, was a starter for Spain’s 2022 EuroBasket Championship.

He is the third player affiliated with NC State basketball to participate in the Olympics. Center Tom Burleson played for the 1972 U.S. Olympic team, which won but never accepted a silver medal at the Munich Games, and forward Kenny Carr was on the gold-medal winning 1976 U.S. Olympic team at the Montreal Games.

“It’s a proud moment for everybody,” Keatts said.

Brown left NC State with a year of eligibility remaining to declare for the 2013 NBA draft. He was taken in the second round by the Minnesota Timberwolves and spent time with four NBA franchises, and he played professionally overseas in China, Serbia, Russia, Israel, Turkey and Greece.

“I give him great credit,” Keatts said. “It’s a proud moment for everybody, for our program and for his family.”