– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
If it normally takes just three seasons for basketball teams coached by Kevin Keatts to reach conference or national supremacy – and that has indeed been his track record since he entered the coaching ranks 20 years ago – UNC Wilmington fans must be giddy about how this season will conclude later this month. Or next.
The 44-year-old’s meteoric rise in the coaching ranks mirrors the resurgence of a once-proud smaller-budget program that had fallen on hard times before he arrived before the 2014-15 season. After being one of the more successful mid-major programs at the start of the century, UNCW had lost 20 games five times between 2006 and 2014, winning at least 10 games only four times in that span. The school’s NCAA Tournament win over Pac-10 power USC in 2002 and its near miss of taking out the defending national champion (Maryland) in the first round one year later were beyond a distant memory.
Enter Keatts, the former Hargrave Military Academy (VA) head coach and Louisville assistant who ended up winning titles with both institutions within three years after taking those aforementioned jobs. Year One in the Port City saw the biggest one-season conference wins turnaround in the country that year, with the Seahawks winning 12 Colonial Athletic Association contests and sharing the regular season title. (UNCW was 3-13 in conference play in 2013-14.)
Then came Year Two last season. Not only did it produce another share of a conference title, the Seahawks took out CAA top-seed Hofstra in the tournament title game in Baltimore, sending UNCW to its first NCAA Tournament since 2006. It also almost produced the biggest upset of the NCAA Tournament, as UNCW lead in-state juggernaut Duke for the better part of 25 minutes before succumbing to the Blue Devils 93-85 in Providence..
Even for a fast worker like Keatts, having the 2016 season end matching wits on the sidelines with Mike Krzyzewski in the Big Dance might have been more than even he bargained for.
“What happens is, every coach that takes a job comes in with a vision,” Keats told A Lot of Sports Talk after UNCW’s win over Hofstra on Feb. 18. “By year three, we’d like to have a run. The guys who I had in year one, who were guys I didn’t recruit, they bought in. They got tired of losing and they bought in and played well. Last year we were able to get our guys in, mixed with a couple of those guys and we had a lot of success and now, we’ve just built on it in year three. It’s a special group, and I’m happy because where we’re at in year three, a lot of people would like to be. But we’ve had that success in year one and two, which makes it even more special.”
It would have been extra special if last year’s team, which featured three native North Carolinians in its starting lineup (guards Chris Flemmings, C.J. Bryce and Denzel Ingram), would have taken down the Blue Devils on the sport’s biggest stage. After taking a 43-40 lead at half, UNCW wilted, particularly inside, and was not able to keep up with Duke down the stretch.
With the goal of continuing to build upon the rapid success that’s come to UNCW, it’s not as if they needed “Big Brother” showing them who’s boss in the NCAA Tournament as extra motivation for this season. But that game, in some way, continues to serve as some sort of driving force for this campaign.
“I don’t know if it was motivation, but I know we were disappointed that we lost,” said Keatts. “We actually went into that game thinking we can win the game. I don’t know if it’s motivation, but I’m sure it’s in the back of their heads.”
Whether it is in their minds or not, the Seahawks have gone about 2016-17 as if there is unfinished business. Fueled by a 9-0 start to CAA play, UNCW goes into the conference tournament already sporting the most wins in a single season in school history (26). Flemmings, the wiry, 6’5″ senior who grew up in Cary, N.C. as a Duke fan and who had to transfer from Division II Barton College in Wilson, N.C. just to realize his childhood dream of playing D-1 basketball in the Tar Heel State, leads the trio of backcourt stars – along with Ingram and Bryce – which all earned All-Conference honors at the end of this season.
The difference maker on the roster, however, has been the emergence of post presence Devontae Cacok, a.k.a. The Man Who Doesn’t Miss. After averaging just 3.3 points last season, Keatts assured Cacok that he could be the inside presence his team needed going forward, as long as he got himself in better shape in the offseason. It would be a gross understatement to state that Cacok has responded to Keatts’ challenge, with his scoring average currently quadrupled from last season (12.2). Most notably, Cacok is well on pace to shatter the D-1 record for highest field goal percentage in a season, as he hass made 78.7 percent of his shots from the floor (163-of-207). On one of his “off” nights shooting, a 6-for-9 effort against Drexel on Jan. 21, Cacok made up for it by hauling 24 rebounds, a new CAA single-game record.
Keatts’ challenge to Cacok had the desired effect, but what makes the third-year coach most proud is that his now veteran team is able to police its own.
“The thing I’ve been asking these guys to do is hold each other accountable,” said Keatts. “If we have a defensive breakdown, then jump on your own teammate. I want them to coach themselves. Obviously, I can be the orchestrator of this thing, but I want those guys. Because some of those guys have played together, I want them to coach each other.”
Not that this team has too many breakdowns. As a matter-of-fact, statistically, maybe no team in D-1 suffers fewer breakdowns than the Seahawks; According to teamrankings.com, UNCW ranks fourth in the country in fewest turnovers per game (9.8), seventh in offensive efficiency (1.141 points scored per shot taken) and leads the nation in fewest turnovers per possession (13.5%). Numbers like those help to offset weaknesses that teams try to exploit on the Seahawks on a nightly basis, most notably UNCW’s lack of collective size inside.
While the Seahawks rank near the top of the CAA in field goal percentage (47.7) due to its off-the-charts offensive efficiency, it ranks dead last in the league in field goal percentage defense, allowing its opponents to shoot just as accurately on a nightly basis (47.1). In the contest that A Lot of Sports Talk attended on Feb. 18 in Long Island, Hofstra was able to shoot 45 percent for the game – 57 percent in the first half. Despite that, the Seahawks held an eight-point advantage at intermission on its way to an 83-76 victory. Instead of concentrating on the field goal percentage, Keatts insists to look at how many times his team turns his opponents over – and the lack of turnovers they commit themselves – as a better measure of how efficient his defense is in making the offense go.
“Our defensive numbers are a little deceiving,” said Keatts after the win against the Pride. “If you look at [opponents field goal] percentage, that’s correct. But, today, we had 15 more shots and we, on average, get eight more shots than everybody else because of the way we turn you over. We do a great job of running you off the three-point line, but we also are a top-40 team in forcing turnovers, forcing tempo and getting more shots.”
“Our defensive numbers are a little deceiving,” said Keatts after the win against the Pride. “If you look at [opponents field goal] percentage, that’s correct. But, today, we had 15 more shots and we, on average, get eight more shots than everybody else because of the way we turn you over. We do a great job of running you off the three-point line, but we also are a top-40 team in forcing turnovers, forcing tempo and getting more shots.”
His team’s ability to force turnovers in bunches mirrors that of his old boss, Rick Pitino, the man who hired Keatts onto his staff after a wildly successful run at Hargrave Military Academy in 2011. Keatts, whose time at Hargrave saw him coach nine different players who eventually made it to the NBA, put to use his recruiting acumen to assemble a group of players that would lead the Cardinals to the Final Four in 2012 and win the national championship the following season. It was just three seasons he spent in the Derby City before the opportunity came at UNCW, but the imprint Pitino left on Keatts’ coaching philosophy and personality is indelible.
He’s been an unbelievable mentor to me,” Keatts said. “I learned so much. To pick out one thing is impossible. His relationship with his players. Holds them accountable. It was a great opportunity for me.”
Keatts’ players also know the opportunity that exists to become much better basketball players, especially with his track record of seeing players off to the next level. He interacts with his players and the with fans of the team as if he’s a player himself. (He is just in his mid 40s, with a personality that suggests he’s even younger than that at heart.)
“I’m a players’ coach,” Keatts said. “What you get from me is that I’m going to work with you everyday extremely hard. I’m going to treat you fair, but I’m going to hold you accountable. As long as you understand that, when you come here, you know you’re going to be part of a family.”
Everyone in and around the UNCW basketball family also knows they are in the middle of something special as well. Could it become even more special in the coming two weeks or so?
At the rate of knots Keatts usually works his magic, would you doubt it?
