Bad news for UNCW could turn into good news for N.C. State.
The Seahawks dropped their first-round game to Virginia, 76-71 on Thursday afternoon, and have been eliminated from the NCAA tournament.
UNCW coach Kevin Keatts is one of the top targets in N.C. State’s coaching search. One of the problems in N.C. State’s last coaching search was that its top target, Shaka Smart, kept winning in the tournament and kept N.C. State on hold.
N.C. State athletic director Debbie Yow said when she made the decision to fire Mark Gottfried a month ago that her primary candidates would be in the NCAA tournament and the search couldn’t heat up until her targets had been eliminated.