By Brian Murphy, WRAL

NC State broke two long droughts in March, claiming its first men’s basketball ACC title since 1987 and reaching the Final Four for the first time since 1983.

Coach Kevin Keatts, whose team needed to win five games in five days to capture the ACC crown and qualify for the NCAA Tournament, doesn’t want that success to change him or the culture of his program.

“I pride myself in not changing and being the same coach that I have been, meaning before the Final Four run,” Keatts said Wednesday at the ACC Tipoff event in Charlotte.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer, whose team lost to NC State twice during that run including in the Elite Eight, has a new-look roster — but high expectations at a program that’s won five national titles in the last 35 years.

Including one in 2010 that Scheyer played on.

“That was a special team,” Scheyer said. “Proud of what we accomplished.”

The 2024-25 Blue Devils could be a special team, too, with top recruit Cooper Flagg and a top-rated freshman class and a talented transfer group surrounding veteran guards Caleb Foster and Tyrese Proctor.

Proctor said the team’s defensive potential is “scary,” particularly given its length.

Scheyer and Foster had high praise for the abilities of Maliq Brown, a transfer from Syracuse, in particular. Brown earned a spot on the ACC’s All-Defensive team last year.

“He has a chance to be the best defender in college basketball this year,” Foster said.

Source: wralsportsfan.com