Tag: Kevin Keatts

NC State basketball coach opens upscale piano bar in Wilmington

NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts opened an upscale piano bar in Wilmington over the weekend.

Fresh off a shocking run to the NCAA Tournament Final Four, NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts took on a totally different project this summer.

Keatts and his business partner, Clayton Gsell, opened an upscale piano bar in downtown Wilmington, NC on Friday evening.

Tempo 33 had a soft launch on Wednesday and officially opened the doors on Friday, giving Wilmington an expansive, upscale bar with live entertainment which will be open three nights a week on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Keatts began his head coaching career at UNC Wilmington in 2014, winning three straight regular season titles in the CAA and leading the Seahawks to the NCAA Tournament in both 2016 and 2017 before he was hired on at NC State.

While in Wilmington, Keatts began looking for a space to open a business, and eventually he got connected to Gsell who shared the same vision.

“Kevin and I were looking independently for space to do a piano bar, and two business brokers put us together,” Gsell told WECT reporters. “We shared the same thoughts about the need for a bougie piano bar downtown.”

Despite coaching in Raleigh, Keatts kept his vision to add an upscale dining space to Wilmington’s downtown area, and that vision became a reality with a little less than three months until his Wolfpack squad looks to defend their ACC Tournament victory and build on last year’s late season momentum.

NC State’s Sweet 16 win over Marquette triggered an automatic 2-year extension for coach Kevin Keatts

Kevin Keatts isn’t going anywhere after leading the Wolfpack to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1986.

Before the ACC tournament, NC State men’s basketball coach Kevin Keatts found himself at the center of some hot-seat discussions. But a lot can change in a few weeks.

The Wolfpack won five games in five days in Washington, D.C., to win the ACC and swipe an auto-bid to the NCAA tournament. Now, Keatts’ team is heading back to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1986 after a 67-58 win over No. 2-seed Marquette in the Sweet 16.

It’s a safe assumption that Keatts isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and his contract performance bonuses reinforce that. Friday night’s victory earned Keatts a $50,000 bonus — putting him at $250,000 in total bonuses this postseason — and it also automatically triggered a two-year contract extension that will raise his annual salary by $400,000.

Keatts, who is in his seventh season in Raleigh after being hired from UNC Wilmington, has made the NCAA tournament three times during his tenure, most recently last season. But prior to this year, he was still searching for his first victory in the big dance.

No. 11-seeded NC State has easily been the biggest story in the men’s tournament so far, and Keatts’ team will be moving on to face the winner of Friday night’s game between Duke and Houston in the Elite Eight, which will take place in Detroit on Sunday.

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