The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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52 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BASKETBALL PREVIEW 2017-18 Much of Keatts' support staff has simi- lar backgrounds. Director of basketball operations Thomas Carr played for Keatts at Hargrave and then was his assistant the past three years at Wilmington. Both the director of player personnel Anthony Wright and director of scouting/quality control Travis Hackert worked with Keatts when he was an assistant at Louisville. Pat Murphy thus may have had a tall order to prove himself as the strength and conditioning coach when Keatts arrived at UNCW. Murphy was in charge of the strength program for the Seahawks ath- letic program when Keatts was hired in time for the 2014-15 season. "Coach won't tell me this, but he might have been forced to keep me," Murphy recalled. "When you take over a program at the mid-major level, your trainer is going to stay, your strength coach is going to be there. Everybody is in place," Keatts ad- mitted. Four years later, Murphy had earned Keatts' trust and followed him from Wilm- ington to Raleigh. "He and I sat down, and I shared what I wanted out of a player, what I wanted a UNCW player to look like and how physically strong I wanted him to be. Ev- erything I asked him to do, he did it, and it worked out," Keatts noted. Murphy, a self-described former defen- sive-minded catcher for UNCW in base- ball who "couldn't hit my way out of a wet paper bag," quickly grew attached to Keatts. "He gets the best out of everybody," Murphy said. "He gives his best, and ex- pects your best." Murphy takes that same approach with his players, and the early results show signs of the team buying into his program. "Right now, I would say that I am in the best shape of my life," fifth-year senior and Baylor grad transfer Allerik Freeman said. "It definitely hurts when you are going through it, but you are able to press and able to pick somebody up full court and able to push the ball in transition. You PREPARING THE PACK Strength And Conditioning Coach Pat Murphy Is Molding The Roster To Fit Kevin Keatts' System BY MATT CARTER N C State head coach Kevin Keatts is a loyal person. His three assistant coaches all have extensive ties to him. James Johnson was a former teammate at Ferrum Col- lege. Both Takayo Siddle and A.W. Hamilton played for Keatts at Hargrave Military Academy, and then were his assistants there. Siddle rejoined Keatts as an assistant coach at UNC Wilmington for the past three years. Hamilton, who transferred from Wake Forest to Marshall during Keatts' brief stint as an assistant for the Thundering Herd, was Keatts' replacement as head coach at Har- grave. Pat Murphy (right) stands next to NC State assistant coach Takayo Siddle while the Wolf- pack warm up for a practice. PHOTO BY JACEY ZEMBAL