Kevin Keatts contract details: What to know about NC State coach’s bonuses from Sweet 16 run

One month ago, NC State head coach Kevin Keatts was on the hot seat after the Wolfpack lost their final four games of the regular season.

This was Keatts’ seventh season as the NC State’s head coach. It had only qualified for March Madness twice and had never been out of the first round. Even with six seasons above .500, the Wolfpack hadn’t made any noise in the ACC or NCAA Tournament under Keatts.

The four-game losing streak dropped NC State to 17-14 on the season and 9-11 in ACC play, needing a conference tournament championship — and a miracle — to punch an NCAA Tournament ticket. That’s when the Wolfpack made their unexpected run.

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NC State won five consecutive games to take home the ACC Tournament title, defeating NCAA Tournament teams like Duke, Virginia and North Carolina along the way. It carried that momentum into March Madness, where it defeated higher-seeded Texas Tech and Cinderella story Oakland to advance to its first Sweet 16 since 2015.

MORE: A timeline of NC State’s unlikely run to the Sweet 16

Reaching the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament didn’t just save coach Keatts’ job — it also earned him an extension and raise by triggering incentives in his contract.

NC State coach Kevin Keatts’ contract detailsThere was a chance Keatts would have been fired if NC State didn’t make the run it has this March. Instead, the Wolfpack’s seven-year head coach locked up a longer, more lucrative contract by checking off some major milestones.

Kevin Keatts’ contract incentives from NC State’s ACC Tournament championshipNC State’s ACC Tournament championship trigged a two-year extension to Keatts’ contract, keeping him in Raleigh through 2030, according to 247Sports’ NC State page, “Pack Pride.”

The conference title also checked a $100,000 bonus and $400,000 raise that begins next season (2024-25), bumping his annual salary from $2.7 million to $3.1 million per season.

MORE: Will NC State breakout star DJ Burns Jr. get drafted?

Kevin Keatts’ contract incentives from NC State’s Sweet 16 runKeatts also earned an additional $100,000 bonus for NC State’s two NCAA Tournament wins over Texas Tech and Oakland, bringing him to $200,000 in bonuses this postseason alone so far.

He could have tacked on another year to his contract for reaching the Sweet 16, but “with the verbiage in his contract, Keatts can only earn two additional years maximum during a single year,” according to 247Sports’ Pack Pride.

Regardless, it has been a profitable March for Keatts thus far.

With his new incentives activated, Keatts now has six years and $17.6 million remaining on his NC State contract.