If you asked me a month ago if I thought NC State men’s basketball could make it to the Final Four, I would have laughed — a lot. In my mind, it was out of the realm of possibility that NC State could make a miracle run to make the NCAA Tournament, let alone win its regional championship. 

In fact, a little over a month ago when we at Technician were scheduling out who would write what for the upcoming ACC Tournament games, I wrote “Hell nah” under who would write the third-round ACC Tournament recap. I jumped ship after the regular season ended and, like many others, thought it would be best to see head coach Kevin Keatts leave.

A comeback win versus Louisville and a blowout versus Syracuse to start the ACC Tournament was still not enough for me to believe in this team. If you have been a State fan long enough, the phrase “NC State Shit” is a frequently used part of your vocabulary.

From a last-minute Giovanni Bernard punt return touchdown, to the 2021 College World Series team getting the boot from Omaha, my life has been filled with “NC State Shit.” But when graduate guard Michael O’Connell sunk the buzzer-beater versus Virginia after the Wolfpack was down six points with less than a minute to go, something changed.

It felt as if this was the first team to beat “NC State Shit,” and in the midst of celebrating with my friends at Monkey Joe’s, I began to believe that this team was different — that it could do something special.

Being a kid from Durham, beating Duke and UNC to win the ACC Championship was a chef’s kiss to a tournament run I never thought possible a week ago. Even our biggest rivals couldn’t take the joy away from us because we beat them fair and square. 

“Thank you to the ones who have been consistent along the ride, and welcome back everyone else,” said graduate forward DJ Burns Jr. 

I was happy to be back and even happier now that I decided to come back. Making it to the Final Four and celebrating each win by rushing the Belltower provided me with countless memories I’ll never forget.

With the Cinderella run coming to an end versus Purdue, it gave me some time to reflect on how quickly I gave up on this team and Keatts, and therefore, I’d like to apologize. I know I’m not the only one to have had a change of heart, so I hope those of you who also were doubters, non-believers, tweet-and-deleters join me by filling out this form to apologize to Coach Keatts.