When considering the hardest jobs in the world, only one job is tougher than being president of the United States: head coach of NC State men’s basketball.

That may be a bit of a stretch, but the point is that the head coach of NC State men’s basketball has one of the toughest, perhaps the toughest, job in all of college basketball.

NC State’s head coach has to compete on the court in the same backyard as two of the greatest college basketball programs of all time in Duke and North Carolina. Additionally, because of the program’s storied past, the Wolfpack fanbase always holds high — sometimes unreasonably high — expectations. Considering NC State is often measured against Duke and UNC, those expectations are seldom ever met.

Such is the case with the man who is currently at the helm of the Wolfpack and has been for the past seven years: Kevin Keatts.

In seven seasons as head coach in Raleigh, Keatts has built an overall record of 129-88, including a 63-64 ACC record. However, Keatts’ teams have made the NCAA Tournament just twice in the previous six seasons, and another miss this season will undoubtedly leave athletic director Boo Corrigan with a decision to make regarding Keatts’ future.

The Wolfpack is not having a bad season by any stretch, sitting with a 16-10 overall record and an 8-7 ACC record, tied for fourth in the conference at this point. That said, the Pack still has plenty of work ahead to qualify for March Madness. That fact combined with some disappointing losses are not sitting well with a lot of NC State fans at the moment.

In 2017, Keatts took over an NC State program that was in shambles after going a combined 31-34 and finishing 13th in the ACC in back-to-back seasons under previous head coach Mark Gottfried. That season, the Wolfpack was predicted to finish 12th out of 15 teams in the conference, yet Keatts performed one of the best coaching jobs in recent school history, assembling a ragtag group of transfers and players left over from Gottfried’s tenure and leading them to a tie for third in the ACC and to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years.

Looking to make a return trip to the Big Dance in 2019, Keatts and the Wolfpack had a strong season, winning 21 regular season games and going 9-9 in a loaded ACC. However, despite being ranked 33rd in the inaugural NET rankings, the NCAA inexplicably decided not to use its new tool and snubbed the Pack from the tournament.

NC State had another solid season in year three for Keatts, going a similar 10-10 in the ACC and finding itself on the bubble once again. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 shut down the NCAA Tournament and sports indefinitely. In most bracket projections, NC State was one of the last four teams in the field of 64, meaning the Pack likely would have made the tournament had it taken place.

The 2020-21 season was one that was defined by the pandemic. Amidst the challenging backdrop, NC State had a promising start to the season, but any hopes of making the tournament were dashed when star Devon Daniels suffered a season-ending ACL injury. Once again, Keatts was out of luck and had now made the NCAA Tournament once in four seasons.

Keatts’ fifth season in Raleigh was one of the worst seasons in school history, losing a school record 21 games and finishing dead last in the conference, which came after losing star forward Manny Bates mere minutes into the season-opener. Despite this, and many calls for his firing, Corrigan retained Keatts and allowed him an opportunity to get the program back on track.

With another chance, Keatts replicated his first year on the job and took advantage of the transfer portal, adding the likes of Jarkel Joiner and DJ Burns while Terquavion Smith blossomed into a superstar. The 2022-23 team returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, which similarly ended in a first-round exit.

That leads us back to this season, where the Pack is on the outside looking in to the NCAA tournament and still has much work to do to make it back to the Big Dance.

When looking back on Keatts’ previous six seasons in Raleigh, it’s difficult to say that Keatts hasn’t had the best of luck during his time with regards to injuries and other circumstances. He’s made the NCAA Tournament twice, should have made it another time, probably would have made it another time and had two seasons where his best player went down with a season-ending injury.

Missing the NCAA Tournament this season would be disappointing, especially considering the talent Keatts pulled out of the transfer portal. But even if that were to happen, it would still be a knee jerk reaction to pull the plug after this year.

NC State’s previous two coaches, Gottfried and Sidney Lowe, did not last more than six seasons and were fired before they had a chance to right the ship. The coach before Lowe, Herb Sendek, didn’t even make the NCAA Tournament until his sixth season in Raleigh, and then he led the program to five consecutive tournaments before leaving for Arizona State.

If Keatts were to be fired at the end of the season, there’s no guarantee that Corrigan would be able to find someone better — or who even wants to coach the Wolfpack — and six or seven years from now, we could be having this same discussion again.

Keatts has proven that he can maximize the potential of his players, and he has even proven that he can compete with Duke and UNC, beating each three times. He’s a stand up guy who runs his program the right way.

No matter how the season ends, Keatts should be given at least one more year at the helm of the program. After that, we can have this same discussion again, but let’s keep in mind that this man has a hard job and he’s coached in the midst of difficult circumstances.

This season isn’t over yet — don’t be surprised if NC State hears its name called on Selection Sunday. The Pack just needs some more big wins like it got this past weekend against Clemson.