NC State’s Michael O’Connell has been a March Madness hero. His coach called it

Follow live coverage as UConn, Purdue play for the national championship today As if there weren’t enough evidence that NC State is a team of destiny, having flipped some magical switch to transform from NIT-bound to Final Four-bound with nine straight victories in less than three weeks, just wait. He’s had this voicemail from assistant coach Joel Justus saved on his phone since last May: We would not be recruiting you — we would not be bringing you in on a visit — if we didn’t think you could come here, start, play a major role for our team, help us win an ACC championship and help us get to at least the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. “Someone mentioned in the course of normal conversation, ‘We’re going to the second weekend,’ and that wording just sparked in the back of my mind,” senior point guard Michael O’Connell says. ARE YOU KIDDING ME 🤯😲 OVERTIME HERE WE COME 🎥 ESPN2 | @PackMensBball pic.twitter.com/TBXJwtPkZc — ACC Men’s Basketball March 16, 2024 But O’Connell nailed it, just like he sank a driving and-one in the final seconds of regulation against Oakland in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and buried a back-breaking 3 against Duke in the Elite Eight, so Keatts is suddenly enjoying rock-solid job security. Look at this old dude recruiting me with … voicemail.” Justus had told O’Connell’s father something similar over the phone last spring, that his boy could be a starter for an ACC champion and second-weekend NCAA Tournament team.