RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — N.C. State has made it official: McNeese’s Will Wade is the Wolfpack’s new men’s basketball coach.
The school announced the hiring Sunday, coming a day after Wade’s McNeese team lost to Purdue in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
An introductory news conference for Wade is scheduled for Tuesday, capping a week in which Wade was unusually open about his conversations with N.C. State compared to coaches typically deflecting questions or playing word games when asked about other jobs.
In that regard, the eventual hiring — who has signed a six-year deal — has been an open secret for days. The contract is pending approval from the university trustees.
Now N.C. State and athletic director Boo Corrigan finally have their man.
“Will told me that he believes that he can win at NC State … and ‘win big,”‘” Corrigan said in a statement from the school. “It didn’t take me too many conversations with him to believe it too.”
Wade’s second NCAA Tournament run in as many seasons with the Cowboys ended Saturday with a second-round loss to Purdue, which came two days after a first-round upset of his alma mater, Clemson. Wade’s two-year tenure in Lake Charles, Louisiana, marked a successful climb back after being fired at LSU in 2022 because of allegations of recruiting violations. Those were rooted in a federal corruption investigation in college basketball that became public in 2017, with N.C. State among the multiple schools entangled in that probe.
The N.C. State job will present a new challenge. It comes in the Atlantic Coast Conference in a time of transition for the tradition-rich league, with numerous long-time coaches — North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, Virginia’s Tony Bennett, Notre Dame’s Mike Brey, Miami’s Jim Larranaga and Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton — all exiting in the past four years amid a rapidly changing college landscape.
There’s also the tough-neighborhood dynamic of building a winning program in the Triangle region in North Carolina, where UNC, Duke and N.C. State — boasting a combined 13 NCAA championships — share the 919 area code and are all within a half-hour’s drive of one another.
But the 42-year-old Wade is clearly undeterred by that with a track record that includes eight 20-win seasons in his 11 years as a head coach.
“I am beyond excited and honored to be chosen to lead the Wolfpack basketball program,” Wade said in a statement. “N.C. State’s rich tradition, passionate fan base, and location in one of the best cities in the country make this a destination job and I can’t wait to get started.”
Wade replaces Kevin Keatts, who was fired after eight seasons on March 9. That came less than a year after Keatts guided N.C. State to its first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title since 1987 and its first Final Four trip since the late Jim Valvano’s “Cardiac Pack” did it in an improbable 1983 NCAA title run.
Keatts had guided N.C. State to three NCAA bids and had the program in position for another when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of March Madness in 2020. But the Wolfpack went 12-19 this season to kill any lingering buzz from last year’s remarkable run.
That ultimately led the school to move on from Keatts even though he was under contract until April 2030, putting N.C. State on the hook for roughly $6.9 million in base salary alone. And it marked a reset for the program, down to how it handles finances for roster construction with players able to profit from their athletic fame and revenue sharing set to start nationally next season.
Wade’s first head-coaching job was a two-year stint at Chattanooga from 2013-15, followed by two NCAA bids in as many seasons at VCU before leaving for LSU in 2017. The peak of his tenure with the Tigers came in his second season, with LSU winning the Southeastern Conference regular-season title and reaching the Sweet 16.
He returned to the sideline after his LSU exit at McNeese in 2023, with his tenure beginning with NCAA penalties that included a 10-game suspension to open his first season. But the Cowboys teams went on to win 58 games in two seasons, a rapid climb for a program that had won just 56 games combined in the five seasons before Wade’s arrival.