Report: NC State Hires Will Wade, Plus Brad Brownell Re-Ups With Clemson
Big move for the Pack.
We’re not sure who had the story first, but multiple reports indicate that Will Wade will be the next NC State coach.
Currently at McNeese State, Wade has a career record of 243-104, which is impressive, but his NCAA record is just 2-4. He’s never won less than 18 games in a season though in a career with stops at UT-Chattanooga, VCU, LSU and McNeese State. He’s also only gotten out of the Round of 32 once, taking LSU to the Sweet 16 in 2018-19.
Basketball fans will see that if you graphed that, it would peak at LSU and then take a sharp turn down at McNeese State. Most people know that Wade had an epic fall at LSU when the FBI recorded him as making a “strong-ass offer” to a recruit (Javonte Smart). Here’s what he said about that. Keep in mind that this is NSFW stuff.
The general sentiment is that the stuff that was illegal when he was at LSU is now legal, so who cares?
Well, keep in mind that he allegedly also paid off the fiancé of a recruit.
There’s no question that Wade is a good coach. He’s won everywhere he’s been. And there’s no question that the circumstances have changed, and precisely what happened in 2017 cannot happen again under the new rules surrounding NIL.
And of course State fans see this as a significant coaching upgrade, which it probably is. We expect State will be much more competitive under Wade. For one thing, based on what we’ve seen on X.com, State fans and boosters are pouring money into the Wolfpack’s NIL collective.
However, keep in mind that Wade was allegedly willing to cheat in the first place, allegedly willing to pay off someone who knew what was going on and is at McNeese State looking for a way back to a Power 5 job as a result of his alleged willingness to break the rules.
Thing is, there are still rules to be broken, some of which are quite serious. Take for instance academic fraud. Given what he was apparently willing to do to get talent previously, is anyone 100 percent certain that he won't cheat to keep it?
There are plenty of rules that he’ll have the chance to break in Raleigh, and given NC State’s rather impressive history of NCAA violations and their long trek in the post-Valvano wilderness we thought they might be smarter than to risk it.
On the bright side, NC State will soon be on closer to even terms with its Triangle neighbors and we still say that upgrading coaching in the ACC is the key to basketball improving. Hoosier native Brad Brownell, who was rumored to be a candidate at Indiana, has instead is reportedly signing a new six-year deal with Clemson. We think that’s great. He’s the best coach Clemson has ever had and he’s built a very sturdy program and, as far as we can tell, is honest. We don't fear the Tigers going on probation.
So here’s the ACC coaching roster right now, which is starting to look a lot better, and if Virginia hires Ryan Odom, that’s another good move.
- Duke - Jon Scheyer
- UNC - Hubert Davis
- Wake Forest - Steve Forbes
- NC State - Will Wade
- Clemson - Brad Brownell
- Louisville - Pat Kelsey
- Notre Dame - Micah Shrewsberry
- Georgia Tech - Damon Stoudamire
- Florida State - Luke Loucks
- Miami - Jai Lucas
- SMU - Andy Enfield
- Virginia Tech - Mike Young
- Cal - Mark Madsen
- Stanford - Kyle Smith
- Boston College - Earl Grant
- Syracuse - Adrian Autry
- Pitt - Jeff Capel
- Virginia - TBD
- Will Wade Accepts Strong-Ass Offer from NC State
- Will Wade Accepts Strong-Ass Offer from NC State
- Report: Will Wade Agrees to NC State Contract Ahead of McNeese March Madness Opener
- NC State expected to hire McNeese’s Will Wade as next head basketball coach: Source
- Wade to State | McNeese’s Wade reportedly reaches deal to take NC State coaching job, sources tell ESPN
- Will Wade agrees to take NC State head coaching job, per report