NC State introduced Will Wade on Tuesday as its new men’s basketball coach.
Wade, 42, becomes NC State’s 21st men’s basketball coach in program history.
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“I’m excited to be here at NC State,” Wade said Tuesday during his introductory news conference at Reynold Coliseum. “I’m excited to build a first-class program that’s a consistent winner.”
Wade has agreed to a six-year deal with NC State. The financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.
“This is not a rebuild,” Wade said. “We’re going to be in the top part of the ACC next year and we’re going to be in the NCAA Tournament.
“This is not something that’s going to take a whole lot of time.”
Wade’s hiring comes after his McNeese State team lost to Purdue in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It came two days after a first-round upset of his alma mater, Clemson. McNeese's first-round win was the program's first-ever March Madness win in its 52-year history since becoming a Division I program.
“I thought it was really important that we get a current head coach as we go through this process,” said NC State Athletics Director Boo Corrigan. “We also needed to be really respectful of our candidates, many of whom were still competing to make sure that they were able to focus on their team.”
Wade replaces Kevin Keatts, who was fired earlier this month after eight seasons at NC State.
“Our time is right now,” Wade said. “This is the first time in awhile, I think, the fans, the administration and the program, we’re all on one accord.
“And, everybody is on the same accord. Everybody is singing from the same sheet of music. And, when that happens at NC State, it’s going to be a reckoning for the ACC and it’s going to be a reckoning for college basketball and it’s coming. And, it’s coming soon.”
Wade acknowledged his responsibility to assemble a roster for the 2025-26 season.
The men's basketball transfer portal opened Monday and remains open through April 22.
Wade told reporters on Tuesday that NC State plans to hire a general manager to oversee recruiting for the men's basketball team.
Other teams in the Triangle have done this: Duke hired Rachel Baker in June 2022 and UNC announced the hiring of longtime NBA agent Jim Tanner in February 2024.
"It will a general manager ... chief strategist-type role where [the person] will certainly be heavily involved in the recruiting and then the strategy of ... putting the team together and how all the parts and pieces fit together," Wade said.
Wade led McNeese to two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. He went 50-9 in his two seasons there.
“They took a chance on me,” Wade said of McNeese. “Not many people would take a chance on me two years ago, and they took a chance on me.
“I was at McNeese because of some of the issues we had at LSU. You’re going to get that same passion and competitive fire that I had at LSU without all the arrogance that got me in trouble, and so I’ve grown and matured since then and you’re going to get the best version of me here at NC State.”
In 2022, Wade was fired at LSU because of allegations of recruiting violations.
"Really, what that experience taught me was just to have a little bit better perspective on things," Wade said. "Everything is not life or death.
"Every recruit is not life or death. We can move on. There [are] other people. Everything is not nearly as important maybe as I thought it was at the time."
WRAL News asked Corrigan how he vetted Wade to offer him the job.
"I think the biggest thing for me is sitting with Will," Corrigan said.
Corrigan set he met with Wade in Houston for about 2.5 hours.
"[We] asked a lot of really tough questions about what occurred," Corrigan said. "He was open. He was honest. [He] talked about how he's grown. What's he's look at [and] how he's reflected on it.
"And, you've heard it today. We're getting a more mature version of Will Wade."
Wade has a 244-105 record as a head coach at the Division I level:
- 2017-2022 at LSU: 105-51
- 2015-2017 at VCU: 51-20
- 2013-2015 at Chattanooga: 40-25