Will Wade, NC State’s choice as next basketball coach, pulls upset with McNeese State

Will Wade’s expected arrival in Raleigh has been delayed, at least for a few days, following McNeese State’s first-round upset win over Clemson in the NCAA Tournament.

Thursday, Wade led the No. 12-seeded Cowboys to a 69-67 victory over the No. 5 Tigers, his alma mater. McNeese had never won an NCAA Tournament game.

Clemson made a run in the final two minutes of play, but McNeese held off the Tigers. Wade’s squad moves to 28-6 this season and will face No. 4 seed Purdue on Saturday.

Despite the news surrounding his expected departure from McNeese, Wade said he hasn’t been distracted by everything that took place in the last day.

“I have been focused on the game. I have been on one about the game, so whatever else is happening, that’s of no distraction to us,” Wade said in his postgame press conference. “I know everybody else thinks there’s distractions and stuff. We operate the same way all the time. We haven’t operated any differently.”

McNeese held Clemson to 13 first-half points, the worst performance by an ACC team in the NCAA Tournament since Wake Forest scored 10 points against Butler in 2001.

Wednesday, Wade said he was upfront with his team about the rumors surrounding his employment. Senior Christian Shumate, who had a double-double, told reporters the openness helped the team.

“I think when you’re in the loop and both ends are transparent about things, there’s not too much room for conflict,” Shumate said. “Everybody is aware of everything that’s going on and when there’s a clear understanding, everybody keeps the same angle in the front of mind. We’ll worry about all of that stuff later. Everybody is transparent on both ends and that’s something we worry about later. We’re just focused on winning these games.”

Wade has elevated the program to national relevance in his two seasons. Last year, Wade’s first at the helm, McNeese earned a March Madness bid. The Cowboys fell to Gonzaga in the opening round but finished the season with 30 wins.

“We have broken every record in the book,” Wade said Thursday. “This was the last one to get. We want to keep this going.”

Following Wade’s news conference Wednesday, a source close to N.C. State confirmed the McNeese head coach and the Wolfpack had a verbal agreement in place for him to replace Kevin Keatts, who was fired a little more than a week ago. This followed a question in Wade’s news conference about whether he or his agency spoke with the university about the opening.

Wade is expected to join N.C. State at the conclusion of McNeese’s season.

This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 6:44 PM with the headline "Will Wade, NC State’s choice as next basketball coach, pulls upset with McNeese State."

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

The News & Observer