WATCH: NC State introduces Will Wade as head men's basketball coach
The full press conference can be watched in the player above.
Wade has experienced massive success in all four of his stops as a head coach thus far in his career, despite being only 42 years old.
Wade cut his teeth as an assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth University and was on staff for VCU's memorable Cinderella run to the Final Four in 2011.
His first career stop was at the University of Tennesse at Chattanooga, where he was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 2014 for leading the Mocs to 8-0 start in conference play his first year on the job.
Chattanooga nearly won the SoCon in 2015 and afterward, Wade returned to VCU, this time as the head coach.
Wade spent the next 2 seasons at VCU, making the NCAA Tournament in both years and winning a tournament game in 2016 before taking a head coaching position at Lousiana State University.
Wade inherited a 10-win LSU team and led them to a winning record and NIT appearance in his first season in 2018.
His team took a leap in his second year in 2019, with a 25-5 start that saw the Tigers sitting in first place in the SEC standings.
LSU's promising 2019 came to a screeching halt when Wade was suspended for the 2019 NCAA Tournament and the Tigers went on to lose in the Sweet 16 with an interim coach.
That suspension, along with multiple allegations of misconduct within the program derailed most of the momentum Wade had built in Baton Rouge those first two seasons.
The 2019 suspension was based on an FBI wiretap that allegedly captured Wade referring to a 'stong a** offer' for a recruit, which was not allowed under NCAA rules at the time.
'arranged for, offered and/or provided impermissible payments, including cash payments, to at least 11 men's basketball prospective student-athletes, their family members, individuals associated with the prospects and/or nonscholastic coaches in exchange for the prospects' enrollment at LSU.'
While Wade would go on to be reinstated following the 2019 season, LSU would never reach the heights of that 2019 season again before Wade was ultimately fired in 2022.
According to ESPN, Wade agreed to a new contract that granted LSU the ability to fire him with cause if he committed any Level I or Level II NCAA rules violations when he was reinstated in 2019.
One of the allegations against Wade listed by ESPN alleges that he gave 'impermissible cash payments to the former fiancée of a student-athlete in order to buy her silence regarding prior and current impermissible inducements to student-athletes or prospective student-athletes.'
ESPN reports that the NCAA also accused Wade of violations of ethical conduct principles and failing to cooperate with investigators, 'as well as a number of other allegations the [Complex Case Unit] was ultimately unable to substantiate fully, when he refused to produce all records the CCU requested from him.'
Wade would be hired again as a head coach at McNeese State in March 2023, however, he was given a 10-game suspension and a two-year show-cause penalty for the alleged violations at LSU.
Wade took over a McNeese team that had only won 11 games in each of its previous two seasons when he arrived.
The team had an 8-2 record once he finished serving his 10-game suspension and Wade took over and did what he has done and all of his coaching stops — win.
The Cowboys went 22-1 in their next 23 games, winning the Southland Conference and making the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002.
While McNeese lost to Gonzaga in the first round as an underdog. Wade and the Cowboys found redemption on Thursday as they upset No. 5 seed Clemson in the First Round.
The win was the first NCAA Tournament win in program history and coincided with a second consecutive Southland Conference championship.
NC State fans are hopeful that Wade will bring his winning ways to Raleigh and return the Wolfpack to the ranks of its Tobacco Road rivals in the ACC.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
The Big Ten could be proposing a massive expansion to the College Football Playoff
While we just finished the first season of a 12-team College Football Playoff, where Notre Dame went to the championship game, the Big Ten is starting to have ideas of a bigger expansion. There has already been chatter of expanding the field to 16-teams, with the Big Ten and SEC being the main benefactors of that move. On Saturday, the conference looks like they might be laying the groundwork for an even bigger expansion, either 24 for 28 teams reports ESPN's Pete Thamel. The potential proposal would see the elimination of conference title games, giving more automatic bids to power conferences, and just two at-large bids. This clearly would not be the best case for the Irish, as both the Big Ten and SEC would have 7 bids, with the ACC and Big 12 each getting five. It would have the Group of Five teams getting an extra bid as well, but it might not make a difference at all of Notre Dame continues to stay inside the top-25 teams. It's hard to imagine that won't happen, especially considering how well the program has done since Marcus Freeman took over. Personally, I hate this idea, as there aren't typically more than six teams that can realistically win a title. It also waters down an already watered down bowl season, where if you aren't in the CFP, it's almost as if it doesn't matter. I'm still in the camp that eight teams is enough, and while this past season was extremely exciting, it was drawn out too long. Imagine if this did pass how much longer the playoff would be, even with eliminating conference championship games. Another aspect of this that I don't like, its great to see the top two teams in each conference battle it. Hopefully this is just talk, as I don't think this move would be good for college football. Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions. Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: The Big Ten might try to expand of the College Football Playoff
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Bill Belichick exits radio show as anticipated North Carolina debut nears
Bill Belichick has taken the air out of his radio career. The new coach at North Carolina will not participate in the Tar Heels' traditional coaches' radio show this season following the first airing of the season on Aug. 27, the school announced. He will be replaced thereafter by the program's general manager, Michael Lombardi, who will be joined by assistant coaches and players. The show has been renamed 'Carolina Football Live' after previously being known as 'Mack Brown Live,' Belichick's predecessor over the past six seasons. It still will be aired weekly from a restaurant near the Chapel Hill campus, according to the university's release. North Carolina coach Bill Belichick arrives for an NCAA college football press conference, March 5, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. AP The 73-year-old Belichick is returning to the sidelines for the first time since parting ways with the Patriots following the 2023 season after winning six Super Bowl titles in 24 seasons as head coach in New England. Belichick, who is not obligated to do the show in his contract, has been visible across various media platforms during his year off since leaving the Patriots. He has made regular appearances on ESPN's 'The Manningcast,' as well as 'Inside the NFL' and 'The Pat McAfee Show.' He also did a media tour to promote his book, 'The Art of Winning: Lessons from a Life in Football.' North Carolina coach Bill Belichick speaks with a group of reporters during the Atlantic Coast Conference's NCAA college football media days, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. AP The Tar Heels, who finished with a 6-6 record last season, will open the season against TCU on Sept. 1.
USA Today
4 hours ago
- USA Today
Connor Stalions' lawyers fire back at NCAA after COI ruling
There was some hope for Connor Stalions and his legal team that the NCAA Committee on Infractions, after hearing their case in June, that it would be relatively lenient. After all, there have been no answers as to how friends and family counts as 'scouts' in the advanced scouting saga, but just as importantly, the NCAA never divulged the chain of custody of the documents and information it received from an unnamed private investigation firm, despite Stalions maintaining that the materials used by the NCAA were privileged. Stalions, who has been out of football for nearly two years, was given an eight-year show cause, likely prohibiting him from the college game until 2033. In the aftermath of the ruling, Stalions' lawyers released a lengthy statement and response, which you can read below: "We are not surprised by the NCAA's ruling because the NCAA did, as it has always done, the wrong thing. Based on the penalties laid down today, it is obvious that this whole ordeal was just another, last-ditch effort by the NCAA in its perpetual, petty witch hunt of Coach Harbaugh. Connor was just the vehicle through which the NCAA could give itself the last word in this vendetta." "Connor will be fine. He is a wonderful person. He's smart. He's loyal, dedicated, and determined—traits he carries with him onto the football field from his days serving his country to protect all of us. He loves helping young people learn about life and football. And, regardless of what the NCAA says today, he plans to continue learning about and contributing to the game of football at is highest levels." "Connor already won. We knew he was going to be railroaded the moment the NCAA first leaked this story in violation of its own rules. The NCAA decided it would target and punish him in 2023. So, rather than let them ruin his career in silence, he decided to expose the NCAA for the fraud it is in documentary Sign Stealer. Rather than let the NCAA continue to hide in secret, we decided to let the public see the truth for itself. And what the public saw revealed what we already knew to be true: this was a rigged investigation; enveloped in impropriety (namely, a "confidential source" that the NCAA still won't reveal); and all premised on an antiquated rule that the member institutions themselves have tried to eliminate as something that "no longer serve[s] the needs of the membership and the 21st century student-athlete." "The enforcement staff and the NCAA made it very clear that their feelings were hurt when they were exposed on Sign Stealer. But, through that process, the entire country saw the NCAA's investigation for what it was—a sham. The only way to deal with a bully and hypocrite is to expose them to the public and make sure everyone knows exactly what they are trying to do behind closed doors. We did that. We will continue to fight the NCAA anywhere and everywhere we can." "This investigation would have been thrown out of any court by any judge in the country. There was no due process and the entire investigation stems from improper conduct by the NCAA itself. The NCAA is the investigator, judge and jury, which is why the outcome is always—always—the same when the enforcement staff decides to target a coach or player." "Indeed, as for the rule itself, we hope you get a chance to read the transcript of the hearing on this matter, because it shows just how out of step the NCAA is with any concept of justice known in this country. You will see that the committee itself could not and did not understand the rule they were trying to enforce. But the found Connor to have violated it dozens of times nonetheless. Such a result would not stand in any court in America." "The NCAA claims to be about protecting amateurism in college sports. It does not. The halls of the NCAA headquarters are lined with millions-of-dollars' worth of art paid for on the backs of superstars like Johnny Manziel, Reggie Bush, and the thousands of student athletes who worked for free while the NCAA and its member institutions profited billions. Let's not forget that while the NCAA went after Reggie Bush after he left USC, and took his Heisman away, it let USC continue to proudly display O.J. Simpson's Heisman in Heritage Hall." "During the hearing in this case, while inside the blacked-out star chamber where the NCAA talked about defending amateur athletics, on the outside, universities throughout the Big 10 were discussing how to spend some $20 million annually to pay "amateurs" to be professional athletes (as they should be). That result—the House settlement—came about because the NCAA couldn't come to grips with the fact that its very existence is an affront to American free-market principles. The NCAA was too slow and too arrogant to do the right thing until a group of lawyers made them. The NCAA still has not learned its lesson; House was only the beginning of the end for this truly un-American institution." "Connor is glad that this process is now behind him. All he wants to do is be a part of the sport he loves, football and those who, like him, are passionate about pursuing the game to its highest level. He hopes that resolution of this process will provide him with that chance, even if the NCAA will not." Of the multiple NCAA sanctions levied, Stalions was the only party who was charged with violating the initial 'advanced scouting' infraction. As for Michigan's side, it plans to appeal the ruling and the subsequent penalties.
