WOLFERETTI | Wade, Planes, and Claims: Piecing together the past 24 hours of the NC State coaching search

Ok, I finally get a chance to get a word in.

I get it. The guys over here at PI have done coaching searching before and they are the ones with the relationship and thus the intel. So they are the ones clogging up the publication calendar. But I’ve been dying to give my take, and finally I’ve gotten the go-ahead.

I know I’ve been tough on NC State AD Boo Corrigan. I’ll admit it. I was a big Debbie Yow fan as was much of the NC State fanbase.

She was one of us. She understood the plight of the Wolfpack fan. She was outspoken, stood up to the powers that be, and always seemed on-tone.

Enter Boo Corrigan. A guy the fanbase didn’t know much about, arriving without much fanfare and keeping mostly quiet upon his initial arrival. It wasn’t until the NC State Baseball team got hosed over some lame COVID rules and had a national title stolen from them, did the fanbase start to form an opinion of Boo.

They were expecting Debbie Yow type outrage over the ruling. They wanted someone in their corner taking to ESPN to challenge the ruling and get the nation on our side. Instead, all we got was a statement.

For the rest of his tenure, Coorigan has been mostly quiet. He didn’t fire Doeren a few years back and he didn’t fire Keatts after his last-place finish a few years back. Many believe he’s been playing it too safe, however, firing Keatts just one year removed from a Final Four and ACC Tournament Championship isn’t exactly fitting that narrative.

Say whatever you want, but Coorigan’s coaching search has already been a success in my eyes. And I say that, because, look around. There is no leaks from the NC State side. None of the usual suspects have solid, concrete intel. It’s an ever-shifting landscape of names and storylines.

This immediately lets me know that Corrigan is running an airtight ship and that all the intel you had seen leaking was from outside sources. And those outside sources aren’t to be trusted. They are filled with agents trying to inject their client’s name into searchers to boost value, grifters on social media looking for click,s and misinformation merchants trying to spin a narrative that takes your scent off their trail.

Let’s just go back and look how we got to where we got…

We first started with Jeff Goodman throwing out Will Wade’s name.

One name that is expected to be in the mix for the NC State opening is McNeese State’s Will Wade, source told @TheFieldOf68.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 9, 2025

Goodman wasn’t the only one with this info. In our PI writer’s call prior to NC State’s final game we were told that Keatts might be on the outs and that Will Wade was a name that donors were pushing for (and may have already contacted). This was shared earlier this week.

Then we were told, no Wade to NC State was not happening…

Will Wade is holding out for a bigger job. He will not be NC State’s next head basketball coach.

— Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) March 12, 2025

This didn’t make much sense to us. Wade wasn’t really connected with any super high-profile jobs that were definitely going to open, so why would he stiff arm NC State this early in the process? He’s at McNeese State, he’s not sticking around. So to deny a pretty decent ACC job from the jump made very little sense, but it was reported.

Then we were told to look at Ryan Odom as the leading candidate

Reports swirling that Ryan Odom is the clubhouse leader for NC State.

— Coaching Changes (@CoachingChanges) March 10, 2025

Odom was a fine choice and really seemed like a hire Boo Corrigan would make. It was safe, it was an ACC bloodline hire, and he is one of the top up-and-comers (despite being in his 50s). But really, this was still hard to wrap my head around. We were being told how much money was flying around, and it didn’t seem like that’d be the case if the focus was going to be on Ryan Odom as the number one choice.

Then we started to hear Odom was likely heading to UVA

VCU’s Ryan Odom jumps to top of UVA coaching search https://t.co/aKM4jCVBIu

— Jerry Ratcliffe (@JerryRatcliffe) March 11, 2025

First off, Odom seems like a UVA guy. His personality and style of play is a good fit, plus he has some family medical stuff going on and apparently, they are at UVA Hospitals a lot, dealing with those issues. All signs pointed to Odom taking UVA.

Then we started hearing Georgia’s Mike White might be a major target…

The best I can tell, from my sources inside and outside State, the list is:

– Mike White
– Ryan Odom
– Mike Brey
– Justin Gainey

— Joe Giglio (@giglio_OG) March 12, 2025

Honestly, this is a tweet I never took seriously, and it was immediately when I knew that NC State really wasn’t having any leaks. This is when it was clear that the narrative we were hearing was being peppered by outside intel that had skin in the game.

Mike White has a $7 million buyout at Georgia. He’s got a questionable resume with ups and downs, but he’s got a strong connection with Boo (through his father). This wasn’t a guy that NC State donors were opening up their wallets for and was obviously not a name that NC State’s side would be leaking out.

NC State’s lips being so sealed said a lot to me. If they were making tons of calls and gauging the interest of coaches across the nation, you’d have heard about it because believe me, those coaches would have been using it as leverage for raises or to boost their value. And the fact that they fired Keatts, who had. $7 million buy-out, announcing it on the morning of the Women’s ACC Championship game, should have made it clear that they had some kind of plan in place. No way they fire Keatts, and then go quiet for a week. Makes no sense.

Then, seemingly simultaneously, the tables flipped…

Suddenly Will Wade was back in play and Odom was a lock for UVA.

That NC State coaching search has gone from Will Wade is the top priority, to Wade is waiting for THE job to come open to Pack going all in on Wade.

The fans clearly want Wade as their next coach. As do boosters.

— Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) March 13, 2025

From two different sources: it won’t be Mike White or Ryan Odom.

The money/collective side has pushed hard for Will Wade. That is their choice and have made it known to Boo.

Boo has talked to Justin Gainey and that would be his choice.

— Joe Giglio (@giglio_OG) March 13, 2025

A longtime source says Ryan Odom to UVA is “done.”

Same source once gave us a hiring scoop we questioned that came true a week later and this source has never fed us incorrect info.

— Coaching Changes (@CoachingChanges) March 13, 2025

The NC State media machine lit up with news on Boo and donors jumping on a jet to visit Will Wade. This also came with news that Justin Gainey, former NC State PG, and Tennessee associate head coach was the other finalist.

Now THIS felt more like an NC State side leak. Lou talked about it a lot in his piece on the news. I kind of agree. It was clear that NC State’s movement to meet with Wade would get out, so why not get in front of it. It was also convenient that Odom, nor Mike White, nor anyone else was listed as an option. Just Wade and Gainey. You wouldn’t leave those guys off if you didn’t have a good idea that at least one of those guys was definitely taking the job.

Now, what am I thinking? 

Well, I could be wrong, (I don’t think I am, but I COULD be…), but I think the deal with Wade had been in the works all along. I think this leaked trip out there was either getting it across the finish line or getting it as far as they can get it while Wade’s McNeese State is still playing. I think they like Gainey, but I think it’s apparent that NC State didn’t fire Kevin Keatts only a year after the Final Four/ACC Tournament Championship and pay out $7 million of his buyout to get Justin Gainey, a great up-and-coming coach, but one that has no prior head coaching experience.

I believe they interviewed Gainey and explained to him the deal. If somehow Wade falls through, it will be Gainey, but they don’t anticipate Wade falling through. Having Gainey as a fallback is a strong floor for this search, and at the same time, it gives NC State some value on the perimeter of this deal. It allows Boo to not have to ‘fully own’ the Wade decision if he’s hired and somehow it all goes south. He likely was nervous about it from he get-go since he has higher aspirations and hiring a guy with an FBI investigation in his past might not be the best resume builder. But he knows Wade is the right guy for NC State’s situation, so he pushes forward with that. Meanwhile, rumors are floated that he likes Gainey. No NC State fan will fault him, and at the same time, they get their guy. Everyone feels good and gets what they want.

Meanwhile. Odom was headed to UVA all along and Mike White was never really considered. Mike Brey was always going to end up with an assistant gig somewhere and Sean Miller was always in talks with Texas about the opening (however their win over Texas A&M may have changed things).

I think unless something goes off the rails, sideways, to another suitor jumps in and blows hims away, Will Wade ends up at NC State. Justin Gainey’s value is boosted by being the runner-up and NC State goes on an NIL fundraising binge, becoming one of the top NIL schools in the ACC.

Am I being too optimistic? Maybe. Could I be wrong? Yes.  Is this honestly what I think is going down? I do.

Of course, if you know me, I’ll gladly write an. “I was TOTALLY WRONG” article if that ends up being the case, but I’m feeling good about this one.