What NC State Head Coach Candidate Will Wade had to say About Playing his Alma Mater Clemson in the NCAAT

McNeese Head Coach Will Wade, who is a top candidate for the open NC State Head Coach position, met with the media yesterday when it was announced they would be playing his alma mater Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. You can read the quotes below, and watch the video above.

“It was good to finally get a matchup and know who we’re gonna play. And so we’ll be excited to head to Providence and play a really good Clemson team. They came in second in the ACC.

Obviously, I went to Clemson. They’re a team I follow in football, basketball, baseball—really, all sports. But it’ll be a tough matchup. I mean, Hunter’s tremendous as a guard. You know, he’s their leading scorer, shoots almost 40% from three, I think. I watched part of their Louisville game the other night.

They’ve got a big front line. The big kid (Ian) from Atlanta—he rebounds well, I think he averages almost a double-double, nine or so rebounds a game. They’ve got some other guys that shoot it well too. So it’ll be a really, really tough game against a good power conference team. Coach Brownell is a phenomenal coach, so it’ll be a good challenge for us. But our guys are excited.

No. I mean, shoot, first time I hear that fight song, you know, it might twist my arm a little.

I’ve been gone a long time. I graduated in ’05ish or something like that. I was on staff there for a couple of years, but I’ve been gone a long time. I follow the football program closely—you all know that. We don’t practice when they play football.

But yeah, I’ve been gone a long time. It’s a great place, great people. I know a lot of folks there still, and I’m sure my college friends will be sending me some beautiful messages when I check my phone. But once that ball goes up, man, I’m all in on our team.”