WOLFERETTI: After the Wade meetings, things have gone quiet. Are they a little too quiet?

There was a lot of chatter about Wade’s meetings with NC State, and then all of a sudden, silence.

What should we make of that? And are things a little too quiet right now?

If you ask me, the answer is no. I’d argue if there was a lot of buzz and chatter at this point, you should worry.

Boo Corrigan and his team have done an elite job of keeping leaks to a minimum. We’ve been here before, but we’ve never seen a search run with this little intel going public. I think that is a credit to Boo. I also think it’s been this quiet because this was a disciplined decision. Those who believed there was a concrete plan in place when Keatts was fired, are likely correct. If NC State fired Keatts and then suddenly were talking and negotiating with agents of multiple coaches, there would have been leaks everywhere. There would have been leaks to create leverage, and leaks to ignite more interest, but you haven’t seen any of that.

The only intel that was coming out early on was coming from outside sources who wanted their clients associated with high-profile openings. It was easy to spot.

But it makes a lot of sense that the only time information was flowing fast was when NC State was actively en route to meet with Wade. Once you have a team of people, a plane and travel involved, you understand that you aren’t going to be able to keep things quiet. That’s why there were likely intentional leaks by NC State adjacent groups. The intel is coming anyway, so why not have some sort of control over it.

Then after the meeting, things went radio silent.

To me, this is great news. If Wade wanted to use NC State for leverage at another school, you’d assume you’d hear more from the Wade side. You’d potentially hear about NIL figures that he’s looking for, or you’d hear a lot more floating of jobs he’s likely interested in. But right now, you’re not hearing anything.

There is some light buzz about Wade to Clemson if Brownell bolts, but I believe that it coming strictly from pundits who are referencing his desire to wait on the Clemson job back in 2016 when NC State eventually hired Keatts and Wade eventually went to LSU (Clemson never opened). Note: He started his coaching career there as a team manager and then grad assistant.

That said, while people are questioning whether or not Brownell will take the Indiana job (He’s from Evansville, Indiana), I think Brownell has too many reasons to stay put.

Brad Brownell has been at Clemson for 15 years and it’s taken him a long time to build that program up to the point they’re at now. He’s in a really good position to get an extension there, and I believe he’ll take it.

You can argue that he might want to head home to Indiana and coach the Hoosiers because it’s the school he grew up rooting for, or because his parents (in their 80’s) live there, and initially I thought it might make sense. He might want to be close to his parents to take care of them.

But Brownell, a self-described family man, has 2 daughters. Both of those daughters graduated from Clemson and live less than an hour from the University. They are both recently out of college, but is this the stage of life when you want to move away from your kids? Right when the potential weddings and babies start coming?

So he’s going to turn down a large extension from a school where he’s loved and where he’s built up a winning program, to go to IU where he’d have to start from scratch? And to do that he’d have to move away from his home of 15 years, out of the southeast where he’s spent 18 of his last 22 years, and away from his daughters who are just starting life after college.

I think that’s a long shot.

Then there is the question of whether or not Indiana would even prioritize Brad Brownell.

And because of all that, I think #WadeToState is as close to happening as it’s ever been. I just think we need to be patient and understand that it’s very unlikely that we’ll hear anything before McNeese State is out of the Tournament. If there are only 2 teams involved right now, then it’s easy to keep things quiet. But if there were multiple players involved there would be a lot of information jockeying going on, and at this point that’s not happening.

I might be wrong…but I wouldn’t bet on that.