ON3 Gives NC State’s Hiring of Will Wade an A+ Grade

ON3’s James Fletcher III released an article grading the recent head coaching hires across the college basketball landscape, giving NC State an A+ for hiring Will Wade.

Here’s what Fletcher III had to say about the Wolfpack hiring Wade:

Will Wade receives the first A+ given out in the two-year history of these coaching grades, standing out as the all-in move of the offseason by NC State. Despite NCAA troubles which ended his LSU tenure prematurely, many of the problems are resolved in a new landscape of NIL, revenue-sharing and the transfer portal.

Wade has led three programs to the NCAA Tournament, including an impressive stint at McNeese where he turned a Southland roster into an analytics darling which sat higher in the NET rankings than 13 ACC teams in 2024-25. With a power vacuum in the conference, the Wolfpack is ready to push toward the top of the standings quick. (ON3)

For comparison, here’s a breakdown of how Fletcher III graded the other recent coaching hires:

NC State: Will Wade (McNeese St.): A+
Indiana: Darian DeVries (West Virginia): A-
Iowa: Ben McCollum (Drake): A-
Miami: Jai Lucas (Duke Asst.): B+
Texas: Sean Miller (Xavier): B+
Utah: Alex Jensen (Utah Jazz Asst.): B
UVA: Ryan Odom (VCU): B
FSU: Luke Loucks (Sacramento Kings Asst.): B-