WATCH: Will Wade Unpacks his Vision for NC State at Introductory Press Conference (with transcript)

In Will Wade’s opening statement at his introductory press conference today, he unpacked his vision for NC State Basketball. You can watch the video ABOVE, and read the transcript BELOW.

Thank you for the warm welcome. It’s always great when you haven’t lost yet. That part’s good.

First off, I want to thank Chancellor Woodson and Boo (Corrigan). Boo was just phenomenal throughout the process. I know it didn’t go as fast as some people wanted it to go, but it was done right. It was done right. It was very, very thorough. I can’t say enough good things about Boo and how he handled things and his thoroughness and just his communication. He had a really good way about him where he knew when to communicate and knew when it was game time and to not communicate. So just very, very appreciative of him allowing us to finish everything off correctly.

I also want to thank my wife and daughter who are here. They’re the real stars of the show. They make it to where we can do our jobs and do it well. Caroline’s really excited about moving and getting into gymnastics and doing some different things in Raleigh.

So we’re fired up. We’re fired up to be here. I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank everybody at McNeese. McNeese State was incredible. I just want to thank Dr. Rousse, had incredible leadership there just like we have here, and Heath Schroyer, the athletic director there. They took a chance on me. Not many people would take a chance on me two years ago, and they took a chance on me.

I was at McNeese because of some of the issues we had at LSU. You’re going to get that same passion and competitive fire that I had at LSU without all the arrogance that got me in trouble. I’ve grown and matured since then, and you’re going to get the best version of me here at NC State.

I’m excited to be here at NC State. I’m excited to build a first-class program that’s a consistent winner.

We’ve got those programs all over campus. It’s great. We were following Coach Moore’s game yesterday on the plane. It went a little smoother than Vermont, so luckily we didn’t have to follow it as closely. I’m happy to work with Coach Moore. Most people don’t know this. I took the Chattanooga job about two weeks after he left. All we did was buy the golf cart he had for the program. We were able to get that from him, but I took the job at Chattanooga about two weeks after he left for NC State. I’m very excited to work with him and learn from him and try to mimic the consistency of their program.

I also want to acknowledge all the former players that are here today. We have a tremendous history, and you make history with great players. It’s pretty simple. I want to acknowledge all those guys. I tell our players all the time, ‘Drink from the well, but don’t forget who dug it.’

There’s a lot of people that put a lot of hard work in to get the program and our university to where it is. I’m very appreciative of those guys, and I look forward to meeting everybody and having some reunions and some yearly things where we can all get together and make sure that we’re all on the same page. I just couldn’t be more excited.

Our time is right now. This is the first time in a while I think the fans, the administration, and the program all on one accord. Everybody’s on the same accord. Everybody’s singing from the same sheet of music. When that happens at NC State, it’s going to be a reckoning for the ACC. It’s going to be a reckoning for college basketball, and it’s coming, and it’s coming soon.

I want to be very clear. This is not a rebuild. We’re going to be in the top part of the ACC next year, and we’re going to the NCAA tournament.

This is not something that’s going to take forever. Make sure you got that on camera. This is going to be done, and this is going to be done the right way, and this is going to be done quickly.

We are here to win. We’re here to win the right way, and we’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to be committed. We’re going to be thankful in all that we do.

We’re going to be very aggressive. We’re going to play aggressive on both ends of the floor. We’re going to play aggressive offensively, aggressive defensively. I’d rather tell our players woah than go. We’re going to get guys that are ready to go. We’re not going to prime the pump in the morning. They’re going to be ready to go, and they’re going to play extremely hard, and they’re going to represent our university extremely well.

We’re going to be committed. We’re going to be committed to being the best team we can be that represents our fan base, represents our university as well as we can every night. We want to be a source of pride for everybody. When you walk in the office on Wednesday night after we play, we want you to puff your chest out. Let them know, ‘yes, we’re NC State, and we whipped you last night. You got more of them coming’.

We want folks that are committed.

We also want folks that are thankful. Look, I’m appreciative of this opportunity. I’d be lying if I told you I thought three years ago that I knew an opportunity like this would come again. I did not. I did not. I’m thankful, and I want the people in our program to be thankful to be at NC State. We’re not bringing anybody in, player, coach, anybody, that doesn’t feel like this is the best place in the country and that doesn’t feel like we can win and win extremely big and fast.

So we’re excited.

Offensively, we’re going to play to our strengths. We’ve played fast. We’ve played slow. We’ve played in the middle. We’re going to go get the best players we can and put them in the best position to be efficient and play well.

Defensively, we’re going to be in your face. We’re going to guard. We had one of the best defenses in the country at McNeese. We had a great defense our last year at LSU, and that’s going to be the staple of what we do, and we’re going to win a lot of the games within the games, try to squeeze out three to five extra possessions every night.

Part of the reason that I’m excited about being here is we can recruit the best players in the country. We have a great brand. We have a great program, and the best players in the country want to be here. We’ve got a tremendous city as well, and this is one of the best programs in the country.

We’re focused on making North Carolina State. They told me not to say that. I had to catch myself.

I apologize. NC State. We’re focused on making NC State the best NC State it can be.

If we maximize everything we’ve got, we can compete with anybody in the country. We can compete with anybody in the country. We have to maximize what we have.

So I challenge everybody who’s watching, all of our fans, our first home game is going to be Monday, November 3rd. I want to sell out the Lenovo Center, 19,500 people. I want 19,500 people in there.

We need to send a message. We need to let the state, the ACC, and the nation know that PACK is BACK, and we are not to be messed with.

We’re all working together.

We are a force. We’re going to talk like a top team. We’re going to act like a top team. Most importantly, we’re going to win like a top team. That’s what we’re here to do.

I’m excited about this opportunity. We’re not going to let you down. It’s time to get to work and make this program the best that it can be.

I’m appreciative of the opportunity. I’m appreciative of Boo Corrigan. I’m appreciative of our leadership.

We’re going to hit the ground running, and we cannot wait to get started to build a consistent winner that’s consistently at the top of the ACC, consistently in the NCAA tournament, and consistently competing for the national championship here at NC State.

Go PACK!