LEAKED: NC State Branding Email to Will Wade Over ‘STATE’ Jerseys Is Worse Than You Thought

My, oh my. This story just gets better and better.

For those not following along, Will Wade, during his weekly radio show, explained that he got an email after NC State’s first game of the season about wearing the fan-favorite ‘STATE’ retros. He called it a ‘strongly worded’ email.

Well, someone must have FOIA’d the email because it’s now circulating online.

The image looks to have appeared first on the @wolfpackfan168 account, and then amplified by @BarstoolPack (although we could be wrong).

Here is the reported email. We have not personally verified the email, but from the looks of the thread, it appears to be real.

We are blacking out the names because we don’t think it’s our place to name names, but I do think this is an issue that matters to NC State fans and calls into question the bigger issues of NC State’s brand as a whole.

That conversation has been going on for years, and it’s very clear what the fans want. What isn’t clear is why the University does not seem to take that into account, and why there hasn’t been a more transparent conversation about the branding. This is despite a very vocal and ongoing online debate (which is pretty one-sided).

NC State fans want more ties to their history. They want a more timeless brand. They want a more authentic brand. They believe it represents who we are as a school and a University. And honestly, who better to make that call than students and former students, many of whom continue to donate to NC State or to NIL collectives funding NC State athletics.|

That’s why this story is so viral. The fans do not feel like they are being heard. They feel ignored.

So when Will Wade called out the fact that the school has a problem with him wearing the ‘Slobbering Wolf’ on the sidelines, and his team wearing the universally loved ‘STATE’ retro jerseys, the fans went nuts.

Everyone started to wonder. What the heck is the reasoning behind this?

Well. Someone went and found out…

We would have posted the tweet right here, but those included people’s names and email addresses, and we didn’t want to go that far. So, above is just the text. Here is what it reads…

——–

Good morning friends! Congratulations on a big win for basketball last night!

I wanted to get some clarification on the use of the STATE jersey that was worn last night. The university brand guidelines prohibit the use of STATE as a stand alone representation of the university or a team.

I know these jerseys exist because they were used last year to commemorate the 1974 team and their championship. That being said I also know that Coaches likes our Vault marks. I just need to have an idea of what he plans to use our Vault marks, including this uniform. They are not supposed to be used except in retail (and STATE isn’t supposed to be used except to recognize the 1974 and 1983 championship teams). We have no STATE products readily available in retail.

The use of these marks causes brand confusion when there is no story or reasoning for using them.

If you could let me know so I can let our team know. I’m getting a lot of questions and will need an explanation in the Integrated Leadership Meeting. I also have to explain it to our on campus and off campus retailers.

———–

I think right away, there are some problems here.

If this is some quarrel with Adidas, fine, we get it. They can’t trademark ‘STATE’, so they’d be mad. But then again, Michigan State seems to have figured it out.

But, it doesn’t seem like Adidas is the real issue here. Not according to this email.

It seems to be our branding department has the belief that the ‘STATE’ jersey itself ‘creates confusion’ because there is no story or reasoning behind it.

First off, NC State’s most famous moments in history took place with ‘STATE’ across their chest. No one in New York or San Francisco know NC State for their agriculture prowess or their dominace in the turf management scene. NC State is known outside of North Carolina for the Jimmy V 1983 National Championship.

I’m a proud NC State grad, and I am fully aware of that.

When they tarnished Jimmy V’s legacy over some players selling shoes, NC State didn’t fight like Chapel Hill did when their “fake classes” went public. NC State folded. They distanced themselves from Valvano. They nearly erased him from their legacy for a while.

Then self-imposed some sanction, only to get NCAA sanctions on top of that. And then spent the next 30+ years trying to rebuilt what they tore down.

It was a huge mistake from a branding and PR perspective.

And it was finally righted when Debbie Yow became AD at NC State.

Suddenly, Reynolds Coliseum was renamed James T. Valvano Arena at William Near Reynolds Coliseum. Suddenly, there was a prominent statue of V outside the arena.

NC State fans rejoiced. They wanted that history. They wanted that tie back to the time when NC State was nationally relevant. When we were champions.

So while Jimmy V was brought back into the fold, and is now a very visible and celebrated part of NC State history, the Wolfpack’s brand has yet to recover.

This is the back story. This is what the branding department is missing. The STATE jerseys aren’t just a ‘vault mark.’ They are part of who we are. They are part of what built us. Part of what defines us.

NC State sits 30 miles from both UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke.

Because of that, we will always be connected to them, and we will always need to find our own way to stand out.

This is where our branding department has missed over and over again.

Face the facts. We will never be more prestigious than Duke. We will never eclipse the national prominence of UNC thanks to Michael Jordan. So why try to keep up with the Joneses?

Why not be who we always were? Why not own it?

Simple. Traditional. Hard-working. Not flashy, Just gets it done. Non-pretentious. Authentic. Self-Aware. We know who we are and where we came from. We don’t chase trends, we dig our heels in.

This is the NC State brand and it always has been.

The students know it. The fans know it. The only people who seem to be confused about it is our branding department.

So throw away the studies, fire the consultants, and walk into ‘Integrated Leadership Meeting’ with this message from the people you serve.

“WE WANT THE RETROS.”