Only 5 Coaches Rank Higher than Will Wade in Career Win Percentage Among Active Coaches (300+ Games)

Maybe you blinked and missed it, but Will Wade has his Wolfpack sitting pretty coming down the home stretch.

Wade has led the Pack to 19 wins on the season and already has 10 in ACC play. He’s 19-8 on the season with at least 5 games left to go.

This might be new to NC State fans, but this isn’t new to Will Wade, who has won everywhere he’s been.

Wade started out at Chattanooga, where he won 40 and only lost 25, good for a 62% winning percentage.

Next up was VCU, where he was 51-20, good for a 67% winning percentage. 

The real test came next, when Wade left the Atlantic 10 for athe SEC and the LSU Tigers.

And while the surroundings changed, the outcomes didn’t. Wade still won.

Wade’s LSU Tigers went 105-51 over 5 years. A 67% winning percentage. 

We all know how the story went from here. Wade got suspended and had to make his comeback. He did that at McNeese State.

Wade coached at McNeese for two seasons and went an insane 50-9. An 85% winning percentage.

Wade hasn’t missed a beat since coming to NC State. Although there were some early-season struggles, as usual, he found a way to create a winner.

NC State’s current 19-8 record is good for a 70% wnning percentage.

If you’re wondering where this ranks Wade among active D-1 coaches in career winning percentage, you’re not alone.

We wondered the same thing. Here is what we found when we looked at the rankings for coaches who have coached 300+ games.

You’re reading that right. Only Mark Few, Bill Self, John Calipari, Tom Izzo, and Matt Painter rank higher than Will Wade.

Now, before you go and say this isn’t fair because Wade went back down to the Southland Conference (McNeese St) after having success at higher levels, and this is boosting his percentage. Let’s remove the McNeese years and see where Wade would rank.

In that hypothetical scenario, Wade would have 215 wins and 104 losses. That’s good for 67.4%. He would still be in the Top-15 nationally.

This is why Will Wade was and will continue to be worth the investment. After years of demanding more, NC State finally has a coach who knows how to win and has proved it over and over again.

It’s time for us to sit back and enjoy this stretch run and just let Wade do what he’s been doing his entire career.