Will Wade sat down for a 25 minute interview that allowed him to open up about his career, his time at NC State, his expectations of his team, and where he sees this program going under his leadership.
Go grab a drink and a snack. This is a long one, but it’s probably the most in-depth Wade interview we’ve seen so far.
Rothstein: Will, welcome. It is the 15-year anniversary of the VCU team that went to the Final Four when you were an assistant coach. What do you remember most about that run?
Wade: We made a bunch of threes, which certainly helped. They just celebrated the anniversary this past Tuesday at one of the games. We were busy playing, but it was cool. I got to send in a video. Just remember how much it meant to the university, the community. I’ll never forget the bus ride to the airport when we went to the Final Four, just the interstate stop. People were hanging over overpasses. It was wild. But it’s a fun ride. We made a bunch of threes. We had a lot of fun. It certainly changed a lot of our careers. Without that run, a lot of us wouldn’t be head coaches. There’s a lot of us on that staff that are current head coaches. We owe a lot to that run for sure.
Rothstein: When you got together as a staff, when you first made the NCAA tournament on Selection Sunday, what did you think was realistic expectations for that group in March Madness?
Wade: I’ll never forget. UAB flashed on the screen before us, and we had lost at UAB earlier that year. I remember sitting there thinking that game ended up costing us an NCAA tournament bid. Then we dogpiled in the hallway after we got in. We weren’t even really waiting for the NIT bid. We got in. We turned around and played Southern Cal pretty quickly. We were happy to get out of Dayton and get to Chicago. I think anything after that was going to be bonus. Winning the first four game was really, really cool. Then it just built from there.
Rothstein: How did the feeling for you of going through that run to the Final Four as an assistant coach compare to being a head coach last year when you led McNeese to an NCAA tournament win over Clemson?
Wade: I don’t know if anything will compare to the win with McNeese. It would take a lot, a huge game in the NCAA tournament to compare to that, just because of what it meant. It was two years of building and what that community had meant to me and my family. To be able to feel like we were able to repay the community a little bit, to repay their belief in us. It’s very rare in today’s world that you get to do something that’s the first time in history. It was the first time in the history of the school that they had won an NCAA tournament game. It was one of the best feelings of my professional career and just an incredible moment. Something that hopefully those folks down there will remember fondly for a long time. One of those deals that you really can’t put into words and certainly probably a favorite moment as a head coach.
Rothstein: We’re getting ready to flip the calendar here to March here in a couple days, not that anybody’s counting, but it is the time of year where college basketball is in the spotlight. Last year at McNeese, you were obviously a big part of the story in the NCAA tournament. You were in the story obviously at LSU. You went in 2021 to the second round and pushed a good Michigan team. You beat St. Bonaventure that year. We touched on what you did at VCU as a head coach. You won a game in the NCAA tournament, but there was a year in between LSU and McNeese where you were not in college coaching. What was it like for Will Wade that March to watch March Madness and not be a part of a team or the event?
Wade: It’s a very humbling experience. It makes you a lot more appreciative. Even being in a one-bid league, you understand how difficult it is to make the tournament. It’s really, really difficult. It’s really, really challenging. It just gives you greater appreciation for how tough it is and how difficult it is. Certainly sitting out, it was no fun. You don’t have the stress either, but you enjoy the stress. It’s a good type stress. It’s a good type anxiety. It’s a lot of fun. It’s two or three weeks of the year where the whole world’s watching college basketball. It’s a cool experience just to be a small part of it.
Rothstein: You’re going to be a part of it again this year at NC State. You hope, I know you’ve got to obviously, there’s still some time left, but you’re on track to be a part of it this year at NC State. What is it like being a head coach at the power conference level now this season at NC State versus your last year at LSU?
Wade: It’s a lot of similarities. But look, it’s a great honor to represent NC State. It’s a great honor to try to get this program, this team to the NCAA tournament. It’s a fun time. It’s an exciting time of the year. Once you get in, anything can happen. We talked about the VCU run, anything can happen. It’s about the match-ups and where things land and who’s playing well and who’s hot. I like our NC State team. We shoot the ball really, really well. That cuts both ways. We could have a night where we don’t shoot it very well and we’re packing our bags, but we’ve also got a chance to maybe punch above our weight class a little bit when we do shoot it really well. I’m excited about getting NC State back on the national radar, hopefully, and back on a national scale at the NCAA tournament. This is just a starting point for us right now. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We want to build this into a program where we’re on the seeding show. We’re a top four seed. We’re not there yet, but this is certainly a strong foundation and something that we can build off of moving forward.
Rothstein: What’s the biggest difference between being a head coach in the ACC versus being a head coach in the SEC?
Wade: I’m not going to answer that as honestly as I would like, but I’m biting my tongue a little bit. Look, I think that the ACC, there’s an incredible value on valuing the basketball. The athleticism in the SEC is off the charts, the skill in the ACC is off the charts. We learned some things building our team this year in the league. I went a little bit too much on the skill, and I need a little bit more on the other side of the coin, because we had done the study on what works in the ACC and we went a little bit too far. You’ve got to be a little bit different. You can’t just build like everybody else does. That’s important for us as we move forward, understanding that we need to have a little bit more of a mix and a little bit better mixture of players. We’ve got a solid team this year, a good team this year. This team’s built to be successful within the ACC. We’ve done that on a relative sense. But like I said, this is not the standard that we want to be at. It’s better than we’ve been, but it’s not where we want to be. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but it’s certainly been an adjustment getting to the ACC, seeing the different venues, seeing the different teams, seeing how the game’s called, seeing how things operate. It’s been eye-opening for me, but we’ve got to take those lessons, learn from them and be ready to move forward and build something bigger and better as we move along.
Rothstein: There’s such a thirst and such an appetite from NC State’s fan base to be a winner. What has it been like for you balancing that with also Duke and North Carolina in the triangle?
Wade: Our fans are awesome. We try to focus on NC State and we’ve got to make NC State the best that we can be. We’ve got unbelievably passionate fans. They’re dying, starving. They want to win every bit as bad as I do and more than I do in some respects. We’re all in it together and it pains me when we lose for our fans because they’re invested and they’re with us. I know it hurts them, but that’s because they’re invested and they care. That’s really important that we’ve got some of the best fans in the country. We’ve sold out five home games. If you were in the arena for our last home game, you could just feel it in there. These people are just chomping at the bit to win and that’s how we are. That’s how our program is. I wish we could have delivered even more for them this year. But like I said, this is a learning experience. This is a good starting off point for us. We’re not going to be in this position moving forward. We’re going to be in better position than this moving forward here at NC State. Our fans deserve that. We’ve got as good a fan base as there is in college basketball, as passionate of a fan base as there is in college basketball. Our fans deserve a big time winner. That’s what we’re on the course to deliver for them.
Rothstein: 19 and 8 right now, after 27 games, how have you been so effective in year one in the ACC?
Wade: We’ve dropped some that we shouldn’t have. I wish we were more effective. Our folks deserve a little bit more than we’ve given them, but look, it’s better than we’ve been. I’m not downgrading what we’ve done. I think all of us expected a little bit more. We need to finish this season out as strong as we can. We’ve got a lot of opportunity ahead of us here. The final chapter hadn’t been written. You go to the movie, you don’t really remember the beginning or the middle. You remember the ending to the movie. You remember the ending. We want to make this ending memorable for this team, for our fans and for our program. It’s all about right now, sprinting through the finish line, doing everything we can to finish this season as strongly as we can. But we’ve got a good group. We’ve got some guys coming on. Our freshman Matt Able he’s been playing great. He’s really coming on. That’s been a huge value add. Darrion Williams has shown he is a closer. I was joking with him about Mariano Rivera. Like he’s a closer. He closed really well for Texas Tech the last couple of years, did the same thing at Nevada his freshman year. We expect him to do the same thing for us here. He showed some great signs of that in our last game before getting injured. Copeland’s playing really well, and McNeil’s been shooting it well. Terrence Arseneaux’s really coming on. He’s bringing us a lift defensively. Holloman’s got experience. Ven’s got experience. Musa’s shown some moments, especially defensively. Alyn Breed’s back healthy. We’ve got guys that we’re coming together here at the right time. I think we’ve got a finish line as long as we stay connected, stay tight, and stay moving in the same direction.
Rothstein: You mentioned Darrion Williams, and you took the words right out of my mouth. Last year in March during the NCAA tournament, he was one of the best players in the sport. We’ve seen him mirror that in spurts this year, but it hasn’t always been consistent. Even if NC State wins a national championship, you are only going to have six more weeks with Darion Williams. How do you relay to him as a coach that the hourglass is running out on his college career and the time to wring out the sponges right now?
Wade: We’ve actually had that conversation. We had that conversation a couple of weeks ago, right before our last game. He’s aware, and he understands what’s at stake, and he understands what he was brought here to help us accomplish and to help himself accomplish. We need to meet our team goals. We need to help him meet his personal goals. All those things are still on the table over the coming month and the coming weeks. Everything that we came here for and everything that he came here for is certainly still on the table. Now we just got to finish strong. He’s shown that he’s been able to do that. We’re not asking him to do something that he’s never done. He’s shown over and over again that this is something that he’s capable of, something that he’s very good at. We just need him to continue down that path and finish this off the same way he has many other seasons.
Rothstein: I remember vividly, and it was a beautiful moment. It was caught by our CBS March Madness confidential crew here last year during the NCAA tournament, your final locker room speech after you lost in the NCAA tournament, McNeese to Purdue. One of the players that was along for that ride was Quadir Copeland, who’s now with you at NC State. It’s a very special bond between a player and a coach in this climate. If they’re with each other at two different stops, what emotions are going through your body and mind right now, knowing that again, over the next four to six weeks, this is it for you and Q?
Wade: 80% of the time I’m disappointed, 20% of the time I’m happy. We won’t have to coach him anymore. No, most of the time I’m disappointed. I try to cherish every moment with them. We were watching film yesterday, just me and him one-on-one. Q’s really grown. I don’t know if I’ve ever been as proud of a player and a person as I am of him, just from where he was when we got him to where he is now. He’s got an incredible life ahead of him. He’s got an incredible basketball career ahead of him now. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s made some significant changes in his life and in basketball. That’s hard to do. To see the progress that he’s made, to see how far he’s come, it’s certainly been incredible for me. That’s at your core. That’s why you get into coaching. Just very proud of him and I’m going to cherish every moment that I have with him. We got senior day coming up in a couple weeks. That’ll certainly be emotional. I never knew if he’d make it out on the court to senior day, but just very proud of him and excited that he’s with us at NC State and excited that he’s been able to cap off his career with a really solid season that’ll position himself for success moving forward basketball-wise.
Rothstein: You mentioned a couple minutes ago about Matt Able playing really well. I went over the numbers. When he hits double figures this year, NC State is nine and two. Aside from Matt Able, who was a wild card here for the Wolfpack that could put this team over the top during the next month?
Wade: Arseneaux. Arseneaux’s got incredible experience from Houston. He’s really played well the last couple weeks. He was coming off some injuries. He just had a lot going on injury-wise, and he just hasn’t been able to get into the rhythm that we hoped and he hoped when he came here, but he’s still immensely talented. There’s two or three plays a game, particularly from a defensive and athleticism standpoint that he can make that nobody else on either team on the court can make, whether that’s going to grab an offensive rebound or a defensive rebound or a deflection in the steal. There’s just certain things that he can do that other folks out there on the court can’t do, and so there’s a ton of value in that. I think that he’s somebody that can play a really big role for us here down the stretch.
Rothstein: We’re talking about all the positive things right now that are associated with your team. The only negative thing is your next opponent, and that is Virginia on Tuesday night. I’m always looking under rocks this time of year to think about a team that’s a power conference team that maybe isn’t getting the same attention as a Duke or an Arizona but could go far in the NCAA tournament. Virginia, to me, fits that criteria. As you prepare for Ryan Odom’s squad on Tuesday night, what do you say?
Wade: Virginia is a great team. They cleaned our clock at home, at our place, and now we’ve got to go up there in one of the toughest environments in the ACC and one of the toughest environments in college basketball. It’s going to be a huge challenge. Their front line is huge. They’re the only team in the country with two guys that block over two shots a game. They’ve got Jakari Whiteback, who’s a big-time shooter. He’s really helped them against Florida State and against Miami. You could argue he won them the game. Very steady at point guard with Hall. They’ve got Thomas and Lewis, who can really score it, really shoot it. It’s a very well put together team. Mallory, a freshman, comes off the bench. Tremendous player. They’ve got a very well put together team. They’ve got great depth. They play really well together. They’re physical. They’re one of the best defensive teams in the country. That’s why they got a chance. They defend and they offensive rebound. They’re third in the country in offensive rebounding rate, and they can really guard. They’re pretty much the opposite of us, which makes it an extremely tough matchup for us. They beat the brakes off of us in the first game, wasn’t even close. Hopefully we can go up there and play a little bit better and get a little bit better game. I think you’re spot on in terms of a team that’s built for March with defense and rebounding and particularly on the offensive rebounding. You’re going to have games where you don’t shoot it well. They can survive all those because of how well they guard and how well they offensive rebound. I think there’s a long March run ahead of Virginia, and Coach Odom’s done a great job. One, putting the team together, right pieces, right parts. And two, coaching them and bringing the pieces and parts on paper and making it look the right way that it needs to look on the court. Really impressive job by them.
Rothstein: Virginia, obviously one part of an improved ACC along with your team at NC State, and also want to give Jay Lucas credit for the great job he has done in his first year at Miami. Will, I’m fascinated in doing this now 20 years, how coaches always seem to hold on to their tough losses more so than cherishing their great wins. So you’ve been a head coach a long time right now. Give me one great win for Will Wade that he always holds near and dear to his heart. And I think I know the answer. And give me one tough loss that you always take with you.
Wade: The win was certainly over Clemson in the NCAA tournament. We talked about that. I don’t know what we’ll top that. When you take NC State to the Final Four. The tough loss would be we lost to Oklahoma in the second round of NCAA tournament at VCU. It was when Oklahoma had Buddy Hield. They went to the Final Four. We’d beaten Oregon State in the first round in a 7-10 game. We played Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, virtual road game. We had some things go against us. We had an and one and we got called for travel. Mo Ali-Cox tied it. I can remember the last four minutes of that game. We had multiple chances to win that game. The bracket had kind of opened up a little bit. You just always wonder what if. I can still remember plays in that game down the stretch. It was a brutal way to lose. That’s one that always will stick with me because that had gotten us to the Sweet 16. I think that would have taken VCU’s program after the Final Four. It could have expedited a lot of things. VCU’s got a tremendous program and they’re still winning. They’re second place in the A-10 and on the bubble. We played them this year and we got to go back up there next year, which will be a really life altering trip right to the Siegel Center. I just always wonder what if on that game. I think a lot of things maybe would have turned out a little bit differently. That’s one that always sticks with me.
Rothstein: That Oregon State win, which you referenced was the last NCAA tournament win for VCU, which was now 10 years ago in 2016. Give me one recruit now that you desperately wanted and just missed out on either as an assistant or a head coach.
Wade: There’s so many. We don’t get them all. Everybody thinks you get them all. You don’t get them all. The ones you get, they’re not good enough. You got to go get better. The ones you missed were always better. I go back to VCU. We missed on a kid, Andrew White. I think he would have taken our team and program to another level. Missing on him was big because we didn’t really have a backup. This was when he was transferring. That was certainly a big miss. When I was at LSU, we missed on Nafali Dante, a big kid who was at Oregon. That would have changed our team there to have him and to have that big. Those guys stick out to me.
Rothstein: Again, we’re thinking about all these things, what could have been. Andrew White is, some people might remember, went to Syracuse for a year, was transferring from Nebraska. That was pre-immediate eligibility. He was a grad transfer. We’ve talked about a number of special things that have happened for you in March. You obviously went to the Final Four as an assistant at VCU last year, really the great upset in the NCAA tournament when McNeese beat Clemson. For this NC State team, what has to happen over the next three or so weeks so that this team is playing at its apex when it plays its first NCAA tournament game and potentially beyond?
Wade: We’ve just got to stay connected. We’ve got to stay together. Now’s the part in the season where sometimes the agendas can get in. We’ve got to really stay connected. Our guys have done a great job of that thus far. We just can’t lose that connection. We got to double down on what we do really well. There’s only so much we can fix the deficiencies. The deficiencies are what they are. You get to the tournament, you win with what you do well. It’s who can impose their will on what they do well. We’ve got to continue to shoot the ball well, got to continue to work on our shooting, get a little bit better with our defense, get a little bit better with our rebounding, if we can get that a few percentage points. Our ticket is to hit an extra three or two a game, and that’s three to six points. We’re going to make up those points a lot quicker than we are getting an extra stop or grab an extra defensive rebound or two. We were much better defensive rebounding earlier in the year because our guards were rebounding down. We got to get back to that. If we can fix our defensive rebounding just a little bit, continue to shoot the ball well, we’ll see what shakes out based on how the bracket goes.
Rothstein: Well, Will, it’s going to be a lot of fun to cover. Appreciate a couple minutes, know how busy you are, and as always, look forward to staying connected along the way. Thanks so much.
Wade: Thanks so much.
