WATCH: Justin Gainey sat down with CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein to talk about his new job, his roster, and his vision (+ Full Transcript)

Full Transcript from Justin Gainey’s interview with CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): Welcome back to Inside College Basketball Now with Jon Rothstein. Pleased to be joined by NC State head coach Justin Gainey as part of our new coaches series. Justin, welcome. How surreal is it to be introduced as the head coach of your alma mater?

Justin Gainey: Man, I still wake up at night and pinch myself. You know, I’m so honored. It’s a privilege to be here. And just to think 30 years ago, I was 19 years old, stepping on campus as a freshman, trying to figure it out, trying to be a college basketball player. And 30 years later, I’m the head coach of this amazing program that’s seen the likes of David Thompson, Dereck Whittenburg, Sidney Lowe, Monte Towe, Tommy Burleson. The list goes on and on, man. So it is a surreal moment. And man, I couldn’t be more excited.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): Who was your first phone call when Boo Corrigan told you that you were going to be the head coach at NC State?

Justin Gainey: You know, when I got the call, it was right before the game. So we were playing Michigan in the Elite Eight game. And so I had to sit on it the entire game. And the first person I told was my wife. You know, I saw her at the bus because she didn’t even come to the back of the locker room. So I had to sit on it all the way until I told her. And then I told Coach Barnes was the second person.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): How did you balance preparing Tennessee for the big games in the NCAA tournament with chasing the NC State job?

Justin Gainey: You know, it wasn’t a long, drawn-out process. So it wasn’t something where there was a ton of preparation. Boo and I have had a relationship previously. And so it wasn’t like a get-to-know-you type of thing. It wasn’t drawn out. It was pretty seamless. More of my focus was on preparing our team to compete in the tournament and try to get to the Final Four.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): What was it like saying goodbye to Tennessee after all the success you’ve had there the past couple of years going to the Elite Eight three straight times?

Justin Gainey: Yeah, it was tough, you know, because obviously you make a lot of relationships. You build bonds with people. So it was tough, but Coach Barnes is an amazing person who I feel like prepared me for this situation, for this opportunity. He was so great through the whole process and so encouraging. I walked away feeling like the program’s in a better place. I left it in a better place than when I got there. It’s in great hands and I felt at peace with that.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): Coaches have always told me that the hardest game to lose in the NCAA tournament is the Elite Eight because of what’s on the other side — playing in a Final Four, joining that fraternity. What has it been like to obviously have great success and advance to the fourth game in the NCAA tournament, but come up just short of the Final Four the past three years?

Justin Gainey: It’s tough. I mean, you’re right because on the other side of that is the Final Four. If you would have told me that before I got a chance to play in the NCAA tournament, I’d say just get me in there and we’re good. But when you get so close three times in a row… everybody’s good throughout the whole tournament. But when you get to that game, you got to be playing your best. You can’t have an off night. So it is tough, man. But that sign of consistency from Tennessee is just another thing that reiterates the consistency that Rick Barnes has had as a head coach.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): As somebody who worked directly with him for a number of years, why do you think his teams, regardless of where he’s coaching, are so consistent?

Justin Gainey: I think his consistency… he never has a bad day. He brings the energy, he brings the detail, he brings it every single day. And so when your head coach never has a bad day, there’s pressure on the entire staff to never have a bad day. Obviously the players, they’re going to have their moments because they’re learning, but they know they’re going to get consistent effort every day from the entire staff. And it starts at the top. Whether you’re playing at home against whoever or on the road, nothing changes. The prep was the same for the first game of the season as it was for that Elite Eight game. So that consistency leads to the consistency of the program.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): Now we’ll get to your non-conference schedule later on, but part of that non-conference schedule is going to be a game in Nashville against Tennessee next season. What do you think it’s going to be like for Justin Gainey to go head to head with Rick Barnes?

Justin Gainey: I don’t know. I’ve been too busy focused on putting a roster together to even think about that moment. The game will be more about the players on the court than the guys on the sideline. My goal is to have my team as prepared as possible for every game that we play and that will be the next one on the schedule.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): Justin, I know you haven’t coached a game yet, but from what you’ve endured thus far, what’s the biggest difference between being an assistant coach and being a head coach?

Justin Gainey: That’s a good question, John. I would say probably the biggest difference is just the amount of micro decisions that you make on a daily basis. The buck stops with you. Everybody’s coming to you for that answer. Whereas as an assistant, you would get those questions, but on the tough ones, you always knew you’d just take it to the head coach. Now it stops with you. So those micro decisions, whether big or small, they have an impact on your program. They all have to be thought out. I’d say that’s probably the biggest difference.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): We’ve talked a lot about Rick Barnes having a tremendous impact on you, but you’ve also worked for a number of other really successful head coaches — Sean Miller, Herb Sendek. What are the biggest things from those two gentlemen and also Coach Barnes that you’re going to implement with your own program at NC State?

Justin Gainey: I had the honor and privilege of working for some really good coaches and great men as well. Looking back on it, you don’t really realize it as you’re going through it, but it was a heck of an experience. The thing that’s consistent through all of them is the work ethic — the work ethic that they brought every day and the work ethic that they required the players and everybody that touched the program to bring. That’s what I plan on implementing here at NC State: that consistent work ethic. I’m going to do my best and be dedicated to never having a bad day and just bringing it.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): You’re an NC State alum. So you’ve got great working knowledge of the fabric of the institution that you represent. NC State has an interesting place in the Triangle because there’s Duke, North Carolina, and NC State. What do you think now, as the steward of this program, is the best way for NC State to carve out its place in one of the most hallowed basketball areas in the country?

Justin Gainey: It is a special place. It’s a unique place being in the Triangle. All three teams have had their runs and had their impact on history. We’re one of 16 programs that have multiple national championships. We all have our own history. It’s all competitive between the players, between the coaches, but also the fans. As I think about us, I think we gotta be the best version of NC State that we possibly can be — not get caught up in comparing ourselves to somebody else. We do what we do. We are NC State. We have a lot to be proud of. We can’t forget that. And we gotta be the best version of ourselves that we possibly can. And within that, just being ultra competitive.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): Justin, you bring up a great point with that comparison game, because I remember hearing a story when Coach Valvano got the job… [Rothstein tells the Valvano/Norm Sloan haircut story]

Justin Gainey: I never heard that story before, John. That’s a good one.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): Let’s talk about your ball club right now. What’s your impressions of the roster you put together?

Justin Gainey: I’m excited about it. I’m excited about the group. We were intentional when we went into the portal. It came quick — I got the job on April 1st, the portal opened on the 7th. I didn’t have a staff and we were putting it together, but I had a vision of what I wanted it to look like. And I think we did a good job of accomplishing that goal. We still got a couple pieces that we’re looking to add, but I think the pieces fit well together. I wanted to build a program and not just put a team together every year. With guys with multiple years, it bodes well for that. We have some guys that can really shoot the basketball and spread the floor. I’m anxious to get them here on campus and to start working with them. They’re all great young men. They come from great families, high character. And they’ve all won at their previous stop. They know what that looks like.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): You retained one of the best shooters in college basketball in Paul McNeil… How did you retain Paul McNeil?

Justin Gainey: It was great going through that process with him because we got to learn so much about each other. What a lot of people didn’t know was I was the first person to offer him a scholarship when he was in the 10th grade when I was at Tennessee. So our relationship goes way back. We talked about those conversations. We had a chance to really bond and connect. He chose to stay home, and we were all thrilled and excited about it.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): How much will NC State under Justin Gainey look like Tennessee under Rick Barnes?

Justin Gainey: I gotta be the best version of myself that I can. I can’t be Coach Barnes. I can’t be Coach Miller. I can’t be Coach Sendek. I will try to bring some of those characteristics, but it’ll have my own flair on it, my own taste on it. I do plan on having a group that when you watch them you say, ‘Man, those dudes play hard. They play really hard and they play together.’ That’s what our teams at Tennessee did. And that’s what my teams will do here.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): NC State has a return game at VCU, the Tennessee game in Nashville, a return neutral site game near Ole Miss. Is there anything else of significance for NC State’s non-conference schedule for 2026-27?

Justin Gainey: We’re still putting it together. Philosophically, I want to play a competitive non-conference schedule. I want our guys to be prepared for the ACC regular season. It’s a tough league and I don’t want our guys to be caught off guard. We’re going to play a challenging, competitive non-conference.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): What is it going to be like when you wake up in the morning of the day of your first game as NC State’s head coach?

Justin Gainey: I’ll wake up with a text from you. I always love those texts you send out. I anticipate waking up at probably like 5:30 and jotting down on my game sheet some different plays and different lineups. I’ll be really excited and ready to go. Probably would not have slept the night before because of the excitement. And hopefully I’m getting my red jacket prepared to wear for that game.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): Give me one great win that stands out from the rest and give me a tough loss that you can’t shake.

Justin Gainey: As a player, I’d say the great wins — a win at Purdue my senior year where I made a three to win the game, and at home against Maryland my senior year where I made the game winner. As a coach, one of the best was an exhibition game against Michigan State — the first game I got to coach my son. He made a free throw to win the game. That was an unbelievable moment. The tough losses in coaching are those last two Elite Eight games. You get so close and it kind of eats at you.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): Give me one recruit that you desperately wanted as an assistant coach that you didn’t get.

Justin Gainey: So many of them. But I always feel like things happen for a reason. Maybe you didn’t get that guy, but you got somebody else and it ended up working out how it was supposed to.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): How do you, in your first season as NC State’s head coach, get your alma mater to the NCAA tournament in 2027?

Justin Gainey: First, we got to get them here to campus and get to work. It’s going to come down to how connected this group can become. Can they start playing for each other? Can they lose themselves in the team identity? Can we continue to get better throughout the year? We’re going to hit some bumps, but how much better can we get by the end of the year and be playing our best basketball.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): Well, Justin, it’s going to be a lot of fun to cover. Appreciate a couple of minutes. Know how busy you are. Congratulations on the job. And as always, look forward to staying connected along the way.

Justin Gainey: Absolutely. John, thanks so much, man. I appreciate it.

CBS Sports (Jon Rothstein): That’s NC State head coach Justin Gainey. I’m Jon Rothstein, and this is Inside College Basketball Now.