The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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community and state embraced him. He's a legend in Louisiana." Wade has come a long way since being let go by LSU, and in a way, he reinvented himself on the bayou. "I'm really glad that we were able to be the one that gave him a chance to get back and gave him an opportunity to do the things that he loves," Schroyer said. "It's been phenomenal. It's worked out great for us and worked out great for him. I couldn't be happier for him to get a little redemption." Chambers, who first met Wade as a student manager at Virginia Common- wealth more than a decade ago and ran the defensive side of the McNeese program, felt a similar connection. "To not only have Coach Wade and the resurrection of him and the validation of him, but to have it happen at a place like McNeese has been really special," Cham- bers said. Wade was drawn to NC State by the potential to compete at the sport's highest level. A year ago, the Pack won the ACC Tournament championship and reached the Final Four, showing that the program's ceiling is as high as any in the country. This past year, NC State slid back down to the lower rungs of the ACC standings, finishing 12-19 overall and 5-15 in league play. The Pack missed out on the confer- ence tournament, and coach Kevin Ke- atts was let go on March 9 after an eight- season tenure in which he went 151-113 overall and 69-84 versus ACC opponents. Wade believes that the Pack's confer- ence affiliation, coupled with a boost in NIL funding, provides a path to becoming a top-10 team in the country. The 42-year- old coach is confident he can win — and do it right away — with the Wolfpack. "Our time is right now," he said at his introductory press conference. "This is the first time in a while, I think, that the fans, the administration and the program were all on one accord. … When that hap- pens at NC State, it's going to be a reckon- ing for the ACC. It's going to be a reckon- ing for college basketball. It's coming." "I want to be very clear," he added. "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 going to be done the right way, and this is going to be done quickly. We're here to win." ■ Wade Impressed With Wolfpack's NIL Resources Will Wade was sitting in a private jet bound for NC State when the program's NIL and revenue-sharing budget came up in a conversation. The number he was hearing wasn't the same one that had been men- tioned during the interview process. It caught him off-guard — but in a good way. As it turned out, Wolfpack athletics director Boo Corrigan might have undersold the support that One- Pack NIL, NC State's collective, was going to be able to provide during the upcoming transfer window. But no matter which figure was most accurate, Wade said he was confident it would allow the Pack to lure the kind of talent he'll need to fulfill his ambitions. "We're going to be competitive," Wade said. "Are we going to have the most money? No. But that's not what we need. We've got to be competitive, and it's on me to spend it properly and the general manager to allocate the resources properly. That's what we're going to do." OnePack NIL has grown the collective by 40 percent with more than 600 new monthly contributing members. The membership surge has allowed for a substantial increase in the men's basketball budget. NC State was believed to have operated with a $2 million pool last season, and that number could grow to $6 million going into the 2025-26 campaign. Wade wasn't going to take a job without the opportunity to compete for a national championship. He told McNeese athletics director Heath Schroyer his next stop would need to have a competitive NIL bud- get, which NC State has seemingly accomplished already. The NCAA men's basketball transfer portal opened for 30 days beginning March 24. Wade expects to use the portal heavily in his first two seasons before building the program to the point where it can retain about half the roster each season. Once the team is at the latter stage, his recipe for success will be to bring in two or three freshmen (one instant-impact signee and a couple of developmental players), with three or four additional players coming via the portal. NC State has hired Andrew Slater as its general manager. Slater, a former scout with the NBA's Okla- homa City Thunder, will be tasked with leading the team's recruiting efforts and will also assume a "chief strategist" role to help put all the parts together on the court. In addition to Slater, NC State was expected to add former Wyoming general manager Patrick Stacy to its staff. Stacy founded Jam Basketball Intelligence, a scouting and analytics service that works with col- lege programs around the country. That combination has Wade feeling confident in his ability to put NC State in the top group of the ACC. "We've got the relationships and the resources to get the players," he said. "This is a player's game. It's the horse, not the jockey. You're only as good as the players. We've got everything we need to go and at- tract the best players in the country." — Noah Fleischman MAY/JUNE 2025 ■ 25 Building support within the Pack's fan community will be a key part of Wade's efforts to maximize the basketball program's potential. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS