The worst kept secret in college basketball was that after McNeese was done in the NCAA Tournament, head coach Will Wade was heading to Raleigh. So, once Wade’s Cowboys were bounced in the Round of 32 on Saturday afternoon with a 76-62 loss to Purdue the former LSU head coach immediately inked his deal to head back to the Power Conference level, agreeing to a six-year contract with North Carolina State.
Seth Trimble when asked about his future at #UNC:
— Jacob Turner (@JacobTurnerTHI) March 21, 2025
"Absolutely. I want to come back to this school. I'm a Tar Heel."
Will Wade signs six-year deal with NC State
Wade deserves credit for his refreshing honesty throughout the situation and for winning a first-round matchup against Clemson on Thursday despite the massive distraction. However, while McNeese’s potential Cinderella run was a great story, Purdue did the Wolfpack a massive favor by ending his season on Saturday.
NC State is desperate for a total overhaul. Kevin Keatts saved his job with a historic and wildly unexpected Final Four run last season but ultimately was unable to parlay the momentum of the Cinderella run into 2024-25 success. Keatts was fired after missing the ACC Tournament with a 12-19 record and ended his eight-year run in Raleigh.
Part of the problem for Keatts this season was his inability to replenish the talent he lost from that Final Four team. March Madness superstar DJ Burns and leading scorer DJ Horne both expended their final year of eligibility, and Keatts four-player transfer portal class struggled in ACC play this season.
Because Wade was eliminated in the Round of 32, he’s able to head to Raleigh and begin evaluating transfer portal talent immediately. Players have already begun flooding into the portal, and more will enter as their respective March Madness journeys end this weekend. Wade’s roster reconstruction will begin in the portal (maybe even with his McNeese roster), and advancing to next weekend’s Sweet 16 would be a massive detriment to his new program.
Last offseason, Pat Kesley and Dusty May completed one-year rebuilds at Louisville and Michigan respectively, and the portal was their primary tool. Coaches no longer need a four-year window to instill their culture and build up through high school recruiting. Immediate success is the expectation for a big-time hire like Wade, so he needs to get started right away. Still, a six-year contract shows a considerable amount of faith that Wade will attract the type of talent that Keatts never could.
Wade’s entire tenure at LSU was marred by NCAA investigations for illegal payments to players. Now, paying players isn’t just legal, it's a requirement for college basketball success. Wade is the perfect head coach for the new NIL era. He proved it with his two-year stint at McNeese, and now he has a long runway to build his 2025-26 roster at NC State.