NC State finalizing agreement with Will Wade to become new men's basketball coach

Jadyn Watson-Fisher, The News & Observer on Mar 19, 2025

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RALEIGH, N.C. — A little more than a week after parting ways with Kevin Keatts, N.C. State has found its next head men’s basketball coach.

According to a source close to the program, the Wolfpack has agreed to hire McNeese State’s Will Wade to replace Keatts, who was dismissed the March 9, day after his team’s season ended when it failed to qualify for the ACC Tournament for the first time.

Wade, 42, who spent the past two seasons at McNeese State in Lake Charles, La., will coach the Cowboys in the NCAA Tournament against Clemson on Thursday in Providence, R.I. Earlier Wednesday he confirmed being involved and having talks with N.C. State about the job.

Final details will be ironed out once McNeese’s season ends.

Wade has also been a head coach at LSU, VCU and Chattanooga, and was previously a candidate for the N.C. State vacancy that ultimately went to Keatts.

Keatts, of course, led the Wolfpack on a historic run to its first ACC title since 1987, and to its first Final Four since 1983, just a year ago. But the Wolfpack never gained its footing this past season, finishing 12-19 overall, 5-15 in ACC play and among the bottom three in the conference standings, missing the ACC Tournament.

Wade will join the Wolfpack at the conclusion of the Cowboys’ season after he reached a verbal agreement with N.C. State.

No. 12 seed McNeese will face No. 5 seed Clemson, Wade’s alma mater, at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. McNeese is a 7.5-point underdog.

He confirmed on Wednesday, during his team’s NCAA Tournament press conference, that he spoke with N.C. State about the coaching position and spoke with his current players on Saturday about the situation.

“I’ve always kind of been like that,” Wade said. “There’s no need to hide it. The guys are reading it on social media. It’s no secret. ... They can read right through the BS, so you might as well say, ‘Hey, this is what it is. Here we are, and we’ll figure it out.’ ”

Wade is coming off an impressive two-year run with McNeese State. This season, he led the Cowboys to a second consecutive Southland Conference regular-season championship, and earned the conference’s coach of the year award for the second straight season.

In 2023-24, the Cowboys won the conference tournament and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The team went 30-4 overall and 17-1 in conference play. This season, McNeese is 27-6, and 19-1 in conference play. Two of the team’s losses, both by fewer than 10 points, came against then-No. 2 Alabama, and No. 25 Mississippi State.

Under Wade’s leadership, the Cowboys ranked in the KenPom top 75 in his two seasons at the helm. The team finished last season ranked No. 67 in the nation. It ranks No. 59 ahead of this week’s tournament game. He turned the program into one of the top mid-majors in the country after McNeese finished in the bottom 200 teams in 25 out of 27 years that KenPom has provided advanced analytics.

The past two years have been a career resurrection of sorts for Wade, who, while the head coach at LSU from 2017-2022, was under investigation for illegally paying recruits — something that is no longer illegal as rules surrounding compensation for a player’s name image and likeness have been relaxed. He served a 10-game suspension at the beginning of his tenure with the Cowboys for the infractions.

In his second season at LSU, Wade led the Tigers to the 2018-19 SEC regular-season title, but did not coach in the NCAA Tournament while under investigation. LSU retained Wade through the investigation and, two seasons later, he led LSU to the SEC Tournament title game and earned another NCAA Tournament bid, his fourth in five years with the Tigers.

Prior to his stint at LSU, Wade had been a candidate for N.C. State’s head coaching job eventually awarded to Keatts. He was, at the time, head coach at VCU and led the Rams to two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. He began his head coaching career at Chattanooga in 2013, and left for VCU after earning Southern Conference Coach of the Year recognition in 2014.

Wade holds a 245-104 overall record in his four head coaching stops and a 2-4 NCAA Tournament record, while guiding every program he’s coached to at least one 20-win season.

Wade is the third new coach hired by an ACC institution this cycle. Jai Lucas left Duke to become the head coach at Miami, and Florida State announced alumnus Luke Loucks would replace Leonard Hamilton. Virginia remains in search of its next head coach after it dismissed interim coach Ron Sanchez. Sanchez stepped into the head coaching position after Tony Bennett’s sudden departure prior to the season.

Former N.C. State player and Tennessee assistant Justin Gainey, VCU head coach Ryan Odom and New Mexico’s Richard Pitino were reportedly candidates for the vacancy.