RALEIGH, N.C. — Wearing an N.C. State red and white striped tie, Will Wade addressed alumni and university supporters at Reynolds Coliseum. The new men’s basketball coach was succinct and upfront in sharing his goals.

N.C. State will consistently be in the top four of the ACC, he said. It will be a regular NCAA Tournament team. And it will happen immediately.

“This is not a rebuild,” Wade said Tuesday. “We’re going to be in the top part of the ACC next year, and we’re going to the NCAA Tournament. This is not something that’s going to take a while.”

Wade is excited and confident to face this next challenge and opportunity. He said N.C. State has everything necessary to attract the nation’s top players. It’s committed to supporting the program through expected revenue sharing; name, image and likeness funding; facilities; fan support and administrative support.

He fully believes N.C. State will be a regular contender in the Triangle, the league and the nation in less than a year. It may not immediately win a national championship — sometimes the brackets don’t work in a team’s favor, he admits — but the expectations are high.

Wade complimented former head coach Kevin Keatts, with whom he’s had a relationship with for more than a decade, for his work with the program and the 2024 ACC championship and Final Four run. Except Wade wants that to happen more regularly. He wants his teams to be more like the women’s program; a regular championship threat and staple in the AP Top 25. Wade mentioned Wes Moore’s consistent success with the women’s basketball program and hopes to learn from the veteran head coach.

“It’s like winning the lottery. The more ping pong balls you put in there, the better chance you’ve got to win the thing,” Wade said when touting the importance of consistency. “We’re trying to continually put deposits in there where we’re competing at that level, and eventually it’ll happen. My charge is to build a consistent program and a consistent winner that is not reliant on crazy runs and that sort of thing. We need to be consistently and reliably in the top portion.”

N.C. State athletic director Boo Corrigan said the search committee specifically wanted a current head coach. He also noted Wade’s interest in the job, while still devoting his attention and efforts to his McNeese team.

Corrigan said there were numerous candidates with significant interest, but he clicked with Wade.

“He understands the expectations of the program, and he knows what it means to compete in the ACC,” Corrigan said. “N.C. State men’s basketball has the resources we need for the future. We don’t just want to compete. We want to win, and we want to win consistently, and we want to win big. It didn’t take me long to be convinced that Will Wade is the person to lead us there.”

Wade called the ACC one of the “premier” college basketball conferences and, if the ACC is going to be good, the Wolfpack needs to be good.

The better N.C. State men’s basketball is, the better the conference will be.

“I know we’ve got some bully neighbors and that sort of thing, but we’re not worried about them,” Wade said. “If we worry about ourselves, all that other stuff will take care of itself. … We want them to turn around and be chasing us, so that’s the focus.”

‘The best version of Will Wade’

Wade comes to the program after two seasons at McNeese State in Lake Charles, La. He led the Cowboys to a 57-10 record in his two seasons and two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. This season, he guided the program to its first-ever March Madness win, a 69-67 triumph over Clemson.

His resume also includes stops at LSU, VCU and Chattanooga.

“I think I’ve grown and gotten better from VCU to LSU. Certainly from LSU, to being fired, to McNeese,” Wade said. “I’ll be better from McNeese to here. N.C. State’s getting the best version of Will Wade right now.”

Wade thanked McNeese athletic director Heath Schroyer and university president Wade Rousse for hiring him two years ago, noting they took a risk on him. The 42-year-old arrived at McNeese after LSU fired him for violating NCAA rules regarding illegally paying recruits. This is no longer illegal with relaxed NIL rule changes.

Wade acknowledged by his own volition the mistakes he made at LSU and personal improvement he’s made in the years since. The Wolfpack will get the same competitive fire, he assured everyone, but he plans to do things “without all the arrogance that got me in trouble.”

“This is going to be done,” Wade said of the program’s turnaround. “This will be done the right way, and this is going to be done quickly. We are here to win. We’re here to win the right way.”

Wade said his experience at LSU and getting fired gave him perspective. He understands basketball isn’t “life or death” and if his program doesn’t land a recruit, they can find someone else. Winning is important — he made that clear — but he’s not cutting corners. There are always different ways to achieve a goal.

He doesn’t want the program to back down from any other program, but, to him, that’s confidence. Not cockiness. And it’s different from how he used to be.

“We’re not going to blur any lines,” Wade said. “We’re not going to think that we’re invincible and that everything’s just going to work out.”

Corrigan said he and Wade spent a long time discussing this topic during the interview process. The athletic director asked difficult questions and spoke to references.

He believes in Wade’s character development and coaching abilities.

“I think we’re about second chances,” Corrigan said. “As everyone’s heard here today, that’s what it’s about. It’s about, ‘What can we do to bring this program back on a consistent basis and win?’”

Handling the transition period

The new head coach has already begun prepping for the upcoming season and provided an estimated timeline. Wade hopes to have a handful of core staff members hired by the end of the week or early next week and the rest of the staff completed shortly after the Final Four. However, he acknowledged that the university is a public institution and has to follow certain protocols. Once the primary assistants are in place, he plans to spend the next four to six weeks hiring

Wade arrived in Raleigh at 3 p.m. Monday and met with the team an hour later. Several players have already entered their names in the transfer portal, but Wade plans to meet with everyone individually and is open to those players returning.

“I’m not one of those, ‘Once your name’s in the portal, you can never come back,’” Wade said. “One of our best players at McNeese (Christian Shumate) put his name in the portal when I got the job. Came back. He was the two time Defensive Player of the Year in the Southland. What an idiot I’d be to just cast him off.”

When he knows which players, if any, are returning, the staff will seek players in the transfer portal. From there, it will set a schedule. The goal is to have the program fully operational again by May 14, right before the start of summer school, pending any extenuating circumstances.

From that point forward, Wade plans to be an active participant on campus and in Raleigh. He will encourage his players to do the same.

“I think if you’re accessible and you’re out there, I think people are more likely to come to the games and people feel like they’ve got a stake in the game,” Wade said. “That’s that’s really, really important to me.”

Wade said the Wolfpack’s home opener will be on Nov. 3, and he wants fans to sell out Lenovo Center.

“We need to send a message,” Wade said. “We need to let the state, the ACC and the nation to know the Pack is back, and we are not to be messed with.”

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