Clemson basketball faces familiar faces in March Madness vs McNeese State, including Will Wade
CLEMSON — Clemson basketball will face two of its alumni in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The fifth-seeded Tigers (27-6) will battle No. 12 seed McNeese State (27-6) in the Midwest Region on Thursday (3:15 p.m. ET, truTV) at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island. This will be the first matchup between the two programs, but Cowboys coach Will Wade and assistant Vernon Hamilton are familiar with Clemson as both graduated from the university.
Wade graduated from Clemson in 2005, spending his undergraduate years as a team manager under former Clemson coaches Larry Shyatt and Oliver Purnell's staff. Wade became a graduate assistant in 2005 through 2006 and director of operations in 2006-07.
"I went to Clemson. I follow both in football, basketball, baseball, all sports, but it'll be a tough matchup," Wade said Sunday. "The first time I hear that fight song, may twirl my arm for the 'O-N,' but, no, I'm just joking."
McNeese State advanced to March Madness for the second straight season after winning the Southland Conference tournament. Wade was named the conference's coach of the year award.
Wade has worked on rebuilding his image to be a potential candidate this offseason for other basketball jobs after LSU fired him in 2022 after five seasons. He was fired after receiving a two-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA amid the school receiving a Notice of Allegations stemming from multiple rules violations after a federal corruption investigation into the sport. He also had to serve a 10-game suspension in his first season with McNeese State.
Hamilton played guard for Clemson from 2003 through 2007, receiving ACC's defensive-team honors in 2005-06. He averaged 9.7 points and 2.1 steals in 127 games with Clemson.
Clemson coach Brad Brownell said Sunday that he doesn't know Wade well.
"I know Will a little bit because we've, obviously, been in coaching for a long time, but he's obviously done a great job everywhere," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. "He's part of the 'Shaka tree' in terms of how they play: very aggressive, good defensively (and) excellent offensive-rebounding team."
The winner of Thursday's first-round matchup will face the winner between No. 4 seed Purdue and No. 13 High Point on Saturday. This is Clemson's best seeding in the NCAA tournament since 2018.
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson basketball faces alum Will Wade, McNeese State in March Madness
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