Will Wade promises NCAA tournament appearance in Year 1 in NC State introduction: 'This is not a rebuild'

Will Wade wasn't short on confidence at his introduction as NC State's next head coach.

The former LSU and McNeese State head coach made his first appearance in Raleigh on Tuesday, making sure to set the bar as high as reasonably possible for the coming 12 months. In strong terms:

"Our time is right now. This is the first time in a while, I think, the fans, the administration and the program are all on one accord. Everybody's on the same accord, everybody's singing from the same sheet of music. When that happens, at NC State, there's going to be a reckoning for the ACC. There's going to be a reckoning for college basketball. It's coming. And it's coming soon.

"I want to be very clear. 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. Make sure you got that on camera. This is going to be done the right way and it’s going to be done quickly. We are here to win."

NC State announced Wade's hire on Sunday.

The Wolfpack are coming off a 12-19 season in which their 5-15 conference record was third-to-last in the ACC. That led to the end of Kevin Keatts' eight-year tenure as head coach, despite having led the program on one of the most shocking Final Four runs in college basketball history the previous year.

In Wade, NC State is getting a track record of success at both the mid-major and major conference level. He led LSU to three NCAA tournament appearances in four years, plus an SEC regular-season title, during his time in Baton Rouge. He has also taken both VCU and McNeese State to multiple NCAA tournaments, with his most recent berth featuring an impressive win over No. 5 seed Clemson.

McNeese State's season ended on Saturday with a loss to No. 4 Purdue, after Wade's hire by NC State was reported to be imminent.

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND - MARCH 20: Will Wade, head coach of the McNeese Cowboys, celebrates his team's win over the Clemson University Tigers during the first round of the 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament held at Amica Mutual Pavillion on March 20, 2025 in Providence, Rhode Island. (Photo by Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) — Will Wade doesn't want to wait to go back to the NCAA tournament. (Photo by Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

The cons with Wade are well-known, as his LSU tenure ended in investigations and massive scandal after he was caught on a federal wiretap discussing an illegal offer to a recruit. Fortunately for Wade and the Wolfpack, the rules of college basketball have changed quite a bit since then.

Wade laid out his vision for the Wolfpack on Tuesday:

"Offensively, we're going to play to our strengths. We've played fast, we've played slow. We've played in the middle. We're going to go get the best players we can and put them in the best position to be efficient and play well.

"Defensively, we're going to be in your face. We're going to guard. We had one of the best defenses in the country at McNeese. We had a great defense our last year at LSU. That's going to be the staple of what we do. We're going to win a lot of the games within the game and try to squeeze out three-to-five extra possessions every night.

"Part of the reason I'm excited about being here is we can recruit the best players in the country. We have a great brand, we have a great program and the best players in the country want to be here."

While having the resources of a major conference school, NC State has always had to overcome the obstacles that are its two more well-known in-state rivals in UNC and Duke. UNC, however, has struggled mightily to maintain its blue blood status since its surprise Final Four run in 2022, while Duke simply recruits on a level completely different from all but the most elite programs.

In today's transfer portal world, success can be found much more quickly than the previous era of finding your own recruits and building them up. That clearly seems to be the plan for Wade, who now has every reason to show momentum is on his side.

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