Let’s meet a man who might be the man.
Hey, everybody, welcome to the first edition of POAPS. We’re back, baby! In this series I’ll be answering some key questions about NC State’s potential head coaching options. Up first is Will Wade, the head coach at McNeese.
1.) How old is this fellow? He won’t be hitting retirement soon, right?
Will Wade is 42 years old and doesn’t have any imminent retirement plans, near as I can tell.
2.) Does he have head coaching experience?
Indeed. Will Wade has 11 years of head coaching experience, and McNeese is his fourth stop. He spent two years at Chattanooga, two at VCU, five at LSU, and is in his second season at McNeese.
3.) Does he currently work for ESPN?
Heavens, no. Who would even consider somebody currently working for ESPN?
4.) To what extent has he elevated his program(s)?
Wade has either improved or maintained the established level of success everywhere he’s been. In the year prior to his arrival at Chattanooga, the Mocs went 13-19 and ranked 310 in KenPom. By his second season, they were up to 166, and finished 22-10 overall.
At VCU, where he took over for Shaka Smart, he kept the Rams on track, finishing at No. 31 in KenPom his first year and No. 46 the next. He extended the program’s NCAA tourney streak to seven straight.
At LSU, he improved the team over 100 spots, from 172 to 66, in the Pomeroy Ratings his first season. Over the next four, his team rated in the top 40, with three top 25 finishes. LSU plummeted back to 151 in KenPom the first year after he was fired, and has struggled ever since.
He’s arguably done his best work at McNeese, which was 335th in KenPom and 11-23 overall the year prior to arrival. In his first season, McNeese won 30 games and finished at 67 in KenPom. His current squad ranks 61st.
5.) Does he have a track record of getting teams to the NCAA tournament?
For sure. He took VCU the NCAAs both years, took LSU three times (and it would have been four if the 2020 tourney hadn’t been canceled), and had McNeese in the field last season. McNeese will be a heavy favorite to win its league tournament this week. He’s advanced to the second round of the NCAAs three times, and has one Sweet Sixteen appearance.
6.) Is there evidence he can recruit blue chip players?
He was an excellent recruiter of top high school prospects while at LSU, landing a bunch of top-100 players. That includes five-star prospects Naz Reid (No. 22 overall prospect) and Emmitt Williams (31) in 2018, Trendon Watford (20) in 2019, and Cam Thomas (25) in 2020. Several of his recruiting classes ranked in the top 10.
7.) How is he handling roster management in the NIL/portal era?
He isn’t shy about utilizing the portal, and his effective use of it has allowed for the speedy turnaround at McNeese. He’s got 10 players who began their careers elsewhere and has had no problem melding those guys into a coherent team. If he can do it at McNeese, he can do it anywhere.
8.) How do his teams perform offensively and defensively?
He has a strong track record of building good offenses, dating back to his VCU tenure. His LSU teams finished in the top 35 in offensive efficiency four times, twice in the top five. Putting together a couple of top-70 offenses at McNeese is fine work as well.
Defensively, his history is a bit spotty. Both his VCU teams ranked in the top 50 in defensive efficiency, but only one of his LSU squads managed that (his last team, which ranked sixth). It appears he made a conscious effort to play more aggressive defense a short while back, and for three straight seasons his teams have ranked in the top 25 in defensive turnover rate. He also likes to pack the paint and entice opponents to shoot a whole lot of threes, which comes with its own set of risks?
9.) Any obvious red flags?
Well, I suppose that depends on how you view his recruiting transgressions at LSU—what he did there was illegal at the time but doesn’t really feel like a big deal anymore. He was famously caught on an FBI wiretap talking about making a “strong-ass offer” to a top recruit, and he served a suspension of well over a month back in 2019 when he initially refused to cooperate with LSU or the NCAA on an investigation. You can read what he had to say after that here. He was eventually fired by LSU when the NCAA dropped a hefty Notice of Allegations on the Tigers in 2022.
As that pertains to the here and now, Wade is currently serving the end of a two-year show-cause penalty levied by the NCAA that restricts some of his recruiting activity, but this expires in June. He served a suspension at the beginning of his McNeese tenure.