by Raleigh, NC (AP)-Mcneese coach Will Wade has a signed six-year-old deal to take over as the next coach of NC State, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The person spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity because the school did not publicly discuss its coaching search.
Wade’s second NCAA tournament Run in as many seasons with the cowboys ended on Saturday with a second round loss for Purdue, which came two days after a first round of his Alma Mater, Clemson. Wade’s two -year term in Lake Charles, Louisiana, marked a successful climb back after he was fired at LSU in 2022 due to accusations of recruitment violations. They were rooted in a federal corruption investigation in college basketball that became public in 2017, whereby the NC state among the several schools is entangled in that probe.
Earlier this week, OG Media reported for the first time that the two parties had reached an agreement for Wade to lead the Wolfpack, while CBS Sports was the first to report the signing after the loss of Purdue. The 42-year-old Wade had confirmed conversations with NC State before the Clemson victory, an unusually frank response compared to coaches who usually bend questions about other jobs.
“Just tell it as it is,” Wade said Wednesday.
Asked for the NC State Job again after Saturday’s loss to Purdue, Wade said: “I will worry about that tomorrow. Look, I am a honest guy, but today I want to bow everything with Mcneese if we can.”
Wade will replace Kevin Keatts, who was fired after eight seasons on March 9. That came less than a year after he had led NC State to the first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title since 1987 and the first last four trip since the “Cardiac Pack” of the Late Jim Valvano “Cardiac Pack” did it in an unlikely 1983 NCAA NCAA title.
Keatts had led NC State to three NCAA bonds and had the program in position for another when the COVID-19 Pandemie forced the cancellation of March Madness in 2020. But the Wolfpack went 12-19 this season to kill every persistent buzz of last year’s remarkable run.
That ultimately led the school to continue through Keatts, although he was under contract until April 2030, making NC State only $ 6.9 million in the basic salary. And it marked a reset for the program, until how finances deal with the schedule construction with players who can benefit from their athletic fame and sharing income that will start nationally next season.
Wade’s first head coaching job was a two-year-old Stint in Chattanooga of 2013-15, followed by two NCAA Beds in the same number of seasons at VCU before he left for LSU in 2017.
He returned to the sidelines after his LSU exit at Mcneese in 2023, with his term of office starting with NCAA penaltys that include a suspension of 10 games to open his first season. But the Cowboys teams won 58 competitions in two seasons, a fast climb for a program that had only won 56 games combined in the five seasons before the arrival of Wade.
“I think I needed somewhere that would embrace me and the city needed someone to embrace them,” Wade said about his McNees official period on Saturday. “It just worked. I can’t explain how. I think it helps, but it worked. Just unforgettable.”
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AP -sportswriter Kyle Hightower in Providence, Rhode Island, has contributed to this report.
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