NC State basketball coach doubles down on Wolfpack’s goals after First Four loss
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wade plans roster changes, seeks multi‑position frontcourt pieces.
- Five players exhausted eligibility; staff will seek transfers and retainments.
- Wade vows year‑round work and intensive evaluation to improve program.
N.C. State men’s basketball hired Will Wade a year ago expecting to return to national prominence. In his first season, the program made gains by returning to the NCAA Tournament, finishing in the top half of the ACC — two promises fulfilled — and winning a game in the conference tournament.
Still, Wade said it wasn’t remotely enough.
“This will be the worst team we have at N.C. State, right here. We just watched it. This is the floor of our program,” Wade said after the 68-66 loss to Texas. “We’ll be much better moving forward. We know what’s got to get fixed. Got a very clear mind on what we need and how we need to go about attacking and doing it, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The first step in the attack? Get back to work. Wade and the Wolfpack basketball staff won’t be relaxing after the season-ending loss to Texas in the NCAA Tournament First Four. It got back to the grind once the wheels hit the ground on the Wolfpack’s return flight to Raleigh.
Five players will not return after exhausting their eligibility, while some may seek opportunities elsewhere. Alyn Breed is the only senior eligible to return due to a previous injury. It is unclear whether he will remain with the program.
“We’ve got changes we got to make up and down the program, so my eyes are wide open. I understand what we need to do,” Wade said. “This is unacceptable, losing in Dayton. In some ways, we’re fortunate to make the tournament with this group, but we’ve got to do a much better job getting guys and making sure we get guys that fit us in the future, and make sure we’re not back in this spot.”
What NC State needs for the future
Wade said he’s been working on a plan for the past six weeks, looking at how he and his staff can set the program up for long-term success. He hopes to retain “a few guys” and then find players out of the transfer portal.
The biggest need is in the frontcourt. It needs three players who can play at multiple spots, something it wasn’t able to do for much of this season. It relied heavily on senior Ven-Allen Lubin at center, despite being undersized in relation to some of his opponents.
Freshman Musa Sagnia replaced Lubin in the lineup, but he doesn’t have the same experience, while senior Scottie Ebube didn’t have quite the same finesse or shooting abilities Lubin provided.
More than anything, Wade wants players who have an “insatiable will to win” and “desire to prove people wrong.” The Wolfpack didn’t have enough of that in Year 1. Lubin, senior Quadir Copeland and sophomore Paul McNeil possess those qualities. N.C. State needed that from other players, but too many were about “living the good life,” Wade said.
Lubin averaged 13.7 points and a team-leading 7.1 rebounds per game in his lone year with the Wolfpack. He led all Power Four teams, and ranked No. 3 in the nation, with a 66.8% field goal rate. The three-time transfer did it all.
McNeil tied DJ Horne for the program’s single-season 3-point record, making 105 baskets from the perimeter. He shot 3s at a 42.7% clip, leading the ACC and ranking in the national top 25.
Copeland ended his final season with 222 assists, ranking No. 10 in program history and overtaking Markell Johnson’s 210 dimes during the 2019-20 season. He and McNeil both averaged just under 14 points per game.
“Those guys gave us a lot. They were about the team for the most part all year, and they did as good a job as we could ask,” Wade added. “I’d love to have a whole roster of guys like those three.”
That’s possible, he said, the staff just muffed at some positions with this first team. There are plenty of guys who are good players — and this team had talent — but not everyone fit the system. Wade’s new plan is focused on better evaluation to find players that will work within his style, have the characteristics the team needs at each spot and fit the overall profile of the program.
The team will be fine and he’s not at all worried, Wade said. He believes far more is on the horizon for the Wolfpack. The work to get there starts now.
“There’s no vacation, there’s no time off. We’re getting to work and we’re going to get this thing turned around.”
Wade’s players believe in him and the staff, too. McNeil and freshman Matt Able are confident the staff will recruit the right players and get those who remain in the program to level up.
Even Lubin and senior captain Jordan Snell believe in Wade’s ability — through his honesty and desire to always improve — to get N.C. State where it wants to be on a national level.
“I think he can take it to another level. … with his plan, the ideas he has and his system, I think the program is in good hands,” Snell said. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t shout out Coach [Kevin] Keatts and the last staff for what they did for N.C. State and what they did for me. I don’t think that’s fair for me to just act like I didn’t play for them for three years. But, I think the program is in a good spot, and I’m appreciative to the last staff and this staff for the opportunity.”
‘We’ve gotten in a rhythm’
Rumors swirled last week about Wade potentially returning to LSU, where he coached from 2017-22 before his termination after an NCAA and FBI investigation. He shot down those rumors at the ACC Tournament in Charlotte last week.
Wade doubled down on Monday when asked about his transition at N.C. State, and then again on Tuesday when discussing the future of the program.
“This one at N.C. State has been pretty smooth,” Wade said Monday evening. “For better or worse, I’ve done this five times now, so you get a little bit used to it. I’m tired of doing it, so we don’t want to do it anymore.
“You get a little bit used to it, and every time it gets a little bit easier. But it takes a minute to get into the rhythm of every school you go to and every place you go to. There’s a different rhythm. It takes some time to get used to that. We’ve gotten in rhythm here at N.C. State.”
One of the NCAA’s taglines for the early rounds of the tournament is, “The road starts here.”
Dayton was the end of the road for the 2025-26 team, but Wade made it clear the First Four is nowhere near the end of the road for the Wolfpack or Wade’s tenure in Raleigh.
