Who’s the next NC State men’s basketball coach? AD wants someone ‘committed’

With Will Wade officially out as head coach, N.C. State is on the hunt — the second time in as many years — for a new leader of the Pack.

N.C. State Athletic Director Boo Corrigan said on Thursday afternoon during a news conference that the university has already started its search for the next head men’s basketball coach. It started on Wednesday, he said, when reports began circulating about Wade’s planned return to LSU and continued Thursday upon the receipt of Wade’s resignation letter, sent to Corrigan’s email from Wade’s agent.

Corrigan told reporters he has already received countless phone calls from individuals, or their representatives, interested in the job.

“I can assure you that between yesterday at 9 o’clock or 10 o’clock in the morning and today, my phone has been in receive mode more than it’s been in outgoing mode,” Corrigan said. “There’s plenty of people I know that are very interested in this job. And a lot of work was done last year that will carry over to this year.”

Corrigan spoke of the disappointment in how things ended with Wade’s abrupt departure, but he’s already embracing the next step of filling the position. He reiterated N.C. State quarterback Philip Rivers’ famous quote: “The Wolfpack ain’t for soft people.”

He said the mission, and that mantra, for N.C. State athletics doesn’t change, nor does the profile it wants for its next head coach. It’s a guiding principle. The university wants a coach who understands “who we are and what we are,” Corrigan said.

N.C. State seeks a great coach with a high basketball IQ, who can connect with program stakeholders — internally and externally — has strong recruiting capabilities and understands NIL and the transfer portal.

Most importantly, university leadership wants its next coach to love the program, embracing the high expectations and culture.

“We need to make sure that we have a person that’s committed to this university,” Corrigan said, “that wants to be at this university, that shares our values of trust and accountability, that will lead this program.”

Corrigan believes N.C. State is an institution where a coach can stay for 10 or more years and have consistent success.

“We don’t want to be a stepping stone on the way to another job,” Corrigan said. “Again, we thought we had that. In every conversation and every release and everything that was out there, we believed that we had that right.

“We’re going to go out and find someone again.”

The university does not expect to use a search firm for this coaching search. It has not been ruled out, but it’s not likely, Corrigan said. The administration believes it has a good idea of the market and salary ranges.

There is not an exact timeline for the hire, Corrigan said, but the school hopes to have its next coach in place by the time the transfer portal opens next month.

Corrigan also said there’s some “muscle memory” — not that he wants to keep going through coaching searches — and knowing how to handle the search.

N.C. State looks forward to finding, hopefully, the right person for the job who can build on the excitement and growth that started this season.

“Their job is to move us forward, not backward,” Corrigan said. “My job is to deal with what we have today. Then, in some relatively short order, I don’t know what that means, be able to announce a new head coach at N.C. State and allow them the opportunity to move forward.”

Who could be NC State’s next head coach?

Several names have already come to the forefront as potential replacements for Wade, notably Justin Gainey and Josh Schertz.

Gainey, associate head coach at Tennessee, attended N.C. State from 1996 to 2000. He has nearly 20 years of coaching experience after serving in an assistant role at six schools, including Elon and Appalachian State. Gainey has been with the Volunteers since 2021.

“We have been so locked in here and you kind of see the noise and not really knowing what is real and what is not,” Gainey told Tennessee media on Thursday. “N.C. State is a great place. It is home. I don’t know what they’ll do or what direction they’ll go in. I hadn’t really heard much.”

Gainey was one of the prospects last year prior to Wade’s hire. A year ago, Gainey said he was focused on the Tennessee program but credited the players and Vols head coach Rick Barnes for giving him an opportunity to be among the names mentioned for Power 4 jobs.

Prior to his coaching career, Gainey served in administrative positions at N.C. State and Marquette. Gainey worked as an administrative coordinator (2006-08) and then director of operations (2008-09) under former Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe.

Schertz, the head coach from Saint Louis, is also popping up as a potential candidate for the job.

The 50-year old from New York has found success on the Division II and mid-major level, coaching at Lincoln Memorial (2008-21), Indiana State (2021-24) and Saint Louis for the past two years.

At Lincoln Memorial, Schertz led the team to 10 NCAA Division II tourament appearances, including a runner-up finish in 2016. Then, Schertz led Indiana State to a pair of non-NCAA postseason tournaments. However, the Sycamores’ absence from the NCAA Tournament field was met with criticism.

In two seasons at Saint Louis, he guided the Billikens to an NIT and March Madness bid. After going 29-6 and 15-3 in the Atlantic-10, the Billikens closed the 2025-26 season with a 102-77 win over Georgia and 95-72 loss to Michigan in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.

Schertz’s name, however, was mentioned as a possible replacement at North Carolina since he has ties to the state. He coached at Queens in Charlotte and High Point as an associate head coach.

“You’re in a terrible spot as a coach because if you say, ‘Man, I’m 100% back,’ and then something changes and something occurs, and you’re not back, then, ‘Oh, man, you know, he lied,’” Schertz said this week on the coaching rumors. “If you say, ‘Man, I’m considering all these other jobs,’ and you’re distracted and you’re not locked in, there’s no right answer.”

Schertz went on to say that if a coach is happy with the administration, Board of Trustees and feels supported, it’s hard to leave a situation, even in a conference like the A-10. He said NIL and the transfer portal have changed the college basketball landscape.

“If you’re at a place that’s fully committed, fully invested, and you’re happy with the people you work with, it would take a really incredible situation to walk away from being happy,” Schertz said. “I think I’ve shown I’m very happy where I am.”

Furman’s Bob Richey was also a name mentioned on several lists. Richey has led the Paladins to nine straight winning seasons and two NCAA Tournament appearances, including a one-point tournament win over Virginia in 2023.

Connecticut’s Dan Hurley complimented Richey after the Huskies’ 82-71 win over the Paladins in the Round of 64.

“That guy’s one of the best young coaches in the sport,” Hurley said. “I just couldn’t say enough about the respect I have — you watch nine or 10 of an opponent’s games, and you really study the quality, and that is just a big-time program. He’s a big-time coach. … Everyone at Furman, enjoy whatever time you have remaining with that coach because that coach is going to be coaching at a big, big place soon.”

This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 5:45 AM.

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

The News & Observer