NC State hoops loses assistant to head coaching job, not Will Wade and LSU
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Adam Howard leaves NC State after one season to become Troy head coach.
- Wolfpack offense ranked top 30 nationally under Howard’s scheme.
- Multiple staff departures followed Wade’s abrupt exit back to LSU.
N.C. State has lost another member of its men’s basketball staff, but not to LSU.
Troy announced on Saturday that former Wolfpack assistant coach Adam Howard will be its next head coach. Howard spent one season at N.C. State, joining former coach Will Wade after spending three seasons at Nebraska.
Howard replaces Scott Cross, who led Troy to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and Sun Belt Championships. Cross was recently hired to replace Damon Stoudamire at Georgia Tech. Howard was an assistant coach at Troy under Phil Cunningham from 2016-18.
“I’ve always admired this job,” Howard said of N.C. State in June. “It’s got great tradition, history, and it’s a great basketball job. All the sports here can be very successful with the administration that we have.”
During Howard’s lone season in Raleigh, he served primarily as the mastermind behind the Wolfpack’s offensive scheme and development.
Under his leadership, N.C. State finished top 30 in the country for scoring offense (83.2 points per game), 3-pointers made per game (10.2), 3-point percentage (38.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7).
According to KenPom, the Wolfpack finished the season ranked No. 23 in offensive efficiency (123.1) and ran its offense with few turnovers.
Senior forward Ven-Allen Lubin led the Power 4 ranks in field goal shooting, making 66.8% of his shots this year.
Meanwhile, senior Quadir Copeland made one the nation’s largest jumps in 3-point efficiency. He shot 15.4% from 3 during his junior season at McNeese State. Copeland increased that to 39.7% this year. The Syracuse and McNeese transfer added 222 assists, ranking No. 9 in program history.
Additionally, Paul McNeil was a monster from distance. He made 42.7% of his threes, hitting 3.1 per game and finishing with 105 made long balls. He tied DJ Horne for the record’s single-season record in total threes.
Prior to his time at N.C. State, Howard helped the Cornhuskers win 23 games in 2023-24 and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years. At the time, its win total was the second-highest win total in school history.
Howard joins a number of assistants to leave the program after Wade’s abrupt departure this week.
Greg Goldin (Director of Pack Performance), Isaac Stansbury (analytics assistant), Reed Vial (special assistant to the head coach) and Nick Flory (director of basketball operations) followed Wade to Baton Rouge. Assistant coaches Vernon Hamilton and Brandon Chambers are also expected to leave N.C. State, a source close to the program stated.
