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Will Wade is set to have a 2nd meeting with NC State regarding its head coaching vacancy, according to multiple reports.
CBS’s Will Brinson and PackPride’s Cory Smith are amongst those reporting that Wade will have another meeting with NC State leadership on Friday or Saturday. The Wolfpack are looking for a replacement for Kevin Keatts, who was fired earlier this week after 8 years on the job.
Wade would be somewhat of a controversial choice for NC State given how his tenure at LSU ended. He was fired by LSU after the school received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA in March of 2022 regarding alleged Level I violations. Wade served a 5-game suspension to begin the 2023-24 season.
However, a year later, Wade landed the head coaching job at McNeese and has had a good run with the Cowboys. Wade led McNeese to a conference championship earlier this week, and thus will be coaching at the NCAA Tournament later this month.
McNeese went 19-1 during conference play this season. The Cowboys are currently ranked 59th in KenPom as they prepare for a 1st-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament next week.
NC State is fresh off of a Final Four run, but the Wolfpack made the NCAA Tournament just twice during Keatts’ tenure. NC State was an 11-seed in both seasons where it made the Big Dance as well.
While Wade is something of a controversial figure, his prowess as a head coach is not in doubt. Wade has a .700 winning percentage as a head coach across stints at Chattanooga, Virginia Commonwealth, LSU and McNeese. He led VCU to the NCAA Tournament in both of his seasons with the program and got LSU to the Big Dance 3 out of 4 times. He’s also now made March Madness in back-to-back seasons with McNeese.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
