Will Wade Deserves Criticism For NC State's Disappointing Finish in First Four

The Wolfpack head coach did not have his team ready to play in the final two months of the season

Mar 16, 2026; Dayton, OH, USA; NC State Wolfpack head coach Will Wade walks the court during a practice session ahead of the first four of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at University of Dayton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

The Will Wade experiment at NC State could not have been going much better through the end of January. After an 82-73 victory over Virginia Tech on February 7, the Wolfpack were 18-6 (9-2 ACC) with dreams of challenging Duke for the top spot in the conference.

They won six games in a row, including big time road wins over Clemson, Wake Forest, and SMU. It was no longer a question if NC State was going to make the tournament, but how good of seed could they have.

Then, the February swoon started.

Wade’s team lost six of seven games entering the ACC Tournament, including brutal defeats at home to Miami and Stanford while dropping an overtime game on the road against Notre Dame. There was also blowouts Louisville, Virginia, and the Blue Devils.

All of a sudden, the Wolfpack were fighting for its postseason lives and a victory over Pittsburgh in the ACC Tournament – and a terrible bubble this season – might have saved its life.

NC State was bounced in the quarterfinals in Charlotte, dropping its third game of the season to the Cavaliers, and earned a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament, playing Texas in the First Four.

Its matchup with the Longhorns, much like its season, had potential but ended on a sour note.

Texas led by as many as ten points in the game, but the Wolfpack never quit. They continued to battle until tying the game at 66 with 18.4 seconds left on a free throw from Tre Holloman but couldn’t get the key defensive stop.

Tramon Mark won the game for the Longhorns on a long, tough pull-up jumper with 1.1 seconds left. It delivered the one of the first thrilling March Madness finishes of the tournament but was a remainder of a season that could have been much better for Will Wade’s team.

“Disappointing end to a pretty disappointing season for us,” Wade said after the 68-66 loss. “We haven't been very good in close games. We hadn't earned the right to win in close games and our season ended very similar to the reason we're sitting in Dayton.”

“You are who you are in pressure moments, and we tried to mask some stuff and we couldn't do it. That's why we're here, and that's why we're heading home.”

The ACC was improved this year but nothing truly that the Wolfpack couldn’t overcome. There was more talent on the roster than its record indicated but Wade couldn’t figure things out late.

Surely, assuming he remains with the Wolfpack amid swirling rumors that he could return to LSU, he will attack the transfer portal hard and get NC State back to competing at the top of the ACC next season but there is a lot to learn from Will Wade’s debut season in Raileigh.

“We're going to be better, he explained.

“We put this together pretty quickly. We didn't do as much -- we didn't spend as much time on a couple things, we just looked at some analytics, the personalities and some of that stuff is very, very important. We're going to do much more due diligence this year, and we'll have a better mixture of things moving forward.”