How the Matt Driscoll Hire Helps NC State, Justin Gainey
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RALEIGH — Justin Gainey continues to build out his first staff at NC State, bringing in a handful of assistants with different backgrounds to help him as he navigates his first season as a head coach. Between Wednesday and Thursday, the Wolfpack reportedly added three new assistants, joining Gainey and Riley Collins with the program as the transfer portal swirls.
After adding Georgia assistant Anthony Goins on Wednesday, Kansas State interim head coach Matthew Driscoll became one of the next members of the staff to fall in place, according to reports from both On3 and 247Sports. It's a major addition for the program because of the experience Driscoll brings to the table.
More on Driscoll in Raleigh
When Gainey was hired, he said he wanted to build a staff with a diverse array of experience and background, helping him balance all of the new things he needed to learn on the fly as a head coach. Driscoll will be the veteran voice of wisdom on the staff, holding decades of coaching experience as both an assistant and head coach.
He most recently worked on Jerome Tang's staff at Kansas State, ultimately taking over as the interim head coach when Tang was fired during the 2025-26 season. He dipped into his 16 years of head coaching experience at North Florida during his brief tenure leading the Wildcats in the Big 12, helping Kansas State build out an explosive offense despite some significant obstacles on the roster.
While all of the staff hired before Driscoll brought SEC experience for the most part, Driscoll adds a different voice with experience in the Big 12 and ASUN throughout his career. Mixing different playstyles could help NC State catch some ACC squads off guard during the 2026-27 season, as well as offering wider appeal to players from different conferences looking to expand their games in the ACC.
At Kansas State, Driscoll helped the Wildcats offense build around star guard P.J. Haggerty and Abdi Bashir, who both thrived in his system. There were some balance issues, but there's reason to believe those stemmed more from roster construction problems rather than anything else. Driscoll tried to get things on course after Tang's firing, but the damage had already been done.
The most important thing Driscoll will provide is experience, something that Gainey's staff is already full of, but not to the same extent that Driscoll has. As of Thursday morning, Driscoll is the lone member of the group with head coaching experience, including Gainey himself. If he can help smooth the transition for the Wolfpack's new leader, that would make it a dynamite hire in itself.
Having an older voice like Driscoll's indicates that a more collaborative coaching style is likely for Gainey, which will be a stark contrast from what unfolded throughout the Will Wade era in Raleigh. Over time, the former coach of the Wolfpack took increasing control over his staff, resulting in sweeping changes to the rotations and schemes down the stretch of the season.
Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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