Justin Gainey's Plan for NC State Recruiting Attack

RALEIGH — While Justin Gainey just arrived at NC State for his homecoming of sorts as the program's new head coach, it was clear that the wheels in his head were spinning long before the wheels of his plane touched down in a place he called home as a young man and while growing up.

A major piece of his plan for NC State men's basketball, and one that people are very curious about, is how he'll go about recruiting. Gainey established a reputation as one of the top recruiting assistants in the country over the years and explained that he has no plans of slowing down in that area as a head coach. It'll all start with an attempted takeover of North Carolina and then expand from there.

Gainey's plan

Boo Corrigan, Justin Gainey — NC State AD Boo Corrigan hugs new men's basketball coach Justin Gainey after the announcement of Gainey becoming the new leader of the program on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. | Courtesy of NC State Athletics

The recruiting vision under the previous head coach, Will Wade, was strong. Wade and general manager Andrew Slater targeted some of the top recruits on the board and secured two four-star commitments for the 2026 class: Cole Cloer and Trevon Carter-Givens. Cloer attended Gainey's press conference, in large part because he enrolled early at NC State. Gainey offered a slightly different vision, although he might share preferences with Wade and Slater.

"I want to recruit high-character student-athletes who embrace the standard and take pride in wearing that jersey," Gainey said. "I understand the era we're in right now. Transfer portal, rosters are fluid. Maybe you have a guy for one year, maybe it's two years, but I get it. But I will not, and I promise you that I'll do my best through the vetting system; low character will not exist in my program."

NC State men's basketball coach Justin Gainey speaks at his introductory press conference in the Lenovo Center on April 1, 2026. | Courtesy of NC State Athletics

Gainey's recruiting pitch was largely directed toward donors and boosters who might be disillusioned by the sport's modern nature. Many elite freshmen players bolt for the pros after just one season, while others look for greener pastures if things don't go their way early. It's hard to sell development. Gainey will try. The most important part of his vision was totally different.

"I'm a North Carolina. Everywhere I've been, I've recruited North Carolina and I feel like I've done it at a high level," Gainey said. "I'm ready to take that to another level. I always thought if I were in-state, man, I could really make some noise. I thought I did a pretty good job pulling some talent, but we're going to recruit this state hard and heavy... We want to be dominant in the state of North Carolina."

Boo Corrigan, Justin Gainey, Kevin Howell — NC State AD Boo Corrigan, men's basketball coach Justin Gainey and Chancellor Kevin Howell pose at Gainey's introductory press conference at the Lenovo Center on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. | Courtesy of NC State Athletics

Both Cloer and fellow former four-star recruit Zymicah "Mikey" Wilkins are former four-stars from the state who could be swayed to stay under Gainey despite being recruited by both Kevin Keatts and Wade. Gainey is a man of NC State and that was made evident by his recruiting pitch to the fan base.

After building out his staff and operating in the transfer portal for some foundational pieces of the roster, expect Gainey to work on recruiting the future of the Wolfpack aggressively.