Martelli Jr. Breaks Down Loss to No. 25 NC State

RALEIGH — For a prominent mid-major program like VCU, scheduling games against high-major and power conference competition can be very difficult. First-year Rams head coach Phil Martelli Jr. led his team into the Lenovo Center to face No. 25 NC State and Will Wade, who has deep roots at VCU from his time as an assistant and the head coach.

One of Wade's first actions as the head coach of the Wolfpack was scheduling his old program for a home-and-home. He did the same thing when he coached LSU after leaving VCU, and he even sent his McNeese State team to Richmond to face the Rams, although he did not coach in that game due to his suspension by the NCAA.

No. 25 NC State wins a battle at home 😤

The Wolfpack hold off VCU to remain unblemished on the season 🐺 pic.twitter.com/XClJkYkCZX
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 18, 2025

While Martelli's group ultimately fell in an 85-79 battle with the Wolfpack, the young coach was incredibly thankful for the opportunity. His team, picked to win the Atlantic-10 conference before the season, will only get a few opportunities to bolster its resume against Quadrant 1 opponents.

The VCU coach spoke to members of the media following the loss to the Wolfpack, praising Wade's openness to scheduling the game and discussing what went wrong against NC State.

Martelli's Noteworthy Quotes

Nov 24, 2023; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Bryant Bulldogs head coach Phil Martelli Jr. during the second half against the Xavier Musketeers at Cintas Center. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

From his opening statement

"First and foremost, I'm very appreciative of Will (Wade) and the people here at NC State being willing to play us. We make a lot of these phone calls, and the fact that they would do it as a home and home... We make a lot of these phone calls and a lot of them don't get answered, or we get a flat no."

"These are important games for both teams. It’s two pretty good teams. That team, I just said on our radio, don't be surprised on Selection Sunday when you see 25, 26, 27, 28 wins next to (NC State's) name. I would tell the fans here keep your weekends open in March because you might be busy for a couple of them."

Dynamic Duo 😵‍💫@OfficialDW03 led NC State with 28 points while adding 7 REB & 2 AST. Holloman went 6-12 from the field and finished with 25 points and 4 REB, also knocking down all ten of his free throws@PackMensBball | @PackAthletics | #GoPack pic.twitter.com/gK0XOabzkz
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) November 18, 2025

On his team being able to keep things close every time NC State looked to be pulling away

"They have a belief about them, right? And some of it is from the Utah State game. Some of it is just who they are in their own experiences. There was no flinch... It was seven, it was this, it was that... We just didn't have enough of them to kind of turn those tables where we could separate."

On his relationship with Will Wade and an anecdote about first meeting Wade

"I told the story last night to some some of our fans that were here when I was in my first year at Central Connecticut — I don't even know if Will remembers this, I don't know if I've ever said this to him — I was an assistant at Central Connecticut and Oliver Purnell was the head coach at Clemson, and he offered me a grad assistant job and brought me down there. And I went down, and I get off the plane and I'm getting picked up by this manager, and it was Will."

"... We didn't stay super close, but he drove me around and the world is small, the basketball world is really small. I ran into (Wade) at the Final Four and what he said... He goes, 'I would have never left that place'.... And I appreciated that and again, I'm appreciative of him. He has not run from these opportunities."

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