Should Wolfpack Fans Be Worried About Will Wade Leaving?
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RALEIGH — Before he arrived at NC State, Will Wade never stayed anywhere longer than five years as a head coach. He began with two seasons at Chattanooga before spending a pair at VCU as the head coach, a place where he was an assistant earlier in his career. Then, his time at LSU ended abruptly after he was fired for his role in recruiting violations discovered as part of an FBI investigation.
He redeemed his name and reputation with a two-year stint at McNeese State in a time when the things he was previously blacklisted for became legal. Now leading the Wolfpack, he has once again caught the eye of the nation as one of the hottest names in the coaching ranks. With turnover among universities higher than ever across college sports, would Wade leave NC State already?
The short answer? No.
This question was already somewhat answered by Wade earlier in the season, but social media fervor from rival fan bases created a bit of unease within the NC State fan base. Before the Wolfpack defeated VCU, the program that, in many ways, forged Wade into the coach he is today, he was candid about his team in Richmond and expressed regret about leaving so quickly for LSU.
"At the time, I loved VCU. I loved my time there. I was too eager to leave like everybody else had left there," Wade said. "It's a great program, great place... It's an incredible basketball spot."
Wade's admission about possibly leaving a place too fast should've put Wolfpack fans at ease about him leaving a program quickly, as he had in the past. However, there weren't such concerns at the time. Now 13-6 with a 4-2 start to league play, the Wolfpack is behind schedule with where Wade wanted to be, but is still respected nationally.
Since arriving in Raleigh, Wade has been adamant about restoring NC State as the proud basketball tradition it once was under Norm Sloan and Jim Valvano all those years ago. During the "Wolfpack Weekly" radio show, Wade was asked directly if NC State was where he wanted to leave a lasting legacy.
"I'm not going to supplant one of those people... Those are some of the giants of the game, the giants of NC State," Wade said. "But, this is the best job I've ever had in terms of the support for basketball, everything that we need to win. It's on us to win. I absolutely love it here and I'm hopeful that I can be in the same breath as a lot of those people after a long tenure."
Wade has been adamant about the idea of the process, but also wanted to compete right away. That was always going to be a difficult proposition, but NC State seems to be in a healthier and more consistent state under him than it was under his predecessors. It marked the perfect place for him to continue his redemption arc. That remains his intention.
"It's not often you get fired somewhere and you end up in a better spot a couple of years later," Wade said. "That's not lost on me. You don't get to fall up very often."
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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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