Wade Still Believes NC State Can Play a Part in March

RALEIGH — NC State's 29-point loss to No. 1 Duke didn't alter the greater reputation of the Wolfpack under coach Will Wade. However, it did make the margin for error much smaller with just one regular-season matchup remaining before the ACC Tournament in Charlotte the following week. Wade understands that better than anyone.

In his first year leading the Wolfpack, Wade has his program at 19-11 overall and 10-7 in conference play. His group is taking on water, as the Duke loss marked the fifth defeat in the last six games for the Pack. The line between NC State and the top of the league only became clearer on Monday, but that clarity also changed the perspective for the rest of the season in Wade's eyes.

Wade's postgame press conference following the Duke loss

One-game seasons the rest of the way

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; NC State Wolfpack head coach Will Wade claps against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

While Wade felt confident about his team's position in the NCAA Tournament field as things stood after the Duke loss, he admitted that NC State's back is against the wall more than it has been in weeks past. Saturday's collapse in overtime against Notre Dame hurt, joining a list of losses that have created some unrest in the coach himself and the passionate followers of the program.

"We're in one-game seasons from here on out," Wade said Monday. "The Stanford game is huge for us. A game like tonight, obviously you don't want to lose by 30, but tonight is a tough task. The problem is having a seven-point lead against Miami, having the seven-point lead with two and a half minutes at Notre Dame. Those are the problems."

The gravity of the Stanford game is indeed much larger, as Wade indicated. The Wolfpack holds a 4-8 record in Quadrant 1 matchups, which isn't a problematic record. The issue comes in the lower "weight class," as Wade called it, against teams in Quadrants 2 and 3. Adding to that list, falling to a tough Stanford team would put the season on the brink heading into the ACC Tournament.

"We don't want to lose Saturday. I think it'll get a lot trickier then," Wade said. "We've got four Quad 1 wins, but some of our losses have been pretty loud, but it's still a loss and our numbers are pretty good."

The golf analogy

Wade likened the Wolfpack's season to a game of golf. With spring nearly in bloom as the calendar flips to March, his comparison made sense and came at a time when it felt right. No one knows this Wolfpack team better than Wade, even when he says he doesn't have a read on the group whatsoever regarding some of the losses.

"We've missed some three-foot putts," Wade said. "When you miss three-foot putts and then you try to make up for it on 30-footers, it's hard to do. Our margins are pretty thin right now. We can't punch in the heavyweights right now, but the middleweights and the lightweights, we've let them knock us around a little bit too ... We're not there right now and we've got to get there."

Had NC State made some of the "putts" Wade referenced, the outlook on his first season in Raleigh would be very different. The murmurs about the Wolfpack's tournament resume and shortcomings would be nonexistent. But that's not the reality Wade and his team currently live in. The lack of room for error exists because of the tier of the ACC that NC State currently sits in.

"Duke's in a different tier. Virginia is kind of the next tier," Wade said. "Then there's a group of everybody else. We haven't handled our business well enough ... Especially at home ... That's what's been frustrating. We haven't been able to quite get off the ground like we wanted to because of those games and we had a couple in the non-conference too. That's been the biggest struggle."

If the Wolfpack can respond against the Cardinal and head into the ACC Tournament with some momentum, then the outlook will change once again. If not, then Wade's first season will be viewed by some as a building block in getting to the tiers he referenced. Others might call it a disappointment. Most might just call it NC State basketball and that's what Wade is trying to change.

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