Wade Addresses NC State's Internal Leadership Issue After Win
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RALEIGH — After Wednesday's 108-72 win over Texas Southern, it became clear that there are two different versions of NC State head coach Will Wade. He showed a completely different side, filled with optimism, but also cautious urgency at the same time, after his team took a ranked Kansas team to overtime, but fell just short.
However, his frustrations with the group's execution, lack of attention to detail and casual nature boiled over in the win over the Tigers. Wade began his postgame press conference quietly, before slowly releasing said frustration in the form of a lengthy rant about the team's leadership as well and a growing concern within him about the collective mindset of the group.
Watch Wade's press conference
A lack of internal leadership
NC State head coach Will Wade went on a spirited rant about his team’s struggles with correcting issues and attention to detail.
— Tucker Sennett (@SennettTucker) December 18, 2025
Here is part of his postgame press conference following the 108-72 win over Texas Southern @WolfpackOnSI: pic.twitter.com/WPAEiQBak4
NC State missed several opportunities to pick up key wins against teams like Kansas, Auburn and in the Southwest Maui Invitational. Hope for the season is far from lost, but Wade clearly reached a new point of frustration over the last week, particularly in relation to his team's attitude and personality. He said that while the team has a lot of "nice guys," the group lacks the edge and intensity needed to compete with the best.
"Quite frankly, I've been trying to get some urgency and some internal leadership," Wade said. "And I think (Quadir Copeland) has done a pretty good job. Outside of (Copeland) and (Ven-Allen Lubin), those guys are playing about as well as we could ask them to play; we take on the personality. We've got a lot of casual personalities on our team."
Wade added that those two took a bigger step forward than he expected in terms of leadership, but the rest of the team is lacking in that area. The coach holds his teams to higher standards than many other leaders around the country, but it all matters in his eyes. And the Wolfpack hasn't lived up to those standards and the clock is ticking on his first season.
"I've been concerned for weeks, but I mean... We are who we are," Wade said. "I said it a couple of weeks ago. If you're not physical and you're not tough, you better be alert and aware and we're still none of the four. We're not physical, we're not tough, we're not alert, we're not aware. If you're alert and aware, you don't give up five points on baseline out-of-balance plays with the clock under three seconds. We just don't do it."
He reiterated the importance of that internal leadership once again. His point is essentially that his coaching can only take the team so far. There needs to be someone on the floor that can hold the team accountable at all times. While Copeland and Lubin are filling that role to an extent, it isn't enough.
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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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