Will Wade Passionately Defends Darrion Williams After Win Over Wake Forest

RALEIGH — NC State opened up conference play with a 70-57 win over Wake Forest, continuing some of the momentum generated during the final week of the non-conference schedule. However, coach Will Wade boiled over postgame after one of his players found himself in the crosshairs once again.

Star forward Darrion Williams finished the game with eight points, shooting 3-of-12 from the field, but he made an impact in other areas. During his postgame press conference, Wade was asked what his "concern level" with Williams' play was. That question struck a chord and the Wolfpack coach exploded into one of his more passionate moments since taking the job in Raleigh.

Wade's statement on Williams

🚨NSFW🚨 NC State head coach Will Wade was asked what his concern level over the play of Darrion Williams was after the win over Wake Forest.

Here's his response: pic.twitter.com/K0fDK4t7xe
— Tucker Sennett (@SennettTucker) December 31, 2025

Before the holiday break, Williams failed to make a field goal in the win over Ole Miss, sparking some backlash from fans and pundits around the country. Throughout Williams' difficult stretch scoring the basketball, the forward found different ways to make an impact on the game, something Wade pointed out.

"Absolutely zero," Wade began. "I'm tired of hearing about freaking Darrion. He's f****** playing well, alright? It's a terrible question. It's a terrible question. Let me be frank with you, he affects winning and everybody's out here bitching about him and all this stuff; he affects winning. He was plus-13 against Ole Miss and didn't hit a shot and everyone's acting like the world is caving in."

Williams was brought in to be the face of the Wolfpack in Wade's first year. Going back to before the season-opening win over NC Central, Wade explained that he had a sit-down with the star and told Williams he didn't need to be "Superman" for the Wolfpack. Part of his frustration likely stems from that conversation.

"The guy is a damn good player. He didn't shoot it well today. What did he have?" Wade said. "Who had zero turnovers today? Darrion Williams. Six rebounds, four assists, zero turnovers. So, everybody needs to shut the hell up about him. He's a damn good player and the shot is going to fall. I'm tired of answering questions about him. He's really good. We're thankful to have him."

And here is some more from later in the press conference: pic.twitter.com/QibBdRYaOP
— Tucker Sennett (@SennettTucker) December 31, 2025

There was more to the rant later in the press conference, as Wade continued to receive questions about his star's performance. The emotions remained high.

"I'm tired of people picking on the kid, man," Wade said. "I got it, he makes a lot of money for us, but there's about 10 other schools that would have paid as much or more than we paid for the kid. The kid is not perfect, I understand that... He picked us over a lot of schools with a lot better situation than we had at the time he picked us. Let's be freaking appreciative."

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