Will Wade's Thoughts Before First NC State Practice of 2025

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The new era of NC State men's basketball took its next big steps, as the Wolfpack began officially practicing Monday afternoon. The Pack is preparing for a massive campaign under first-year head coach Will Wade, who has captivated Raleigh and breathed new life into the NC State program since taking over in the spring.

Wade rebuilt NC State on the fly, bringing key players from his McNeese State team through the transfer portal and also adding high-level transfers from other power conference schools across the country. The class, led by Texas Tech transfer Darrion Williams, has shot the Wolfpack into the conversation as one of the ACC's most competitive rosters.

Before NC State took the court for its first official practice session, Wade met with members of the media to discuss the offseason and the team before his first season as the Pack's leader.

Watch a portion of Wade's press conference here

Below is a partial transcript of Wade's press conference:

On his message about the roster to the Wolfpack fanbase

Wade: "Man, I think I just said it. We're good. We've got a good team. A lot of coaches get up here and badmouth their teams. We're damn good... We're going to play hard. We're going to be fast and physical. We're going to get after you on both ends. We're going to be the aggressors on both ends. We're going to play for NC State."

"We're going to be consistent. That's the biggest thing. We haven't had the consistency around here. It's like you said, we're like the Dow Jones. We're up and down... like the stock market. We've got to be a consistent stock. There's small growth every but you know what you're getting."

Mar 22, 2025; Providence, RI, USA; McNeese State Cowboys head coach Will Wade during the first half of a second round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

On the team's progress during the summer program

Wade: "I think we're ahead of where I thought we would be at this point. Last time we met, we weren't all that healthy. We're as healthy as we've been. We'll be able to practice with 14 of our 15 players today. Only one who isn't cleared right now is Darrion Williams. He's going through concussion protocol. He's on the back end of that..."

On Quadir Copeland transferring from McNeese and his impact on the team

Mar 22, 2025; Providence, RI, USA; McNeese State Cowboys head coach Will Wade talks to an official during the second half of a second round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Wade: "Quadir has been incredible. The biggest thing he does is he gives everybody confidence. When he's out there ... Now, he's talking a lot... I told the media staff we can't do the mic'd up with him or they're going to run out of bandwidth on whatever they're storing it in ... He gives guys confidence when he's playing with them."

"He's grown so much. This time last year, he wasn't even in the rotation at McNeese. Now he's firmly in our rotation and going to play a major role and have a lot of responsibility for our team and our program. That's just his continual growth."

Mar 22, 2025; Providence, RI, USA; McNeese State Cowboys guard Quadir Copeland (11) reacts after a play during the second half of a second round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the McNeese State Cowboys at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

On Copeland playing with an edge

Wade: "You'd rather tell somebody 'Whoa' than 'Go.' I'd rather back somebody up than get them going. Certainly, there's a fine line. I look at it like it's a volcano. It builds up, but you just can't have it overflow, can't have it explode. We want to encourage him to be himself and we don't want to take away from him being himself."

"But, certainly sometimes, guys being themselves, not just (Copeland) but anybody, that can cross a little bit of a line and we don't want him to cross that line. That's something we certainly talk with him about, but he hasn't done that yet... Look, our fans are going to love him. I know they didn't love him when he was at Syracuse. You love him when he's with you."

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