The Will Wade era has officially come to a close after just a single season in Raleigh.
Following weeks of rumors and speculation, the news became official on Thursday, with Wade tendering his resignation at NC State in order to return to coach the LSU Tigers, where he had previously coached four years prior.
“We thought we had someone to lead our men’s basketball program and over the course of the last year, we had developed a relationship that I believed was based on trust and accountability,” said NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan at a press conference held on Thursday. “There was no reason, for me in my job, to not believe the words that I was hearing coming back to me from Coach Wade. I was as surprised and shocked as anyone else as this occurred based on the previous conversations that we had had.”
According to Corrigan, he and Wade had been discussing plans for the upcoming season and the program as a whole as recently as just a few days prior to his resignation and there was never any indication from the former coach that he was ever considering leaving.
But it turns out there was plenty of drama unfolding behind the scenes, with talks between Wade and LSU allegedly having occurred over a month before the end of the season.
And ultimately, things ended messy, with Wade going back on everything he had previously said, no-showing a final meeting with administration and resigning through his agent by email.
“I’m just disappointed by how it went down,” Corrigan said. “I really am.”
Wade was under contract with NC State for another five seasons, having signed a six-year, $17.25 million deal to join NC State just last year, however, it seems that he never really had intended to stay long and he and the university settled on a $4 million buyout.
In the end, Wade delivered a seventh-place ACC finish, a First Four exit and multiple blowout losses, but hey, at least he can say he beat UNC when they didn’t have their two best players.
Empty platitudes and promises were the biggest things Wade brought to the Wolfpack faithful, but that’s sort of become the new standard for college athletics where loyalty gets you nothing.
The only thing that matters is how big the check is and NC State was just unable to compete with a school like LSU it seems.
The Wolfpack aren’t the only ones this has happened to either. The Tigers are putting together a whole slew of poached coaches with Wade joining the likes of Lane Kiffin, Kim Mulkey and Jay Johnson.
NC State isn’t wasting any time though in finding Wade’s replacement, as it was reported that Corrigan was in the air just two days after the news broke for meetings with potential candidates.
Corrigan was very direct in the kind of coach that he was looking for to lead the program, even referencing an old Philip Rivers saying.
“The Wolfpack ain’t for soft people,” Corrigan said. “We are committed to finding the next coach for our men’s basketball program that wants to be at NC State, that understands who we are, that understands that we’re a tough school, that understands that we’re a great academic institution, that understands that our fanbase has very high expectations and can embrace that.”
The three names that the Wolfpack reportedly met with were Saint Louis University coach Josh Schertz, Tennessee associate coach Justin Gainey and Furman coach Bob Richey.
On Monday, as Wade was being introduced in Baton Rouge, the Wolfpack hired Gainey.
While the 49-year-old hasn’t been a head coach before, he does have ties to the university, having played for the Wolfpack from 1996-2000.
Gainey also served as administrative coordinator with Sidney Lowe from 2006-2008 and as the director of operations from 2008-2009, before taking an assistant job with Elon.
He’s worked on a plethora of different staffs over the years, but has been with Tennessee since 2021, where he’s had a big impact on the program from recruiting to scouting and so much more.
“I hope he gets the job,” said Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes. “I don’t think there’s anybody that loves NC State more than Justin Gainey. … If NC State knew what I knew, they would be begging him to be their next head coach, because he’s ready not just for NC State, he’s ready to be the head coach of the University of Tennessee or any school in the country. He’s that good.”
