McNeese's Wade acknowledges NC State contact

PROVIDENCE -- McNeese men's basketball head coach Will Wade acknowledged Wednesday that he has had contact with NC State regarding its head coaching vacancy.

NC State fired Kevin Keatts on March 9, less than one year after Keatts led the Wolfpack to the Final Four.

Wade is in his second season at McNeese, whose team is a No. 12 seed in the Midwest Region and faces No. 5 Clemson on Thursday at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence (TruTV, 3:15 p.m. ET).

"There's no need to hide it. The guys are reading it on social media. It's no secret and I'm not going to ask them to do something I'm not willing to do," Wade said in a news conference before the team's 30-minute light practice.

"It's no good if you don't address it and if you sit there and BS 'em. They know. They can read right through the BS. So you might as well just [say] 'This is what it is.'"

Asked specifically about NC State and if he or those close to him have been in contact with NC State, he said directly, "Yes."

Wade, 42, has earned Southland Conference Coach of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons. McNeese's 57 wins over his two-year tenure are the most in a two-year span in the 82-year history of the program.

Wade's last high-major job was at LSU, where he was fired in March of 2022 in the wake of LSU receiving a notice of allegations from the NCAA.

He spoke candidly with reporters about discussing vacant jobs at other schools, relating it to players and the transfer portal.

"I told our coaching staff last year, I don't want to hear any complaining about calling kids in the portal while we're at the NCAA tournament because half the coaching staffs in the country, those assistants are trying to get other jobs, too," he said.

"So if they're trying to get other jobs, why can't the kids go try to get other jobs? It just makes intuitive sense to me."

NC State is coming off a 12-19 season, which included a 5-15 record in the ACC.

As for No. 12 McNeese's game against No. 5 Clemson, Wade (Clemson, Class of 2005) detailed his affinity for his alma mater.

While coaches tend to downplay personal connections to games, Wade leaned in. He said his players know that they don't practice during Clemson games, and they had to adjust McNeese's pregame schedule earlier this year to accommodate Clemson's ACC title game.