NC State Basketball Coaching Staff
Last Game
Miami
Loss
70-72
Mar 8, 2025
Coral Gables, Fla.
Next Game
TBA
To Be Announced
Will Wade
Head Coach
Will Wade was announced as head coach of the NC State men's basketball program on March 23, 2025.
A native of Nashville, Tenn., Wade has previously served as head coach at VCU, LSU and McNeese. He brings 11 years of head coaching experience to the Wolfpack and has led his programs to seven NCAA Tournament berths, including appearances in the last five.
Wade has spent the past two seasons at McNeese, where he led the Cowboys to back-to-back Southland Conference regular season and tournament championships and was named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year both seasons. He compiled a 50-9 record at McNeese, including a 33-1 home record.
He leaves McNeese as the winningest coach in Southland Conference history in terms of winning percentage with a .947 mark (36-2) in regular season conference contests.
The 42-year-old served as head coach at LSU for five seasons (2017-2022), leading the Tigers to a Southeastern Conference regular season championship in 2019. LSU advanced to four post-season tournaments (including consecutive NCAA Tournaments in 2019, 2021 and 2022) during his tenure and in 2021 advanced to the SEC Tournament championship game for the first time since 1993.
In his last four seasons (2019-22) with the Tigers, his squads won 48 regular season SEC games, tied for the second-most of any team over that period.
LSU won 20 games or more in three of his five seasons and Wade finished his time at LSU with a record of 105-51, including a 55-33 SEC mark during that time. His 105 wins ranked him as the fourth-winningest coach in LSU Basketball history.
Prior to LSU, Wade spent two seasons at VCU, where he directed the Rams to a 51-20 record and two NCAA Tournament appearances in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. His 2016 squad advanced to the second round of the tournament, defeating seventh-seed Oregon State before losing to Oklahoma. That season, Wade was the youngest head coach to appear in the NCAA Tournament.
The Rams posted a 28-8 league record over his two years in the Atlantic 10, posting 14-4 records both years. The team was 25-11 in 2016 and earned a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference regular season crown. The 2017 team won 26 games and finished second in the league.
Wade began his collegiate head coaching career as the head coach at Chattanooga for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.
His first Mocs squad went 18-15 in 2014, finishing 12-6 and second in regular-season Southern Conference play. The 18 wins overall were the most by the program since 2008-09 and the 12 wins in league play were the highest total since 2010-11. Wade was honored with the Anton Foy Southern Conference Coach of the Year award for his efforts in 2014.
The Mocs won 22 games in 2015 and finished 15-3 in the league as Wade guided Chattanooga to its first 20-win season since 2004-05. He finished his two seasons there at 40-25 and 27-7 in league play. In the two seasons prior to his arrival, Chattanooga was 24-40 overall and 13-23 in the SoCon.
A four-year student manager (2002-05) at Clemson, Wade started his coaching career with the Tigers as a graduate assistant (2005-06) and director of basketball operations (2006-07).
He left Clemson in 2007 to become an assistant coach at Harvard and spent two years with the Crimson (2007-09) before heading to VCU as an assistant coach from 2009-13.
Wade is married to the former Lauren Deason of Charlotte, N.C., and the couple has one daughter, Caroline.
Wade’s College Coaching Timeline
2005-06 – Clemson, Graduate Assistant
2006-07 – Clemson, Director of Operations
2007-09 – Harvard, Assistant Coach
2009-13 – VCU, Assistant Coach
2013-15 – UT-Chattanooga, Head Coach
2015-17 – VCU, Head Coach
2017-22 – LSU, Head Coach
2023-25 – McNeese, Head Coach
Brandon Chambers
Assistant Coach
The 2025-26 season will be Chambers first at NC State as an assistant coach.
Chambers has previously worked with Wade at McNeese and LSU and was a manager at VCU for two seasons while Wade was an assistant coach.
Chambers comes to the Pack after two seasons at McNeese.
In his two years at Lake Charles, Chambers helped McNeese go 58-11 and win two Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles. The Cowboys 58 wins is the most in school history in a two-year span.
While with McNeese, Chambers mentored back-to-back Southland Players of the Year in Shahada Wells and Javohn Garcia, as well as two-time Southland Defensive Player of the Year, Christian Shumate.
Prior to McNeese, Chambers had two different stints at Texas Southern, serving as assistant coach for the 2022-23 and from 2019-21. In three years with the Tigers, Chambers helped the Tigers to two SWAC Tournament titles and helped guide TSU to its second NCAA Tournament win (First Four) in program history.
Chambers worked directly with First Team All-SWAC, SWAC Newcomer of the Year, and SWAC Tournament MVP Michael Weathers, while also helping TSU win 14 of its final 15 games along with a win over Mountain West member Wyoming.
During his first season at TSU in 2019-20, Chambers helped guide the Tigers to a 12-6 record in SWAC play. Working primarily with the guards, Chambers helped senior point guard Tyrik Armstrong earn 2019-20 All-SWAC First Team and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 22 First Team honors.
At LSU in the 2021-22 season, the Tigers earned an at-large berth to the 2022 NCAA Tournament after finishing the season with 22 wins and a No. 20 NCAA Net ranking. He helped the program reach as high as #12 in the national polls with the Tigers finishing with the sixth ranked defense in the country. LSU went on to break the single season steals record with 373, placing as the sixth all-time in SEC history.
He played a part in the development of AP All-American and SEC First Teamer Tari Eason along with a pair of Southeastern Conference (SEC) honorees in Darius Days (Second Team) and Brandon Murray (All-Freshman).
Chambers spent three years at the University of Nevada under then-head coach Eric Musselman as Director of Basketball Operations from 2016-19. He helped the Wolf Pack win three-straight Mountain West regular-season titles, one Mountain West Tournament Title, and played in three-straight NCAA Tournaments, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2018. The Pack's 29 wins in 2018-19 tied for the school record for the most in school history and also combined for 58 wins from 2017-2019 which is the best two-year win total in school history.
For two seasons, 2013-15, he worked as an assistant coach at Marymount University in Arlington, Va. In his first season the Saints improved nine wins from seven to 16. The squad finished the year 16-12 overall and 7-9 in the Capital Athletic Conference. In year two the team went 19-7 (13-5 CAC) to set the school's record for wins in a season.
Chambers spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pa. The team captured the Middle Atlantic Conference Championship with a 21-7 record, the best season in school history, and earned a trip to the school's first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. In year two, the squad posted a 13-13 record and reached the MAC Freedom semifinals.
He attended Virginia Commonwealth University and was a manager working with the men's basketball team. The 2010 squad won the College Basketball Invitational and finished the year 27-9. The next season, while working as a student assistant coach, the Rams advanced to the Final Four after winning the 2011 Southwest Regional. VCU knocked off USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and Kansas to reach Houston. The Rams earned the ESPN ESPY Award for "Best Upset" after defeating top-seeded Kansas in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals.
Chambers has garnered several accolades from his peers in the coaching profession and other basketball influencers. He was named to the 2020 Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team, representing 30 of the most outstanding men's college basketball coaches under the age of 30. Additionally, he was named one of 50 Impactful Low Major Assistants by Silver Waves Media in 2020. Chambers also coached AAU with Nike Team Takeover (2013-16) and East Coast Fusion (2012-13), helping over 30 student-athletes obtain NCAA Division I scholarships.
Chambers graduated from VCU in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in business administration and earned his Masters degree from Misericordia University in 2013.
Chambers Coaching Timeline
2023-25 – Assistant Coach at McNeese
2022-23 – Assistant Coach at Texas Southern
2021-22 – Special Assistant to the Head Coach at LSU
2019-21 – Assistant Coach at Texas Southern
2016-19 – Director of Basketball Operations at Nevada
2015-16 – Assistant Coach at Paul VI High School
2013-15 – Assistant Coach at Marymount University
2011-13 – Assistant Coach at Misericordia University
Vernon Hamilton
Assistant Coach
The 2025-26 season will be Hamilton's first at NC State as an assistant coach.
Hamilton has previously worked with Wade at McNeese and at LSU and Wade was a student manager and graduate assistant during Hamilton’s playing career at Clemson.
“I’ve known Vernon since we were both in college at Clemson,” Wade said. “He has a relentless motor and a great ability to connect with players. He does a tremendous job developing players both on and off the court and is a great addition to our program.”
Hamilton comes to the Pack after two seasons at McNeese.
In his two years at Lake Charles, Hamilton helped McNeese go 58-11 and win two Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles. The Cowboys 58 wins is the most in school history in a two-year span.
In the 2023-24 season, Hamilton served as acting head coach for five games and the Cowboys won all five games, including an 81-60 win over eventual American Athletic Conference champion UAB. The 21-point win over UAB marked the Blazers largest margin of defeat at home in over 10 years.
While with McNeese, Hamilton mentored back-to-back Southland Players of the Year in Shahada Wells and Javohn Garcia, as well as two-time Southland Defensive Player of the Year, Christian Shumate.
Hamilton came to McNeese after serving one season as the Director of Player Development at Georgetown University with head coach Patrick Ewing.
Prior to his stint at Georgetown, Hamilton spent two years with Wade at LSU as the Director of Player Development where he helped with the teaching of Tiger standouts Cameron Thomas and Tari Eason, both who were first round picks in the NBA Draft - Thomas as the 27th overall selection in the 2021 draft and Eason the 17th overall pick in the 2022 draft.
Prior to LSU, Hamilton served two years as Assistant and Associate Head Basketball Coach of the Jeonju KCC Egis team in the South Korean Basketball League. The team advanced to the KBL semifinals in 2019. Hamilton was the first American and youngest coach selected to coach in the KBL All-Star game.
He also served as a member of the player development staff for the Dallas Mavericks during the 2017-18 season, assisting Mavericks staff with on-court drills, player workouts and breakdown of player videos and workouts.
Hamilton also served for two years as a Graduate Assistant at Clemson (2014-16) while also earning his master’s of science in youth development leadership at the school. He assisted in several aspects of the basketball program working with the coaching staff and student-athletes.
Hamilton was a four-year starter for Clemson (2004-07) and ended his career No. 1 all-time in steals average at the school with 271 steals. That was sixth in career steals in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He is No. 9 in assists at Clemson with 403 and scored over 1,200 points to finish in the top 25 in school history.
He was first team ACC All-Defensive team in 2006 and on the Collegeinsider.com Defensive All-American team in 2007. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in sports management in 2007 and a Master's Degree in Youth Development.
Professionally, Hamilton played basketball overseas, including earning defensive player of the year of the Chinese Basketball Association in 2011. His Colorado 14ers won the NBA G League title in 2009. He spent time in training camp with two different NBA organizations, playing for the Celveland Cavaliers in the 2009 training camp and the Detroit Pistons in 2012.
Hamilton has also served as Marketing Logistics Manager for Coca-Cola Glaceau in Washington, D.C., and has served for several years as a mentor for 100 Black men of Atlanta and was co-chair of the Kids Score Against Kidney Disease Basketball Camp in Richmond, Virginia presented by the National Kidney Foundation in 2005.
Hamilton Coaching Timeline
2023-25 – Assistant Coach at McNeese
2022-23 – Director of Player Development at Georgetown
2020-22 – Director of Player Development at LSU
2018-20 – Assistant/Associate Head Coach at Jeonju KCC Egis (South Korea)
2017-18 – Player Development Staff with Dallas Mavericks
2014-16 – Graduate Assistant at Clemson
Adam Howard
Assistant Coach
The 2025-26 season marks Howard's first at NC State as an assistant coach.
Howard comes to the Pack after spending the last three seasons at Nebraska.
In 2023-24, Nebraska went 23-11, the second-highest win total in school history, and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. The Huskers, who were picked 12th in the preseason, tied for third in the Big Ten, marking the program’s best conference finish in more than 30 years. Nebraska averaged 77.7 points per game, a total which was the program’s highest average since 1995-96, while leading the Big Ten with 9.5 3-pointers per game. NU’s season was highlighted by a pair of top-10 wins, including an 88-72 win over No. 1 Purdue, which was NU’s first win over a No. 1 team since 1982
The 2022-23 season saw Nebraska make significant steps by winning 16 games and posting a 9-11 mark in Big Ten play. The nine conference wins were NU’s highest total since 2017-18, despite having a pair of starters suffer season-ending injuries in January. Behind All-Big Ten performers Derrick Walker and Keisei Tominaga, the Huskers won six of their last eight regular-season games. NU also posted its second top-10 road win in as many years with a 10-point win at No. 7 Creighton in non-conference action, the first top-10 non-conference road win in school history.
Howard was selected to participate in the 2023 and 2024 TopConnect Basketball Symposiums, an annual event featuring some of the nation’s top assistant coaches.
Before joining the Husker staff, Howard spent four seasons as an assistant at South Alabama, where he was promoted to associate head coach for the Jaguars prior to the 2021-22 season. At USA, he coordinated the Jaguars’ full- and half-court defensive sets and worked with the post players, helping three players earn all-conference recognition.
In his four years at the school under Coach Richie Riley, South Alabama went 75-51, including a pair of 20-win seasons, after the school had five straight losing seasons. During his tenure at USA, Howard’s defenses ranked in the top-50 nationally in field goal defense in his final two years, while also lowering their opponent field goal and 3-point percentage in each of the past three seasons. His defenses have also recorded at least 200 steals per season, averaging nearly seven steals a game in that span.
In 2021-22, the Jaguars went 21-12 and reached the semifinals of The Basketball Classic, while the Jaguars’ 21 wins were the most at the school since the 2007-08 season. South Alabama ranked in the top 40 nationally in scoring defense (64.0 ppg, 34th), field goal percentage defense (.404, 37th) and blocked shots per game (4.9, 25th). His most recent conference honoree is Javon Franklin, who averaged 12.2 points per game while shooting 66 percent from the field, and he ranked in the top five in the conference in both rebounding (7.8 rpg) and blocked shots (1.3 bpg).
In 2019-20, the Jaguars posted the program’s first 20-win season since the 2008-09 campaign behind the play of forwards Josh Ajayi and Trhae Mitchell, who both earned all-conference recognition on two occasions under Howard’s tutelage. Ajayi averaged 14.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per outing and led the conference in field goal percentage (.562) on his way to first-team All-Sun Belt recognition. Mitchell averaged 13.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, while leading the team in rebounds, assists, blocks and steals. In his first season at USA, Ajayi was a second-team all-conference pick after ranking in the league’s top 10 in scoring (16.4 ppg), rebounding (7.4 rpg) while leading the conference in field-goal percentage (.560).
Prior to joining the South Alabama staff, Howard was at Troy University for two seasons. In 2016-17, Howard played a role in getting the Trojans to the NCAA Tournament, while winning the most games by a Troy team since 2003-04 and recording the largest win improvement in school history. In Howard’s time at the school, Jordon Varnado and Wesley Person both earned all-Sun Belt honors in 2016-17 and 2017-18, and Person set a conference record for career 3-pointers. Troy was successful on the court and in the classroom, as the Trojans had the highest team GPA in the Sun Belt Conference two consecutive years.
Howard spent the 2014 season at Tennessee, where he worked with Josh Richardson, a first-team all-SEC pick and the 40th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. The Ashland, Ky., native was also responsible for signing Kevin Punter, who was a junior college all-American and Tariq Owens. Punter averaged 22 points per game as a senior – 12th best in Division I – and his 905 points are the most in UT history by a two-year player. Owens eventually helped Texas Tech to a national title game appearance in 2019 and signed a two-way contract with the Phoenix Suns in 2020.
In two seasons at Southern Miss from 2012-14, he helped the Golden Eagles compile a 56-17 record with two postseason appearances. USM tallied a school-record 29 wins in 2013-14, won a share of the Conference USA title and reached the quarterfinals of the NIT for the second straight season. That followed a 27-10 campaign in 2012-13 where Southern Miss recorded its first postseason win since 1988.
Howard started his coaching career in 2009 as a graduate assistant at Morehead State before moving into a full-time role a year later. In his second year on the staff, the Eagles went 25-10 overall and 13-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference, won the OVC Tournament, and upset No. 4 seed Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Two of MSU’s players that season went on to play professionally, including Kenneth Faried, a two-time Ohio Valley Player of the Year and a first-round pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
As a player, Howard earned four varsity letters at Western Kentucky from 2004-08 and played on three teams that advanced to postseason play. The Hilltoppers went to the NIT in 2005 and 2006, and the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament 2008. The 2008 team defeated Drake and San Diego in the first two rounds before falling to eventual Final Four participant UCLA. WKU won 96 games during his career, during which he received the Danny Rumph Most Outstanding Teammate award three times.
Howard graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Western Kentucky in 2008. He and his wife, Renee, have two sons, Eli and Easton, and a daughter, Emma.
Howard Coaching Timeline
2022-25 – Assistant Coach at Nebraska
2021-22 – Associate Head Coach at South Alabama
2018-21 – Assistant Coach at South Alabama
2016-18 – Assistant Coach at Troy
2014- Assistant Coach at Tennessee
2012-14 – Assistant Coach at Southern Miss
2010-12 – Assistant Coach at Morehead State
2009-10 – Graduate Assistant at Morehead State