NC State HC Will Wade: "It's Going To Be A Reckoning For The ACC"

NC State formally introduced Will Wade as the program's new men's basketball coach today, and he addressed the media and boosters during the event.

NOTE: Click the video above to watch the press conference.

Thank you for the warm welcome. It's always great when you haven't lost yet. So, that part's good.

So, first off I want to thank Chancellor Woodson and Boo, and Boo was just phenomenal throughout the process. I know it didn't go as fast as some people wanted it to go, but we, it was done right. It was done right. It was very, very thorough, and I can't say enough good things about Boo, and how he handled things, and his thoroughness, and just his communication. He had a really good way about him where he knew when to communicate, and knew when it was game time, and to not communicate. And so, just very, very appreciative of him allowing us to, you know, finish everything off correctly.

I also want to thank my wife and daughter who are here. They're the real stars of the show. They make it to where we can do our jobs, and do it well, and Caroline's really excited about moving, and getting into gymnastics, and doing some different things in Raleigh. So, we're fired up. We're fired up to be here. I'd be remiss if I didn't thank everybody at McNeese. McNeese State was incredible, and I just want to thank Dr. Rousse who had incredible leadership there, just like we have here, and Heath Schroyer, the athletic director there. They took a chance on me. Not many people would take a chance on me two years ago, and they took a chance on me.

I was at McNeese because of some of the issues we had at LSU, and you're gonna get that same passion and competitive fire that I had at LSU without all the arrogance that got me in trouble. I've grown and matured since then, and you're gonna get the best version of me here at NC State. 

So, I'm excited at NC State. I'm excited to be here at NC State. I'm excited to build a first-class program that's consistent, that's a consistent winner. We've got those programs all over campus. It's great. We were following Coach Moore's game yesterday on the plane. Went a little smoother than Vermont, so luckily we didn't have to follow it as closely, but I'm happy to work with Coach Moore. Most people don't know this. I took the Chattanooga job about two weeks after he left. All we did was buy the golf cart he had for the program. We were able to get that from him, but I took the job at Chattanooga about two weeks after he left, after he left for NC State. So, I'm very excited to work with him and learn from him and try to mimic the consistency of their program.

I also want to acknowledge all the former players that are here today. We have just a tremendous history, and you make history with great players. It's pretty simple, and so I want to acknowledge all those guys. I tell our players all the time, drink from the well, but don't forget who dug it. There's a lot of people that put a lot of hard work in to get the program and to get our university to where it is, and so very, very appreciative of those guys, and I look forward to meeting everybody and having some reunions and some yearly things where we can all get together and make sure that we're all on the same page, but I just couldn't be more excited. 

Our time is right now. Our time is right now. This is the first time in a while, I think, the fans, the administration, and the program, we're all on one accord, and everybody's on the same accord. Everybody's singing from the same sheet of music, and when that happens at NC State, it's going to be a reckoning for the ACC. It's gonna be a reckoning for college basketball, and it's coming, and it's coming soon.

I want to be very clear. This is not a rebuild. We're going to be in the top part of the ACC next year, and we're going to the NCAA tournament. This is not something that's going to take a whole lot of time, all right? 

This is, make sure you got that on camera. This is, this is, this is going to be done. This will be done the right way, and this is going to be done quickly. We are here to win. We're here to win the right way, and we're gonna be aggressive, we're gonna be committed, we're gonna be thankful in all that we do. We're gonna be very aggressive. We're gonna play aggressively on both ends of the floor. Play aggressive offensively, aggressive defensively. I'd rather tell our players whoa then go. We're gonna get guys that are ready to go. We're not going to prime the pump in the morning. They're gonna be ready to go, and they're going to play extremely hard, and they're going to represent our university extremely well. We're gonna be committed. We're gonna be committed to being the best team we can be that represents our fan base, represents our university as well as we can every night. We wanna be a source of pride for everybody. When you walk in the office on Wednesday night after we play, we want you to puff your chest out. Let them know, yes, we're NC State and we whipped you last night. You got more of them coming. And so we want folks that are committed. And then we also want folks that are thankful. 

Look, I'm appreciative of this opportunity. I'd be lying if I told you, I thought, three years ago that I knew an opportunity like this would come again. I did not, I did not. And I'm thankful and I want the people in our program to be thankful, to be at NC State. We're not bringing anybody in, player, coach, anybody that doesn't feel like this is the best place in the country. And that doesn't feel like we can win and win extremely big and fast. 

And so we're excited offensively. We're going to play to our strengths. We've played fast, we've played slow. We played in the middle. We're going to go get the best players we can and put them in the best position to be efficient and play well. Defensively, we're going to be in your face. We're going to guard. We had one of the best defenses in the country at McNeese. We had a great defense our last year at LSU. And that's going to be the staple of what we do. And then we're going to win a lot of the, a lot of the games within the games, try to squeeze out three to five extra possessions every night. 

And look, part of the reason that I'm excited about being here is we can recruit the best players in the country. We have a great brand. We have a great program and the best players in the country want to be out. We've got a tremendous city as well. I mean, this is one of the best programs in the country. And we're focused on making NC State. They told me not to say that. I had to catch myself, I apologize. NC State. We're focused on making NC State the best NC State it could be. If we maximize everything we've got, we can compete with anybody in the country. We can compete with anybody in the country. We have to maximize what we have. And so I challenge everybody who's watching, all of our fans, our first home game is going to be Monday, November 3rd. I want to sell out the Lenovo Center, 19,500 people. I want 19,500 people in there. We need to send a message. We need to let the state, the ACC and the nation know the pack is back and we are not to be messed with. 

And we're all working together. We are a force. We're going to talk like a top team. We're going to act like a top team. And most importantly, we're going to win like a top team. And that's what, and that's what we're here to do. I'm excited about this opportunity. We're not going to let you down. It's time to get to work and make this program the best that it can be. I'm appreciative of the opportunity. I'm appreciative of Boo Corrigan. I'm appreciative of our leadership and we're going to hit the ground running and we cannot wait to get started to build a consistent winner that's consistently at the top of the ACC, consistently in the NCAA tournament and consistently competing for the national championship here at NC State.

Go Pack.