Inside Pack Sports beat writer Rob McLamb opines about NC State men’s basketball head coach Will Wade’s frankness when speaking to fans and the media.
Will Wade: PCs That Are Not PC
The press conferences this season at NC State have been interesting, to say the least. Wade’s meetings with the media, both in pregame and postgame settings, have run the gamut from informative and introspective to demonstrative and profane.
The good news is his style certainly resonates with most Wolfpack supporters.
Wade does not seem to be the type of fella who takes losses well, but frankly, that is what NC State probably needed. He was brought to Raleigh make the program elite.
The Wolfpack fan base has seen enough NCSU teams scuffle for NCAA Tournament berths with 10+ losses, sandwiched around other seasons where the Pack had little chance of playing past the Ides of March.
The berating of the media for an innocent question about a player's performance was unfortunate and uncalled for, but to be fair to Wade, no one is perfect, and he does not duck ridicule of his own team or his performance.
Wade’s knowledge is high, but his filter is low, and that is something he will have to balance appropriately in the coming seasons.
The Good
Wade’s dissecting of his team in front of the media and running cameras demonstrates a lack of acceptance when it comes to simply being good.
It is the correct approach. NC State does not need moral victories.
The point of hiring Wade was not to have more NCAA Tournament bubble teams sandwiched around other seasons with NIT berths or, even worse, no basketball being played after the Ides of March.
What the Wolfpack and its fan base desire is efficient basketball at a high level, regardless of opponent, performed by players who feel a sense of pride wearing the NC State jersey.
Last season, NC State was an ACC champion that was not allowed to defend its title. That is embarrassing.
With the tough loss to Miami, the Wolfpack sits at 18-8 overall and 9-4 in ACC play. The path to improvement is clearly underway.
Knowing that the Pack is on the come-up and not wanting the headache of dealing with squandering a seven-point lead with slightly more than a minute remaining, the situation of Saturday’s loss easily lends itself to looking for the bright side of life. A natural human instinct is to mitigate pain, but Wade was not having it.
Wade instead owned it, and that is exactly how it should be. ‘Good but not great’ is a sign of improvement, but it is not an end destination.
That is why the meeting with the media after the Miami loss was the best press conference of Wade’s brief tenure at NC State. He established a standard with his answers, and, sans the March magic in 2024, it comes across as higher than where the Wolfpack has generally been landing over the past three decades.
Only nine schools in the nation have won more than two national titles in men’s basketball. Of the four schools with two national championships in men’s basketball, NC State has been to the Final Four most recently.
Don’t just aspire to be good. Aim to become a champion. NC State is a place where it can be done.
The Bad
NC State is not just trying to build a top-notch program; it is also looking to fill its oversized home arena. That has never been easy, but the glut of average teams over the past 35 seasons, coupled with a global pandemic and the perspective that comes with realizing there are other things in life, has made smaller, less vociferous crowds the norm.
That was not the case against Miami. In a Saturday afternoon game scheduled against a non-rival on a lover’s holiday, a near-capacity Lenovo Center was full of red, and there was plenty of noise made.
Wearing his heart on his sleeve after a Valentine's Day loss may be romantic to the media, but Wade could also sap some goodwill and confidence with his honesty.
If a leader is constantly annoyed with his team, why should patrons spend money to support it?
If a leader admits he made mistakes with player personnel decisions with a month remaining in the season, is it not easier for others to have less faith in his decisions regarding building his squad next season?
Owning mistakes is fine and noble, but timing is everything. Some of the things Wade feels could be better left unsaid until April.
In the college realignment and NIL eras, there is a constant battle with donor fatigue. Belief and strong conviction are what can counter that.
The Ugly
I do not profess to have as much knowledge about basketball as Will Wade. In fact, he has probably forgotten more about the game than what I do know.
I have seen the recruiting game played from two different sides, albeit in a different sport and at a lower level than where Wade and his staff are working.
I have experience working as a coach in the high school setting, where college coaches would visit to speak with kids, and I coached at the D2 level, where I got to speak to potential recruits in hopes of convincing them to attend my school.
Based on my experience, if I had to recruit against Will Wade, the approach I would likely take is to ask the kids if they wanted to play for someone who addressed his players through the media in the way Wade has.
Simply put, I would try to use his own words against him.
That might be something for Wade to remember after the losses, which clearly eat at him. His words may be about the moment, but once they are uttered, they are also his words forever.
If Wade gives control of the pen (or keyboard) to others, they will not write in his best interest, only their own. He does not have to tell lies, but he can maintain better control of the narrative.
Summary
To be fair to Wade once again, he might have a broader plan, and he may also understand ways to get around others casting negative perceptions on his program without having to add a filter to his press conferences. But he could also be giving himself more work to do.
The bottom line with NC State is that the current product on the court is a dramatic improvement from last season and makes envisioning a scenario where the Wolfpack is mixing it up on the national stage in games with high stakes more of a realistic proposition.
In fact, the only standard Wade has yet to meet at this point in his tenure is his own. If not for his own words when he was introduced to Wolfpack Nation, he likely would be feeling less pressure. The Red Reckoning has not happened yet, but there is no reason to doubt that NC State will continue to build off of what it is accomplishing.
Perhaps Wade works better when he feels pressure? Just as Wade recently discovered the value of NC State trademarking and slobbering wolf logos, we are also just getting to know him, too.
Wade wants it all, and he wants it now, but he also probably should not be as hard on himself publicly. If the things he wants to accomplish were easy, everyone else would be doing them.
The most important thing for Wade when dealing with others off the court is continuing to build the mutual trust between NC State’s basketball leadership and fans, so that getting to the mountaintop is a little bit easier and a lot more rewarding. Everyone who loves the Wolfpack essentially wants the same thing and is confident that he can guide them there.
