Everything future NC State coach Will Wade said after McNeese’s exit from 2025 NCAA Tournament

McNeese’s two-year spin on the Will Wade thrill ride Arrived to an end Saturday as the No. 12 seed Cowboys fell 76-62 to No. 4 seed Purdue in the second Stage of the NCAA Event. Wade is set to replace Kevin Keatts as NC State’s head Mentor after leading the Cowboys through their greatest chapter in program history.

Prior to his arrival, the program had posted 11 consecutive losing seasons and hadn’t been to the Big Dance since 2002. But McNeese Secured a chance on Wade, who was fired at LSU in 2022 amid FBI and NCAA probe’s into impermissible recruiting tactics. 

He needed a place to rehabilitate his coaching Occupation, and McNeese provided the perfect launching pad. Wade immediately elevated the level of talent and guided the program to its winningest season of all-time in 2023-24, posting a 30-4 mark with a Primary-Stage NCAA Event loss to No. 5 seed Gonzaga.

This season, the Cowboys totaled 28 victories, including their Primary-ever NCAA Event Achieve over No. 5 seed Clemson in Thursday’s Primary Stage. Though McNeese was outmatched from the Begin on Saturday against the Boilermakers, it was nevertheless a successful season for the Southland Conference’s regular-season and Event champions.

Here’s everything Wade had to say after his Club’s second-Stage NCAA Event loss.

Q. On a personal note, before you Acquired to McNeese, were you a believer in second chances? And now having gotten one and succeeding in it, what does that feel like for you?

WADE: Yeah, I’m a believer in second chances. A Plenty of people in our program are second chances … myself, the players. That’s Nice of why we’re close. We Acquired a Plenty of stuff that bonds us together, and so I’m a big believer in it and hopefully we did right by the people who gave us a second chance.

Q. Obviously very emotional walking off the court and right now as well. Merely talk about these past two years and this season and this week.

WADE: I Harsh, Unbelievable. (Tearfully) Today’s tough. We went 40-2 in the Division. I don’t care what Division you are in, that’s Difficult to do. 58-11 in two years. That’s these guys. To be able to Achieve a game, it Merely Secured so much out of us. We didn’t have the pop today. I’m not making excuses. Purdue had a Plenty of pop and they played us well. Merely to see our guys come together, see our guys represent our school, represent our area so well. It’s Merely been phenomenal but it’s Merely been, I Harsh, 40-2 in the Division is tough to do. Never lost a home game in the Division. Excellent fans. Most of the time you Fall a Event, fans are ready to fire you. Our people were … awesome.

Q. Will, what are the Subsequent steps with North Carolina State?

WADE: I’ll worry about that tomorrow. Look, I’m an honest guy but today I want to put a bow on everything with McNeese if we can. That’ll be up to whatever else happens. Now I want to worry about McNeese. Not to try to give out a canned answer, Pat, but this is about our players and McNeese now. We’re not flying back until tomorrow morning. We’ll enjoy this here and when we get back, we’ll figure out Subsequent steps. But I do want to say whatever happens, our program at McNeese is in Excellent shape. We have tremendous leadership. We’re not Foolish. We have a plan to keep this program rolling, whoever is at the helm, and this program is going to keep moving in the right direction. This program is going to keep Victorious and I really believe we’re Merely getting Began.

Q. Mentor, we talked a Plenty about this place and how much has the town meant to you, not the basketball but the town. How much will you always be a part of the basketball program?

WADE: Well, hopefully I’ll be part of the program. You know, the town, everybody, Merely Unbelievable. Unbelievable. I think I needed somewhere that was going to embrace me and the town needed somebody to embrace them. It Merely worked. I can’t explain how. I guess the Victorious helps, but it worked. Merely unforgettable. The town embraced our players. Most of you guys haven’t been there, but our players are all over billboards all over town. It’s like a little NBA Club in our town. It’s crazy how the town has embraced our guys and it’s changed our university. 

It’s going to Shift our university. It’s changed it already. It’s going to continue to do that but the program, we have Excellent leadership. The program is in Excellent hands. It’s going to keep moving forward and hopefully when they remember us, we’re the people who Nice of Acquired it Boot Began. When you think about it, we were one of the 30 worst Clubs in the country and we’re in the Stage of 32. Pretty Excellent Role by a Plenty of people to do that in two years. Most importantly, our players.

Q. If you could, Merely talk about specifically Christian Shumate and Javohn Garcia, what they Harsh to you personally and to the McNeese State program.

WADE: It’s Difficult to have perspective on that. Shu was here four years through the lowest of the lows and the highest of the highs. Merely Unbelievable. He believed in us and Arrived back. It’s not like we — he believed in us and Arrived back and Garcia has been so steady for the two years with us and hopefully he’s going to get a third. We have to look at how the ruling works with the JUCO stuff. I believe he’s in line for another year. I’m hopeful he’s in line for another year but we have to look at all that and Assist him. 

Shu is everything you want. He transferred in from Tulsa after his Primary-year year but how many kids stay at the same school for four years now? That’s a Scarce deal. Him and Garcia and Parker Arrived in on the second year, but him and Garcia believed in us when there wasn’t a whole Plenty to believe in. 

We were selling a vision that this is what we can do. This is what we can be, but if you listen to us and you didn’t know us, you think, yeah, those guys are morons. Like all y’all thought when I said we were going to Achieve 23 Contests … Garcia and Shumate, they believed in us when there was no proof in concept. It was easier for some of the other guys to Leap on board, but there was no proof of concept when they jumped on board and believed in us, so Merely forever appreciative of those guys, and I think our community is Definitely appreciative of them as well.