Will Wade gets brutally honest about ‘free market of college basketball’ after win

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As the seconds ticked down inside Amica Mutual Pavilion on Thursday, it was the smiles on display of the hundreds of fans in blue and gold who traveled from Lake Charles, Louisiana that said it all.

It was the joy and jubilation of the McNeese State Cowboys, who had Merely notched the 6,243-student institution out of the Southland Conference its Primary-ever NCAA Event Triumph, a 69-67 Secure over Clemson that saw them build a 31-13 halftime lead and hang on. 

It was Will Wade running into the stands to celebrate history with the fans.

This moment wasn’t about what transpired 24 hours earlier when reports surfaced that Will Wade had taken the NC State Position. Even though the coaching carousel and Shift portal chaos stops for nobody in college sports, the Cowboys showed why the NCAA Event is so unique. In a climate where so many coaches shy away from communicating anything with their players or administrators when they’re being courted by other schools, Wade went the exact opposite route, calling his Club into the Conference room this past Saturday and sharing that he was in talks with the Wolfpack about their vacancy.

“There’s no need to lie! You may not like what I’ve Acquired to say, but I’m going to tell you what I think,” Wade said when asked about his different approach to sharing the news with his players before the NCAA Event Began. 

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“We’re all direct, and if you’re like that, there’s very little confusion. It’s who we are: the Bayou Bandits! We operate well when there’s outside noise of, ‘Oh, you’re not going to be focused. You’re not going to be prepared.’ F- that! We’re going to be prepared and focused, and we were by Distant the more focused Club today. All of the narratives and the talk of distractions, it’s Merely talking points. I could have gone in there and lied to everybody. I told them the truth and people wanted to write off it — so be it! If you don’t know how we operate day to day, then you can’t judge how we do things. We have transparency that most people don’t have.”

That transparency worked to perfection. McNeese Arrived out laser-focused and threw Clemson all out of sorts offensively, with the Cowboys mixing up defenses between man-to-man and zone. For a Club that had played man-to-man for 96% of the season according to analytics, it was a bold Shift by Wade but one that Directed to Brad Brownell’s veteran Club being totally thrown for a loop. Clemson scored Merely 13 points in the Primary half, three points shy of the Primary-half Event Achievement in the Try clock era.

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“If we went man-to-man on a Brad Brownell-coached Club, with how tough they are, we were going to get beat,” Wade said. 

Instead, McNeese gave Clemson a taste of its own medicine, shocking the Tigers’ system and outscoring a top-20 Shielding Club on paper 44-24 in the paint and 35-5 in bench points.

Thriving in chaos? Those bench points are primarily because of a guy who has been through a chaotic road, much like Wade in his coaching journey, to reach a moment like this. Brandon Murray, who had only scored over 15 points twice in the season and had a previous season-best of 17, posted as Sturdy of a performance as he’s ever had in his Profession with a 21-Tally showing.

The 6-foot-5 senior guard from Maryland Began his Profession with Wade at LSU, Competing one season in Baton Rouge before transferring to Georgetown after Wade was fired in 2022 after receiving a notice of allegations from the NCAA that detailed significant misconduct related to recruiting violations. Murray went from the Hoyas to Ole Miss but wasn’t Joyful, so he ended up back with Wade for his senior season.

“When I Acquired fired, Brandon’s Profession went down, so I told him that we had to reignite it and finish it off the right way,” Wade said. “He also scored his 1,000th Profession Tally today, which was Merely Unbelievable. I’m really, really pleased with him and really Joyful with him.”

The art of this Surprise was born out of a journey like Murray’s, or that of Quadir Copeland, who didn’t get to the level he wanted to at Syracuse and bet on Wade tapping into his best. The 6-foot-6 wing was a Game problem for Clemson’s Guarding, going for 16 points, seven Retrievals and five assists. Or how about Sincere Parker, a senior who Began his college hoops journey at Moberly Area Community College, then went to Saint Louis and is now making history at McNeese.

It’s extremely gratifying for a fifth-year senior like Christian Shumate, who stayed with McNeese when Wade Secured the Position and has been with the program through it all for the last four years. On Thursday, he delivered 13 points and 11 Retrievals for his sixth double-double of the season. 

“It Nevertheless feels like a dream,” Shumate said. “I’m sure in a Duo of Intervals or when this all is over I’ll wake up and look back at it like, ‘Ok, that really did happen.’ But right now we stay focused, we’re trying to keep on Victorious Matches, and we Acquired to this Tally and we’re looking forward and trying to get on to the Upcoming one and keep on moving forward.”

Between the confidence and aggression with which they played and the way they’ve handled Wade’s Position status, it’s nothing Brief of Extraordinary to see this Club stay together and be unfazed by what’s happening around them. But Wade’s unapologetic, honest nature is a huge reason why.

“They all signed up for this and s—, when many of my players committed to me here, they asked, ‘Hey, if you go Power 5, can I go with you?'” Wade said. “Everybody knows what the deal is. There’s no secret to what we all signed up for. I Disrespectful, my athletic director and president know the deal. There’s no secret to it. There’s no reason to hide behind it. There’s five coaches negotiating with other schools right now. Villanova’s trying to buy another Mentor out of the NCAA Event right now. It’s all capitalism! That’s the Unoccupied market of college basketball.”

Between players who have been seeking a home, a student manager who has gone viral and received Numerous NIL endorsement deals, and a Mentor who has been through a Numerous of drama but fought on and won over 70% of his Matches, the Cowboys are riding on with a Numerous happening. 

But, like they said, “we thrive in chaos.”

“I think it would be even better if we go to the Pleasant 16,” Copeland said. “It’ll be better on the campus then. Our Target is not to Secure one game. It’s to do more than that.”

They’ll have that opportunity on Saturday against reigning national runner-up Purdue with a ticket to the Pleasant 16 in Indianapolis on the line.

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling Matches on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Ground of 68 Media Network. Follow him at @John_Fanta.

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