Two years removed from a Final Four run, NC State men’s basketball is starting over.
The program wasn’t supposed to be here. After a 12-19 season and complete roster overhaul, Will Wade’s hiring as the new head coach glossed over months of turmoil under Kevin Keatts and generated an immediate expectation for wins, rankings and even championships.
“[We] put our team together with an emphasis on being able to win, being able to win in March,” Wade said at ACC Tipoff. “We want to have a team that’s prepared to get to March and prepared to win in March, so that’s what we feel like we’ve put together with this group.”
Will Wade hasn’t coached a game in Raleigh yet, but he already sounds like a man preparing for March. The problem is, NC State isn’t there — at least not yet. Tournament talk sells tickets, but for a program still reeling from last season, success won’t be measured by brackets, but by progress.
NC State isn’t a patient basketball school, and it hasn’t been for decades. The run to Phoenix only sharpened that edge. Every coach since Les Robinson has been measured against the shadow of Jim Valvano, and every season carries the same unspoken demand: Prove it.
The most obvious evidence is the fact that Keatts was let go just months removed from that legendary nine-game win streak. Granted, he was on the hot seat already, but just about any other program would’ve kept a guy with a Final Four on his resume, regardless of the result. And this is without the soundbites that Wade feeds the media on a regular basis.
“I want to be very clear: This is not a rebuild,” Wade said at his introductory press conference. “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. Make sure you got that on camera.”
Wade’s boldness is part of what makes him appealing, but it also fast-tracks expectation. Declaring the job “not a rebuild” sounds like confidence, yet it scratches an itch for a program that now won’t accept anything less. When you make March the measuring stick, you leave little room for February to matter.
I’m not saying Wade will be a failure in Raleigh. I’m not even saying he won’t win right away. But if this isn’t a rebuild, then it’s a reset — and before we start banner conversations, we have to define what success actually looks like in year one.
For the Wolfpack, success shouldn’t be defined by how deep March goes — it should be how February feels. Finishing games, finding an offensive identity, staying healthy and climbing the ACC standings will be the key markers for the NC State faithful to watch for.
Wade’s confidence isn’t baseless. Senior forward Darrion Williams was named the ACC’s Preseason Player of the Year after an Elite Eight run at Texas Tech, and his roster is loaded with experience. Six transfers won an NCAA Tournament game last year, with Wade’s Wolfpack boasting 200 more tournament minutes than any other roster in the conference. On paper, the pieces fit Wade’s message.
“I feel really confident in our group,” Wade said. “I think we’ve got great talent. I think we’ve got great fiber to us on the inside. There’s nothing I’ve seen that’s going to temper anything that we believe or anything that I believe. I believe we have one of the best teams in this conference, and I believe we have one of the best teams in the country.”
Wade may have the talent to back his confidence, but 180-degree turnarounds in the modern transfer era are as rare as five wins in five days. Before this team can dream about cutting nets in March, it has to survive a February weeknight in Louisville. Before the fans put Wade’s name in the Lenovo Center rafters, he has to endure the Cameron Crazies on national television. If February feels steady, March will follow suit.
Call it what you will — rebuild, reset or reload — it doesn’t come with a viral soundbite or a loaded transfer class, but with habits that stick when the lights aren’t on. Wade has a track record of success, and maybe he’ll do it again in Raleigh. But for now, NC State doesn’t need another promise. It needs progress.
