It’d be easy for a coach taking over a 12-win basketball team to temper expectations and project a rebuilding year. That’s not NC State men’s basketball head coach Will Wade’s approach.

Instead, Wade is taking the exact opposite path. He’s not throwing around excuses or preaching patience — he’s exuding confidence after assembling an impressive collection of talent for his first team in Raleigh.

“There’s nothing I’ve seen that’s going to temper anything that we believe or anything that I believe,” Wade said at ACC Tipoff. “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.”

It’s a bold statement for a coach starting over at a new school. Except for Wade. It’s the standard he’s set throughout his coaching career. At his latest stop, he took over a McNeese State team fresh off an 11-23 season and enduring a 22-year NCAA Tournament drought. In his first season, the Cowboys went 30-4 and won the Southland Tournament to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. By year two, Wade guided the Cowboys to their first-ever NCAA Tournament win in program history.

A master at roster construction, Wade arrived in Raleigh at the perfect time. With the transfer portal, NIL and revenue sharing all at his disposal, Wade is already showing just how talented a roster can be built at NC State.

With zero first-round picks since 2017, the Pack has rarely enjoyed the benefits of having the best player on the court at any given time. Wade addressed that within weeks of arriving on Tobacco Road by securing senior forward Darrion Williams out of the transfer portal. The Texas Tech transfer brings high-level scoring, passing and defense to NC State.

“He’s a talented player and very good player, but it’s rare that you get a good player that everybody wants to play with,” Wade said. “He passes the ball, he moves the ball. He can play a lot of different positions [and] can do a lot of different things.”

Alongside Williams, Wade assembled a cast of high-energy, experienced players. From senior guard Tre Holloman to senior forward Ven-Allen Lubin, the Pack’s roster is brimming with experience — a critical advantage for NC State if it wants to compete in the NCAA Tournament this season.

“We have 549 NCAA Tournament minutes played on our roster, that’s 200 more than the next closest ACC team,” Wade said. “We want to have a team that’s prepared to get to March and prepared to win in March.”

The final piece of the puzzle for NC State is establishing a tough, winning culture — something that often takes years to cultivate. Fortunately for the Wolfpack, Wade already built a culture at McNeese and is bringing it to Raleigh via transfer senior guards Quadir Copeland and Alyn Breed. Copeland, in particular, is crucial after playing the role of a vocal leader for the Cowboys, and he’s taking on the same position for the Wolfpack.

“[Copeland’s] somebody that can help set the tone,” Wade said. “He can help translate sometimes what I’m saying to the guys. Like, yeah, he’s saying this, but he really means this. I’ve been very pleased with his growth and maturity.”

The culture is already impacting the Wolfpack. Despite 13 new players arriving at NC State this offseason, the group is quickly molding into a team rather than just a collection of players. Growing close through intense practices and the team’s preseason boot camp will only help the red-and-white get off to a strong start.

“We don’t want to quit on one another,” Williams said. “Everybody getting to know one another on a deeper level than just basketball allows us to take it to the court.”

That type of continuity is rare in college basketball. Over 2300 men’s players entered the portal this past offseason, scrambling teams nationally. Very few take culture and team building as seriously as Wade, giving the Wolfpack a leg up.

“We’ve got to keep it together throughout the season,” Wade said. “There are ebbs and flows to a season, but I feel really comfortable with our group. I feel really confident in our group.”

With a mixture of talent, experience and togetherness, Will Wade isn’t rebuilding in year one. Instead, Wade’s bringing a reckoning to the ACC and to college basketball, and it begins on Nov. 3.