NC State men’s basketball was promised relevance. It was promised to be a contender. It was promised a reckoning.

But former head coach Will Wade decided to forgo all of it, returning to LSU — where he was fired for allegedly paying players — and leaving NC State in the dust despite reaffirming his loyalty to NC State just two weeks ago at the ACC Tournament.

In light of the recent developments, McMurray Family Director of Athletics Boo Corrigan addressed the media on Thursday afternoon for the first time since Wade’s departure — and he didn’t hold back.

“I believed he was telling me his true intentions,” Corrigan said. “I’m disappointed for our athletic department, I’m disappointed for our fans and I’m disappointed for our university.”

According to Corrigan, he and Wade sat down on Tuesday night for two hours to discuss the future of the program, including next year’s scheduling, players and staff.

“We talked about everything in the program and what we can do, who we’re going to play,” Corrigan said. “We talked about last year’s team and who was going to be back, asked him what he needed and what we need to be competitive.”

Based on their previous conversations and Wade’s postgame press conferences, it seemed as though Wade was still fully committed to the future of the Wolfpack.

“There was no reason for me in my job not to believe the words that I was hearing coming back to me from Coach Wade,” Corrigan said. “I was as surprised and shocked as anyone else.”

But after the LSU talks were seemingly put to bed, rumors sparked up late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning about Wade’s potential return. On Wednesday afternoon, Wade officially resigned from the head coach position — and didn’t even tell Corrigan himself.

“As far as the resignation letter, it was an email that we received from his agent,” Corrigan said.

Since the Wade-to-LSU talks sparked up again, rumors have circulated that LSU reached out as early as mid-February in an attempt to bring him back to Baton Rouge.

“The Internet has a lot of rumor and innuendo on it,” Corrigan said. “As we looked at that, it became apparent that [Wade’s return to LSU] could be a potential outcome.”

When asked about the rumors, Corrigan didn’t confirm or deny them.

“I think that’s a question that you need to ask LSU and you need to ask Coach Wade,” Corrigan said. “I’ve got my own thoughts on where we are. I know the number of times we had conversations about the job, including one time where it was ‘Do we need to talk about this?’ and the answer was no.”

Wade didn’t just move on from NC State, he abandoned it. But this isn’t NC State’s first rodeo, and Corrigan is up for the challenge.

“The Wolfpack ain’t for soft people,” Corrigan said. “We’re going to go find a coach that agrees and understands who we are.”

To the benefit of NC State, the programs compromised on a $4 million buyout so both can go their separate ways and officially move on.

“The buyout was gonna be $5 million, but after April 2, the buyout was gonna be $3 million, ” Corrigan said. “We understood the dollar amount versus the value of time, and we chose to settle on $4 million.”

As to who the next man up is, it’s just speculation for now. Whether it’s St. Louis’ Josh Schertz, Furman’s Bob Richey or another candidate, Corrigan is determined to find the man that will lead the Wolfpack into the future — for real, this time.

“As soon as we received notice of his resignation, the search began,” Corrigan said. “We are committed to finding the next coach for our men’s basketball program that wants to be at NC State. That understands who we are, that understands that we’re a tough school, that understands that we’re a great academic institution and understands that our fan base has very high expectations and can embrace that.”

Corrigan was adamant on ensuring that the next coach knows that NC State isn’t a stepping stone — it’s a competitor.

“We want to find the right person for NC State,” Corrigan said. “We need to make sure that we have a person that’s committed to this university, that wants to be at this university, that shares our values of trust and accountability, that will lead this program where it goes.”