Will Wade will be NC State’s next head men’s basketball coach.
He accepted the job while still coaching McNeese State at the NCAA Tournament. During his media day prior to Thursday’s first round game, he became one of the few coaches who actually admitted he was interested in another job.
He was applauded for his honesty. Charles Barkley did not applaud him.
“I hated it. I’m not gonna lie. First of all, I think he’s a hell of a coach,” Barkley said of the once disgraced LSU Tigers coach. “I’m a Will Wade fan. I think he’s a hell of a coach — I want to make that perfectly clear. This should not have gotten out. He could’ve said, ‘Hey, I’m here. We’re getting ready to go to the tournament. We can announce it at the end of the tournament or whenever we lose,’ which will probably be today. Clemson’s probably a better team. But I don’t think it’s fair to those kids going into the game knowing their coach is gonna be gone.
“Like I said, I’m a Will Wade guy. I think he’s a hell of a coach. I think it’s total B.S. that this got out. And if North Carolina State put pressure on him. ‘You know what? I respect my players too much. If y’all can’t wait 48 hours, give the job to somebody else, and I’ll wait for another job.'”
To Wade’s credit, he has been transparent with his team. But that probably won’t alleviate any of Barkley’s concerns.
Though, Clark Kellogg did raise a poignant point.
“I don’t know all the circumstances, but I do know the calendar is totally not conducive to what you’re talking about, because of the transfer portal about to become live now,” he said. “There’s a lot of pressure when these coaching changes are made because the way the calendar’s structured, for it to be public and known.”
Barkley asked if NC State could’ve waited until the weekend when presumably a 12-seed Cinderella would no longer be in the mix.
“I think they could have, but I think there’s more pressure now to not wait, particularly with social media and the way things can leak,” Kellogg added. “To confront it and deal with it is probably best. It’s not ideal. It’s not optimal. But the reality is, the calendar forces the hands of these institutions, as they’re changing coaches.”
Wade may have been upfront, but that doesn’t mean it was the right move. Barkley’s frustration reflects a sentiment shared by many — coaching changes should be handled with more discretion out of respect for the players. But in an era where the transfer portal and media leaks force schools to move fast, discretion often takes a back seat.
Whether that’s just reality or a problem worth fixing depends on who you ask.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.