Why Does Darrion Williams 'Hate' UNC?

While NC State's program includes some serious trash-talkers like McNeese transfer Quadir Copeland and even Wade himself, Williams is admittedly not one of them frequently. He said he and Copeland have butted heads in practice as competitors, but that he largely saves his fire for the games. However, surrounded by reporters in a brightly lit ballroom of the Hilton Uptown Charlotte, Williams unloaded on UNC.

"The fans are crazy. We hate UNC, which I don't have a problem with. I hate UNC as well," Williams said.

The question, which was harmless and more about the fan base and excitement about the program than anything Chapel Hill-related, sparked a shockingly bold answer. Williams had already brought up his disdain for the Tar Heels on the "Ovies and Giglio" podcast earlier in the day, although that quote hadn't trickled out as widely quite yet.

"I think (UNC coach Hubert Davis) did (Ven-Allen Lubin) wrong and then he did Kerwin Walton wrong, my old teammate at Tech who was there," Williams said. "I just don't like the guy."

Davis was only asked about Wade and NC State once. He answered broadly, discussing all of the new coaches in the ACC and the challenges they might bring to his program. Lubin also remained relatively quiet about his exit from North Carolina and focused on why he chose NC State over other places. Wade added that Lubin gets a "bad rep" because of his history of transfers, but only did so because of coaching changes at Notre Dame and Vanderbilt.

Other Perspectives

While the Tar Heels handled their media day obligations a full day before Wade and his players arrived in Charlotte, one member of the team was asked about the rivalry. Because of the ACC's decision to move to 18 games on the conference schedule, NC State and UNC will face just once, Feb. 17 at the Lenovo Center. Tar Heel guard Seth Trimble was hungry for more than that.

“Crazy. Crazy. I hate it. I hate it that we can only get one game," the guard said. "I think those are some of the most fun games of the year at theirs and at ours. But I guess the game will mean even more now. Simple as that."

Wade was equally disappointed about the changes the conference made. Already fiery about the disrespect he felt his team received after the photo debacle with Williams, he was asked about the changes to the scheduling process.

"Our two permanent opponents are Wake and Virginia. I thought we'd maybe have a different permanent opponent," he said with a smile. "I'm not going to say who, but I thought we'd maybe have a different permanent opponent."

Along with UNC, the Wolfpack will only face Duke once in the 2025-26 season, another disappointment for Wade and his hungry Pack. Wade talked about a feeling of disrespect toward NC State by the national media because they haven't earned anything yet. Missed opportunities to play Duke and UNC won't help NC State get its reputation as a basketball power back, but Wade and his players will certainly look to find other ways to let the ACC know the Wolfpack has arrived.

Want more NC State basketball content throughout the year? Follow  @WolfpackOnSI and @SennettTucker on X (Twitter) and never miss another breaking news story again.