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Will Wade Agrees To Contract Just Hours After March Madness Loss

Originally posted on The Spun | By Hunter Hodies | Last updated Mar 22, 2025 5:01 PM ET

Will Wade's time at McNeese State ended on Saturday.

McNeese State lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Purdue after upsetting Clemson in the first round. Purdue was too much for McNeese State, taking a 38-20 lead into halftime before winning by 14, 76-62.

Trey Kaufman-Renn led Purdue with 22 points while Fletcher Loyer was second in scoring with 15 points. Sincere Parker led McNeese State in scoring with 17 points.

After McNeese lost, Jon Rothstein reported that Wade has officially signed a six-year contract to become the next head coach at NC State.

It was widely reported before the NCAA Tournament that Wade had agreed to join NC State but hadn't signed his contract yet. That obviously changed pretty recently and he'll take over for Kevin Keatts.

Wade is a strong hire for NC State, who is only a year removed from making a run to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed. NC State got within two games of winning a national title before losing to Purdue in one of the Final Four games.

Before coaching McNeese, Wade coached LSU for five seasons, taking the program to the NCAA Tournament three times. He has also coached at VCU and Chattanooga.

He took VCU to the NCAA Tournament in both seasons he was the head coach.

He has a 246-105 overall record in 11 seasons as a head coach.

NC State finished this season with a 12-19 record after back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. Keatts had been the head coach of the program for eight seasons before the school parted ways with him.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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