Oct 8, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; NC State head coach Will Wade answers questions from the media at The Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: William Howard-Imagn Images William Howard-Imagn Images

Digging Into Will Wade's Radio Show Thoughts

Originally posted on NC State Wolfpack on SI
By Tucker Sennett | Last updated Jan 10, 2026 12:00 PM ET

For the remainder of the season, NC State men's basketball coach Will Wade is scheduled to make appearances weekly on the Wolfpack Radio Network's weekly live show. On Thursday, the Wolfpack's leader broke down several aspects of the season so far, including an interesting discussion of the team's approach to offensive usage and the transfer portal.

The radio show provided a more unfiltered glimpse into Wade's thoughts about this team and the program's overall direction. On this episode of the NC State Insider Podcast, host and lead beat writer Tucker Sennett digs a little deeper into Wade's most compelling topics of conversation in his radio appearance.

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More on Wade's thoughts

Perhaps the most important thing Wade discussed was the Wolfpack's approach to usage percentage offensively. Moving forward, the team will try to get more out of Darrion Williams by getting him the ball more as the de facto backup point guard behind Quadir Copeland. As for Copeland, Wade used an interesting example of how he wants to change the approach.

"Shai Gilgeous-Alexander... He has the ball 38% of the time for the Thunder. In our last three games, (Copeland) had the ball over 40% of the time," Wade said. "... He had 10 assists, and I explained to him, Q, in the games that you shoot 10 or more shots, we're 1-4... Because when he's shooting, that means Paul (McNeil) is not shooting. That means Matt [Able] is not being efficient. So we had to recalibrate that part of it."

Against Boston College, NC State made a far more concerted effort to get Williams the ball more, putting him in more advantageous situations to make plays for the team. This was all a product of Wade's plan to make him the team's backup point guard, which in turn raised his usage percentage significantly. All year long, Wade has been adamant that good things happen when Williams has the ball.

"The biggest difference was we had Darrion at 31 percent, Q at 30 percent. And so then the offense just all of a sudden looks better," Wade said. "We've got the two guys who can create rotation. And what happens is they just load up on Q when he's got the ball for 45 percent of the game."

Now, the challenge becomes putting all the pieces together. Wade emphasized that Williams isn't naturally aggressive, so the Wolfpack staff needs to push him for more. If that can happen, the Pack could be remade on the fly and make a push through conference play.

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