The 'Bad Boy' Of College Basketball, Will Wade, Has McNeese State One Win From Sweet Sixteen
Did you think McNeese State wouldn't be focused today on Clemson with word of head coach Will Wade agreeing to a contract with NC State? If so, the joke's on you.
What we saw out of this McNeese State team was a group determined to fight for its head coach, who has been upfront from the start about potential opportunities elsewhere at the end of this season.
While the college basketball world has been caught up in Wade agreeing to terms with NC State, all his team did today was come out and play as if nothing else was going on inside the locker room. The best part about all of this has been how the ‘Bad Boy’ of basketball has not hid anything regarding a potential exit to the ACC, or any other school for that matter.
As he watched his team lead Clemson 54-38 at halftime in the Midwest Region, you could see the smile across Wade's face as the team put an emphatic ending to Clemson's tournament run, technically making him 1-0 against the ACC already, or until the actual contract is signed with NC State.
You think that's a coach that doesn't understand what he's doing for a program that he took over just two years ago? A monumental win, which followed a crazy regular-season run that has his team set to face Purdue on Saturday with a spot in the Sweet Sixteen on the line.
This doesn't look like a team that will be heading home this weekend, especially if it plays the Boilermakers the same way as Clemson.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Head coach Will Wade of the McNeese State Cowboys celebrates after defeating the Clemson Tigers 69-67 in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Amica Mutual Pavillion on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
For all the flack that Wade has received in the past, with a lot of it deserved for his time at LSU, he has turned himself into one of the hottest commodities in college basketball.
Now, he'll have an opportunity with his team to write another chapter in his crazy story of redemption. If there's one thing we should never do with Will Wade, it's doubt him.
Judging by the way his team performed on Thursday, they are all-in with their head coach, even if he's leaving after the season ends.