In Dire Need of Loyalty

Losing Will Wade is a gut punch for NC State. I thought he had the mentality and edge to win here at a higher and more consistent level than State has seen in a long time. He felt like the kind of coach who understood what it takes to compete in modern college basketball, not just occasionally, but year after year.

That said, just like any relationship, it has to be a two way street. Both sides have to actually want to be in it.

Did Will Wade use NC State? Absolutely. Was that the plan all along, even before he was hired? I think that’s more likely than not. Once reports started surfacing that he was house shopping during the season, it became pretty clear his eyes were already elsewhere. Whether that makes him a bad person is up for debate. He’s certainly flawed, but then again, so is everyone else.

What bothers me most is not even that he left. Coaches leave. Players leave. In today’s college sports world, movement is constant. The real issue is how it was handled.

If LSU was the better job for him, fine. If the area fits his family better, fine. If the people, the culture, or the comfort level made more sense, that is fine too. Nobody can fault a man for making the decision he believes is best for himself and his family. But just be honest about it.

This was your decision. Own it.

Look Boo Corrigan in the eye and say, “Me and my family want to go back.” That is a conversation grown men have. Instead, what NC State got was a carefully crafted word salad, vague enough to avoid accountability, but clear enough to show where this was headed. It felt like an attempt to protect himself while leaving everyone else to clean up the mess.

And that is what leaves a bad taste.

Now, NC State has no choice but to turn the page, and that page may very well be Justin Gainey.

There is no question Justin Gainey would embrace the job and the school. He would care deeply about the opportunity, and that matters. NC State needs somebody who actually wants to be here, not someone treating the program like a temporary stop on the way back home.

That does not mean there will not be challenges.

The lack of head coaching experience would be a real hurdle from day one. There is a difference between helping build a program and being the one ultimately responsible for every decision, every loss, every roster move, and every press conference. That learning curve would be steep.

Still, in today’s game, talent acquisition is everything. If Gainey can recruit and if State is willing to spend what it takes, there is no reason he could not put together an impressive roster fairly quickly. The pieces are there for the right person to succeed.

The bigger question is whether he would be given enough time.

That is where the concern comes in. In today’s college sports environment, patience barely exists. Coaches are expected to win immediately, rebuild instantly, and navigate a roster that can change overnight. Gainey is the choice, NC State needs to understand that there may be early growing pains. The problem is, that kind of grace usually does not exist anymore.

So yes, losing Will Wade hurts. It hurts because he looked like a potential winner. It hurts because he probably was never invested. And it hurts because NC State once again finds itself trying to build stability in a world that rarely allows for it.

But if there is a silver lining, it is this: maybe the next guy will actually want to be here.

And right now, that might matter more than anything.