NC State Wins Big, But Will Wade Isn't Celebrating: "Kindergarten’s Over"
NC State might have rolled to a 108-72 win over Texas Southern on Wednesday night, but you wouldn’t have known it from Will Wade’s postgame press conference. The Wolfpack head coach didn’t mince words - not about his team’s effort, not about their toughness, and certainly not about their readiness for what lies ahead.
“It’s not going,” Wade said bluntly. “It’s concerning that it’s taken this long and we’re not there.
We’ve got all high-major games from here on out. Kindergarten’s over.”
That’s not exactly the tone you’d expect after a 36-point win, but for Wade, the scoreboard didn’t tell the full story. At 8-4 on the season, NC State still hasn’t beaten a high-major opponent. Their most recent shot came in an overtime loss to Kansas - a game that Wade clearly felt exposed some deeper issues.
"Nice Guys" and Tough Truths
Wade’s frustration didn’t stop with the lack of wins against top-tier teams. He took aim at what he sees as a softness in his roster - a team filled with talent, but lacking the edge he believes is necessary to compete at the highest level.
“We’ve got a lot of nice guys,” Wade said. “Got great team GPA, over a 3.0.
It’s wonderful - if we were running a daycare. We’re running a competitive, Division I college basketball program.”
That’s a harsh message, but it’s one Wade clearly feels his team needs to hear. This is a group that brought in some of the most coveted transfers in the country during the offseason - including guards Tre Holloman (Michigan State) and Terrance Arceneaux (Houston), along with All-Big 12 forward Darrion Williams (Texas Tech), who chose NC State over Kansas.
But so far, the results haven’t matched the hype. Williams was sidelined Wednesday with a shoulder injury.
Holloman, for the first time this season, didn’t start - and finished with nine points in 18 minutes off the bench. Arceneaux has yet to carve out a consistent role, playing more than 20 minutes in just two of the team’s first 12 games.
Wade didn’t hold back when discussing one unnamed player who claimed to be “tough.”
“I had one of the kids come to me: ‘Oh, I’m tough, I’m tough.’ I said, you’re not even in the top-50 of the toughest players I’ve coached,” Wade said. “You wouldn’t make the top 25 of the last five years of who I’ve coached - and I sat out a year.”
A Historic Night for McNeil
If there was one bright spot for the Wolfpack, it was sophomore guard Paul McNeil. The young guard torched Texas Southern for a career-high 47 points, snapping out of a shooting slump in spectacular fashion.
His 11 made threes set a new NC State school record and tied the ACC record for most in a single game. That’s not just a breakout - that’s a statement.
McNeil accounted for 12 of NC State’s 34 made field goals. Outside of him, only backup forward Jerry Deng reached double figures. That imbalance didn’t sit well with Wade.
“Casual. Lack of attention to detail.
Lack of focus,” he said. “It’s great when you have somebody who sets the ACC record for made 3s and the school record for made 3s, but we’re relying on hope that one of these cats is going to go ballistic every night.
That’s what we rely on - just hope - and hope’s a bad strategy in my book.”
Copeland and Lubin: The Exceptions
In a press conference filled with criticism, Wade did single out two players who he believes are meeting the standard: starting center Ven-Allen Lubin and guard Quadir Copeland.
Lubin, a North Carolina transfer, leads the team in rebounding and brings a physical presence Wade clearly values. Copeland, who followed Wade from McNeese, has emerged as the team’s emotional anchor. He dropped a team-high 19 points against Kansas and was trusted with the potential game-winner in regulation.
“Quite frankly, I’ve been trying to get some urgency and some internal leadership, and I think Q’s done a pretty good job,” Wade said. “Outside of Q and Ven - those guys are playing about as well as we can ask them to play - you take on the personality of your players.
We’ve got a lot of casual personalities on our team. We don’t have people that are revved up and ready to go.”
Sloppy Habits, Missed Opportunities
Wade also pointed to a lackluster shootaround as a sign of deeper issues. He said the team made 88 mistakes - 23 on defense and 13 on offense. The second unit, instead of learning from the first group’s errors, made even more.
“How the hell can you be on the second team and watch the first team do it, and make eight more mistakes?” Wade asked.
That kind of sloppiness, in Wade’s eyes, is why the team hasn’t turned the corner yet. And with the nonconference schedule winding down, the clock is ticking.
NC State’s last real opportunity to notch a meaningful nonconference win comes Sunday against Ole Miss in Greensboro. The Rebels have struggled this season and, like NC State, are still looking for a high-major win. But it’s still a chance - maybe the last one - for the Wolfpack to add something of substance to their NCAA Tournament resume.
Wade knows it.
“I’ve been concerned for weeks,” he said. “We are who we are. I said it a couple weeks ago - if you’re not physical and you’re not tough, you better be alert and aware - and we’re still none of the four.”
The Bottom Line
This NC State team has talent. That much is clear.
But talent isn’t the issue. The problem, according to Wade, is mindset.
Intensity. Urgency.
Leadership. And with ACC play looming and the margin for error shrinking by the day, those aren’t things you can fake - or fix overnight.
Wade’s message? The time for excuses is over. The time for toughness is now.