Will Wade Throws Serious Shade At 'Dumb' North Carolina After NC State Lands Big-Time Transfer
The new NC State head coach is not holding back.
Will Wade isn't three months into his tenure as the head coach of the NC State men's basketball program, but that hasn't stopped him from taking jabs at the school's biggest rival, North Carolina or the Tar Heels' coaching staff.
Wade and the Wolfpack received a big-time boost earlier this month when forward Ven-Allen Lubin committed to NC State. Lubin played at North Carolina last season, therefore his commitment to a rival program was quite the shock to the college hoops world.
Wade voiced his excitement about landing Lubin by throwing serious shade at North Carolina and head coach Hubert Davis for not giving him more minutes a year ago.
"The other school was too dumb to play him," Wade said in a recently surfaced video. "When [Lubin] plays 28-plus minutes — he’s done that in 23 games — he averages 15 [points] and eight [rebounds]. I don’t know why the hell they didn’t play him but we’re gonna play him, so he’s gonna average 15 and eight."
Lubin averaged 19.5 minutes per game for North Carolina last season while averaging 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. It's clear that Wade plans on giving Lubin a much bigger role on this year's NC State squad.
Will Wade is fired up about NC State's latest transfer commit . (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
When Lubin suits up for the Wolfpack this upcoming season, it will be his fourth team in as many seasons, having started his college career at Notre Dame in 2022 before transferring to Vanderbilt for a season in year two of his career.
Lubin is just one of eight players Wade and the Wolfpack added via the transfer portal during the college hoops offseason.
This is the new age of college basketball, and after Wade went 50-9 over two seasons in charge of McNeese St. before taking the NC State job, he's earned a bit of a runway to speak his mind, even if he hasn't coached a single game in Raleigh.