Despite his leaving Raleigh for Baton Rouge, it's safe to say that North Carolina fans won't forget about their dislike for Will Wade. The former NC State head coach has made countless headlines this offseason over his exit from the Wolfpack to return to LSU. More headlines are being made, as it looks like NC State isn't happy about how things went down.
No, Will Wade didn't beat out UNC for a top recruit
Per multiple reports, NC State is looking into whether or not there was foul play involved with Wade taking the LSU job. Did the Tigers go the sleezy route behind the scenes to get Wade to leave the ACC for SEC country? That's being discussed, which really shouldn't come as a surprise at all.
NEW: NC State is investigating whether LSU improperly persuaded Will Wade to break his contract with the Wolfpack, @WRAL reports.https://t.co/K0zEvoDSF7 pic.twitter.com/iBQUYkxP1m
— On3 (@On3) June 9, 2026
The Will Wade nonsense isn't ending following his ugly divorce with NC State
We may not like the Wolfpack, but they've got every right to be pretty dang ticked off right now. After Wade was fired by LSU, he spent 2023-25 with McNeese before the Wolfpack took a bit of a gamble and gave him a shot to return to a power confernece. Wade pulled off some solid recruiting wins, of course, including landing 5-star guard Matt Able. Able has since made his way to Chapel Hill, which is huge for Michael Malone.
How did Wade thank NC State? By bolting at the first opportunity he could, citing resources in the SEC being much stronger for him than in the ACC. Come on. The fact that LSU brought him back wasn't a surprise, but it was the way things were handled that has so many people up in arms.
If anything, it has countless people livid with Wade, which is nothing new to UNC fans. Wade became an even bigger enemy for Carolina after he threw shade multiple times at UNC over how Hubert Davis handled Ven-Allen Lubin's playing time. It was a joke then, and it's a joke now.
Wade took down UNC in his lone matchup against the Heels this past season, but it's important to keep in mind that both Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar were out due to injury. Now that he's off in the SEC, revenge won't be coming soon for the Tar Heels, but no one has forgotten about how he acted when he was previously coaching in the state.
Wade has a certain ego to him that doesn't sit well with folks, but if anything, it's a perfect fit at LSU now that Lane Kiffin is also on campus, turning heads in a pretty eye-opening fashion. Are those two a perfect match together? Probably, to put it mildly.
It certainly doesn't help that Wade's recruiting this offseason has pushed some limits, of course, including him signing former G-League player RJ Luis Jr. Think Wade cares about playing by the rules? Not at all, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.
He does things his way, which he showcased by saying goodbye to NC State for LSU. It felt like a slap in the face, but he doesn't care about that. The UNC faithful obviously don't care about Wade's career jump, but it's safe to say Carolina and NC State can join in unison in hoping things go south for Wade moving forward on the hardwood.
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