Nate Oats commends Will Wade's handling of NC State job rumors: 'What's the point of lying?'

One of the major stories throughout the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament dealt with Will Wade agreeing to move on from McNeese State and take the vacant NC State head coaching gig. The Cowboys leader was refreshingly honest about the entire ordeal, and Nate Oats commended him for it.

It was something the former Buffalo and current Alabama head coach had a lot of respect for. Speaking with the media ahead of the Crimson Tide’s Round of 32 matchup, he explained why Wade’s handling of the situation is how Oats believes similar future moves should play out.

“I’ve gotten to know Will when I was at Buffalo. I played him when he was at VCU. We obviously competed in the SEC and played him in the championship my second year. He had really good teams. I’ll say this, I actually thought he handled it well,” Oats proclaimed, via AL.com. “The noise is out there. Leaks happen, whatever — it’s out there that he’s getting the job. You may as well just address it with your guys. When I was at Buffalo and I took the Alabama job, none of that stuff came up until after the season. It was great, because I wouldn’t have wanted it to. It didn’t come up. But if it’s going to come up and you’ve already been off offered a job, and you’ve come to some type of agreement and it’s out there, it’s leaked — I think he’s got a way of being honest with his guys, and I think his players, obviously, with the way they performed in the first game? You know, I don’t want to speak for that program, but from what it looked like, they’re playing hard for him. He’s got them in the right frame of mind.

“I’d just rather be honest with them all the time. What’s the point of lying, trying to cover stuff up? If it’s out there, let’s just be honest. I was afforded a better opportunity. You guys helped me get there. In their case, for those who have eligibility left, he’s helping them get a better opportunity. There’s NIL, there’s all this. Those guys, whether they stay there for the next coach, whoever it is — the more they win, the better their NIL is going to get. Everybody’s gonna want help out a little more. If they hit the portal or whatever, like — they’re doing better. I mean, the further you go in this tournament, the bigger your name gets, the better your NIL gets. So, it’s a win-win on both cases.

“Let’s everybody be honest with each other. Let’s play hard. Just because I’m not coaching here next year has nothing to do with how hard or how much I’m preparing to help you guys win the game this year. It would be, what I would think, something he would have said. I thought, you know, he handled it well Be honest with everybody. There’s no sense in lying about it. You know, we all get better opportunities the more we win. We’ve got to say it in our program, ‘When the tide rises, all the boats rise,’ and in their case, when they’re winning, everybody’s winning when they’re winning.”

All told, that’s simply common sense from Oats, put eloquently. McNeese and Wade were better for the way he handled the situation, and he coached his heart out until the Cowboys came up short against Purdue in the Round of 32.

Moving forward, from a strictly basketball perspective, Wade seems to be a phenomenal hire for the Wolfpack. However, he comes with his fair share of baggage, as he was suspended and dealt with a myriad of issues with the NCAA over the last decade.

All told, Wade has been tremendous since taking over McNeese State in 2023. He’s amassed a 50–9 record, while winning both the conference regular season and conference tournament championships in both his seasons with the program. This comes after he went 105–51 over five seasons at LSU, including a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2019.

Now, he’s free to takeover NC State, and store some fond memories of his time at McNeese State in the past. As Will Wade looks to rebuild the Wolfpack, expect Nate Oats to keep a keen eye on his peer, and what he does to return the ACC program to glory.