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NC State AD Boo Corrigan ‘excited’ as Will Wade era approaches

image_6483441 (3)by: Noah Fleischman08/10/25fleischman_noah
Will Wade
(Photo credit: NC State Athletics)

Just under five months after introducing Will Wade as NC State’s 21st men’s basketball coach in program history, Wolfpack Athletic Director Boo Corrigan returned to the podium Friday afternoon for his annual press conference.

And, of course, his thoughts on the early stages of Wade’s tenure in Raleigh came up. Corrigan, who has a dry sense of humor, was quick to give his initial reaction to his most-recent hire’s first months on the job.

“He’s undefeated,” Corrigan said with a grin. “That’s awesome being undefeated.”

Since that late-March day inside Reynolds Coliseum, Wade has built his whole staff with nearly every assistant and support staffer having a previous connection to him, while he also successfully operated in the transfer portal to construct a deep roster. 

The Wolfpack’s transfer portal class, which was ranked No. 3 by EvanMiya, was one of the top highlights around the nation as it added likely preseason All-American forward Darrion Williams (Texas Tech) among the eight-man group. Add in the nation’s No. 12 high school recruiting crop, headlined by four-star shooting guard Matt Able, and Wade’s program is regarded as an early preseason top-25 squad. 

The 42-year-old’s plan was to build a roster that could compete in the ACC and make a run in the NCAA Tournament, and it seems like he has accomplished just that. On paper at least. 

Wade’s ability to build hype around his team as the ultimate marketer not only helped keep the Wolfpack on the national landscape among many talking heads, but it also created a surge in ticket sales. NC State has sold more than 1,600 new season tickets since Wade was hired, Corrigan said, which has aided in the preseason excitement for the new-look roster.

“We’re excited about the young men that he’s brought into the program as well as he’s built out his staff,” Corrigan said. “Coach Wade does a really good job. He knows who he is, knows what he wants, has a staff around him that’s been around him. They have their model of what they do and how they do it. I’m really excited about it.”

While Wade’s hire was a splash heard around the country just after his McNeese team was eliminated, it was a part of an impassioned hunt for NC State’s next leader. Now, looking back on it, Corrigan felt like he and his staff were able to find the perfect fit for the Wolfpack in the new era of college athletics as he hopes the program can return to deep postseason runs in the near future.

“The search was very intense inside, hopefully our fans didn’t feel a lot of that. Our goal, as an administration, is to go out and hire a coach,” Corrigan said. “Hopefully they feel that we handled it professionally, did it the right way, found the person that we believe is the right leader for us, and we’re all moving forward together.”

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