CLEVELAND — It was a one-word answer, but in college basketball circles, it hit like switching from black-and-white to technicolor, like hearing the Beatles in stereo for the first time.
Reporters asked McNeese men’s basketball coach Will Wade Wednesday, ahead of his team’s first-round NCAA Tournament game, if he or his agent had spoken with NC State about their head coach vacancy.
“Yes,” said Wade.
Next question.
If a room full of sports reporters’ heads explode, does it make a sound?
Wade, never one to sugarcoat things, whether in front of a microphone or on a wiretap, actually expounded on the topic in his previous answer, when asked how he addressed job-opening rumors with his players this time of year.
“I’m aware of what I have got going on. They’re aware of what we’ve got going on. You just hit it head-on,” said Wade. “We’re all on the same page with everything.”
Minutes later, word leaked that Wade had in fact agreed to take the NC State job once 12-seed McNeese’s Tournament run was over, which many assumed would come in short order against 5-seed Clemson on Thursday. Instead, the Cowboys pulled off the biggest upset of the opening round. After which Wade continued to address his situation head-on.
Wade’s candor shattered the mold on how these things tend to unfold in college sports, which is typically full of whispers and off-the-record conversations that a deal is in the works and a coach is moving on, all while the coach and parties involved either decline or duck or outright deny such reports to the press and the locker room right up until the official announcement is made. Then the coach spends the subsequent introductory news conference talking in generalities about how these job changes always happen fast, suddenly fuzzy or forgetful when it comes to exact timelines.
Wade bypassed all of that. Perhaps in a way that could alter the standard operating procedure moving forward.
“I actually thought he handled it well,” said Alabama coach Nate Oats, who himself has been the subject of similar chatter in recent seasons. “The noise is out there. Leaks happen, whatever. It’s out there that he’s getting the job. You may as well address it with your guys.”
New Mexico coach Richard Pitino attributed this new world order to the sport’s changing landscape, and how the transfer portal has sped up the hiring timeline — unnecessarily, in his opinion. This year’s portal window opens on Monday, and programs want to have their coach in place when it does. Which can make for some awkward, hurried transitions.
“Sometimes it’s out of coaches’ control,” said Pitino. “The portal opening on Monday is the dumbest thing ever. There’s no logic behind it whatsoever. It is putting a lot of people in very uncomfortable spots.”
Whatever the reason or impetus, sea changes don’t happen all at once. The same day Wade tore down the facade, reporters asked VCU’s Ryan Odom about his name being attached to current vacancies and chose to put up scaffolding.
“Yeah, I don’t want to address any of the rumors. My total focus right now is on this team, this university and doing our best here in the tournament,” said Odom. “We don’t worry about any of that other stuff.”
VCU lost to BYU on Thursday. On Friday, news leaked that Odom was taking the job at Virginia. On Saturday, Virginia made the hire official.
But Wade isn’t alone in taking a more blunt approach. Maryland coach Kevin Willard, another popular name on the coaching carousel, said he also addressed the topic with his players. Willard hasn’t commented publicly on any specific openings or outside interest but he did turn up the heat on his own school.
“I need to make fundamental changes to the program. That’s what I’m focused on right now. That’s why probably a (new contract extension) hasn’t got done, because I need to see fundamental changes done,” Willard said. “I want this program to be great. I want it to be the best in the country, I want to win a national championship, but there’s things that need to change.”
Whether or not those changes occur for Willard in College Park remains to be seen, but it feels like a broader shift could be happening when it comes to coach hirings. In a cottage industry that’s been carefully built on conventions and unspoken norms, Wade opted for a sledgehammer. Considering he’s largely been applauded for his candor in the aftermath, you could see his peers start to follow suit.
“Dealing with my players, I’d rather be honest with them all the time. What’s the point of lying, trying to cover stuff up?” said Oats. “If it’s out there, let’s just be honest. We all get better opportunities the more we win.”
(Photo: Brian Fluharty / Imagn Images)
