Callin' Baton Rouge

About a month ago, I was listening to a sports talk show, and the host speculated that Will

Wade may return to LSU. I thought the comment was flippant and easily dismissed the idea.

The host had some good sources.

On Thursday, Will Wade returning to LSU became official. The one-year leader of the Wolfpack is callin’ Baton Rouge, and given the speculation and rumors, it sounds like he had been callin’ Baton Rouge for some time. Late in the season, Wade was asked if there was anything to the rumors of a potential return to LSU, and he responded, “No, is the job open there?” Not a categorical no, but a rhetorical “No, but is the job open there?” When I saw the exchange, I thought maybe there was something to the LSU rumors.

Turns out, there was.

Getting the Band Back Together

Last November, LSU hired Wade Rousse from McNeese State to be university president. Just

prior to Wade being hired, LSU announced the hire of Heath Schroyer as Senior Deputy

Athletics Director. Schroyer was the Athletics Director at McNeese State. And as we know,

Wade coached at McNeese State for two seasons before taking the NC State job in 2025,

The Tiger Trio is now back together again.

There is something to be said about working with and for people that you like and enjoy being around. I cannot blame Wade for wanting this. Familiarity and relationships make a job a lot more fulfilling.

NC State Stuff

NC State fans have coined the phrase, “NC State… Stuff.” It’s really a cruder version, but you get the point.

Seems like things are usually one step forward, two steps back for State. Often third in the

Triangle, State is perpetually running up a steeply-inclined treadmill, yet rarely going anywhere. The Cardiac Pack reemerged in the 2024 ACC and NCAA tournaments before running out of steam in the Final Four. Otherwise, its major sports teams have not been very successful. The last ACC football championship was in 1979. The 2024 ACC basketball tournament title was the first since 1987.

When State hired Wade last offseason, it represented a bold step to return the Wolfpack to

prior realms of glory. Wade even mimicked a famous Jimmy Valvano pose for a photo in Reynolds Coliseum. With hated-rival UNC not at its historical level, it was an opportunity for

State to leapfrog its most loathed opponent.

But ultimately it was not meant to be.

UNC is now in search of its next Dean Smith or Roy Williams, and Will Wade is down on the

bayou while State seeks its next Jimmy V.

A Perilous Path Forward

With anger boiling inside the NC State athletic department, donors, alumni and fans, the

sentiment of wanting a coach that values NC State is strong.

But there are perils to this sentiment.

Decisions made from emotion and anger often do not turn out well. State leadership needs to take a deep breath, let emotions subside, and pursue the best basketball coach that it can hire. What is should not do is demand the next coach be an NC State guy. Pack leadership cannot allow itself to become a prisoner of the moment.

Some Coaching Candidates

Justin Gainey. Gainey is currently an assistant coach at Tennessee. He played at NC State and worked there in support roles early in his coaching career. Gainey’s name is the most prevalent on the message boards and social media. But this connects back to my previous point. Hiring an NC State guy may feel like the right thing to do right now, but it may not be the smartest choice. Gainey has never been a head coach before. Moving over into the big chair may be too big of a shift. Time will tell, but Gainey is there for the taking if State wants to make one phone call to a member of the family.

Josh Schertz. Schertz is currently the head coach at St. Louis. He had two assistant coaching

stints in North Carolina at Queens and High Point. He led the Billikens to an Atlantic 10 regular season conference title this year. SLU finished with a 29-6 record this season. He is a rising star in the sport. St. Louis extended his contract two weeks ago in an attempt to get ahead of other schools trying to lure Schertz away. This would be an extremely good hire if they could get him.

Phil Martelli, Jr. Martelli is the son of St. Joseph’s coaching legend Phil Martelli. He has three

years of head coaching experience under his belt. He led Bryant to an American East conference title in 2025 and VCU to an Atlantic 10 conference title in 2026. So clearly Martelli is a championship level coach. I know some NC State fans wanted Ryan Odom a year ago after leading VCU to the NCAA tournament. Odom went to Virginia and State hired Wade. Obviously, had State hired Odom, he’s probably coming off of a solid year one and committed to being at State going forward. What could have been. Martelli’s resume is thinner than Schertz’, but it would be a quality hire in Raleigh.

Archie Miller. Like Gainey, Miller played at NC State. So, he has Wolfpack pedigree. Miller is

currently the head coach at Rhode Island. After a successful tenure at Dayton that included four trips to the NCAA tournament, Miller was hired by Indiana in 2017. He never got things off the ground in Bloomington and was fired in 2021. He has been at Rhode Island for four seasons and has yet to take the Rams to the NCAA tournament. His rising star took a big hit in his time as head Hoosier. I do not see this as a likely option, but Miller’s name is being floated.

Mike White. White is currently head Dawg at Georgia. Before that he was head Gator at Florida. White was the most mid coach I’ve ever seen at Florida. Never great, but never bad. Ran an extremely vanilla offense. To his credit, he’s taken Georgia to the NCAA tournament the last two seasons. Not many coaches can say that. But White seems like a clock-resetter to me, meaning someone that proactively changes jobs every 3 years to get out ahead of getting fired. They task their agent with getting a new job when restlessness sets in so they can avoid the stain of getting fired. Think Cuonzo Martin and Josh Pastner. Totally mid coach that I hope for State fans they do not pursue.

Bob Richey. Richey is currently the head coach at Furman. He attended North Greenville

University. He was an assistant at Charleston Southern before moving to Furman to be an

assistant in 2011 and has been head Paladin since 2017 taking Furman to the NCAA tournament two out of the last four years. So, all in all, his entire collegiate playing and coaching career has been in the state of South Carolina. Richey seems rooted at Furman and the Palmetto state, so it remains to be seen if he will leave the upstate area. I do not think he will get serious consideration, but he is a name that could be in the mix.

An Interesting Alternative

One other option available to the Wolfpack: Hubert Davis. This is far-fetched and extremely

unlikely, but Davis is unemployed and State has an opening for head basketball coach. Davis

said in his statement after being terminated by UNC that he wants to coach again. Is it too

much of a stretch to think Davis could roam the Lenovo Center sidelines in a red blazer? That

would be a sight to see.

I wish the NC State administration all the success in the world in procuring their next head

basketball coach. Getting burned by Will Wade is not fun to go through, but not surprising

either. State will likely look for a more stable, less volatile option. I think Wolfpack leadership

leans into its roots and picks a State man for the job.