Will Wade had a fame of elevating mid-major colleges lengthy earlier than he and McNeese State College made nationwide headlines this season.
And that fame has solely turn into increasingly cemented over time.
Earlier than reworking the Cowboys right into a winner within the Southland Convention, Wade was at colleges like VCU, the place he elevated the Rams to nationwide prominence.
In simply two years on the helm of the black and gold, Wade made certain his mark was felt within the Atlantic 10 Convention. His Rams went 51-20, which was ok for 2 journeys to the NCAA Match.
Throughout the 2015-16 season, VCU completed 25-11 with a convention regular-season championship and superior to the Spherical of 32. VCU adopted it up with a 26-9 marketing campaign and completed second within the convention with one other March Insanity look.
Earlier than VCU, Wade was at Chattanooga, the place his Mocs went 40-25 by way of two seasons. In 2014, he was awarded the Southern Convention Coach of the 12 months.
Wade spent 5 seasons at LSU in between VCU and McNeese. He took the Tigers to a few NCAA Tournaments and an NIT. They went 21-10 in 2020 when March Insanity was canceled as a result of pandemic.
Living proof, it’s no shock that Wade is now making strides in his first season at McNeese State. And with Choice Sunday simply over two weeks out, bracketology consultants like Andy Katz and Joe Lunardi at present have the Cowboys projected to be a 12-seed.
In Wade’s introductory press convention final March, McNeese State’s president, Daryl Burckel, made clear that the Cowboys “took their time” to seek out the “proper” particular person for the pinnacle coach place.
“We now have discovered the correct man to steer us again to the place we actually have to be in basketball,” Burckel stated. “We’re very enthusiastic about this, what it means to our College, what it means to fan engagement, what it’s gonna imply to our neighborhood right here as we rebuild in Lake Charles.”
This sense was echoed by McNeese’s athletic director and former Cowboy head coach Heath Schroyer, who Burckel credited with making Wade’s hiring potential.
“It’s a defining second in McNeese basketball and for McNeese State College,” Schroyer stated on the press convention. “I couldn’t be prouder or extra excited.”
And Schroyer was proper. It was a defining second for the Cowboys.
And it’ll probably go down because the defining second for this system, as Wade’s hiring has not solely paid off in season one, however it seems like McNeese State is primed to be a stalwart within the Southland Convention for seasons to come back primarily based on the five-year extension that Wade was given earlier this month.
With three common season video games to play, coming towards Nicholls, Houston Christian and New Orleans, the Cowboys at present sit in first place within the convention with a 25-3 document.
“I actually consider we’re simply getting began,” Wade stated in a press convention earlier this month, following the information of his contract extension. “We’ve gotta end off this yr, however I say this so much, I say this to our guys, however the most effective is but to come back. We’ve sort of strung it ahead a little bit bit this yr, however there’s no limits on how good we might be.”