McNeese State Wins First NCAA Tournament Game After Coach Will Wade Reportedly Agrees To New Job

As the buzzer sounded late Thursday afternoon, McNeese State forward Quadir Copeland sprinted towards the school’s cheering section at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I. Forward Christian Shumate followed closely behind. The two embraced, reveling in No. 12 seed McNeese’s 69-67 upset victory over No. 5 seed Clemson in an NCAA tournament Midwest Regional first round game.

The celebration continued in the locker room. The team doused each other in water. And Amir Khan, the team’s manager who went viral on social media for rapping alongside the Cowboys’ players, blared Lud Foe’s “In and Out” on the boom box. Khan recently became the first manager to sign Name, Image and Likeness deals, signing contracts with Insomnia Cookies, TickPick and Buffalo Wild Wings.

“I just started rapping it again,” Khan said in an interview in the team’s locker room afterward. “They were all hyping me. It’s been all of our dreams to win in March Madness. It was definitely electric in here.”

McNeese’s first NCAA tournament win in its history occurred one day after multiple outlets reported coach Will Wade agreed to coach North Carolina State. Wade acknowledged during a press conference Wednesday that he or his agent had spoken with NC State, but he did not elaborate further. Wade also said he had talked with his players on Saturday about other programs expressing interest in hiring him.

McNeese guard DJ Richards said Wade addressed the NC State situation with the team following Wednesday’s reports, as well.

“He knows that we have social media,” Richards said. “He knows that we have all those things. He knows that we see everything. He kept it real with us. He just told us everything straight up. We were like, ‘That’s next year.’ We all know that’s next year. Right now, we can do something special.”

Wade, once one of the most heralded young coaches in the sport, has revitalized his career at McNeese. LSU fired Wade in March 2022 after the NCAA alleged multiple recruiting violations. A year later, McNeese athletics director Heath Schroyer fired coach John Aiken after two seasons and hired Wade, whom Schroyer had known through mutual friends. Schroyer was McNeese’s coach for three seasons before becoming AD.

“All across the country, a lot of people thought I was absolutely crazy,” Schroyer said after Thursday’s victory. “But it obviously has worked out pretty well.”

Wade’s discretions centered around alleged recruiting violations that are no longer relevant in this NIL era where players can legally get paid and earn money.

“It’s a different game now,” Schroyer said. “It’s a different world, but I’ll tell you what – coach Wade, because of his relationship with players and his transparency and honesty with players, he coaches them really hard. He loves them harder. He is made for this era.”

Indeed, Wade was an instant hit at McNeese, signing several transfers and leading the Cowboys to the NCAA tournament last season for just the third time in school history. After McNeese lost to Gonzaga, 86-65, in the first round, Wade approached Schroyer.

“Coach put his arm around me and said, ‘We got to get better,’” Schroyer said.

Wade lived up to that promise. McNeese won the Southland Conference regular season and tournament titles for the second consecutive season. The Cowboys (28-6) have now won 12 consecutive games, tied with Duke for the third-longest winning streak in Division 1. They have 23 victories in their past 24 games, a stretch during which they are outscoring their opponents by an average of 14.3 points per game.

At halftime Thursday, McNeese led, 31-13, scoring 15 points off turnovers and holding Clemson to just 20.8% shooting, including 1 of 15 (6.7%) on 3-pointers. During the final 15:59 of the first half, Clemson scored only 7 points on 3 of 15 shooting, including 1 of 12 on 3’s.

McNeese led by 22 points with 8 minute remaining and were up by 12 points with 1 minute left before Clemson made a furious rally, connecting on 4 3-pointers in the next 48 seconds. But the Cowboys had a dunk and made three of four free throws down the stretch to close out the victory.

Brandon Murray, who played for Wade at LSU in the 2021-22 season and spent a season apiece at Georgetown and Ole Miss, came off the bench and led McNeese with 21 points. Copeland, who transferred to McNeese this season after two years at Syracuse, added 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Shumate, now in his fourth season at McNeese, had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

“It still feels like a dream,” Shumate said. “I’m sure in a couple of days or when this all is over I’ll wake up and look back at it like, ‘OK, that really did happen’ But right now we stay focused. We’re trying to keep on winning games and we got to this point and we’re looking forward and trying to get on to the next one and keep on moving forward. It’s an amazing feeling.”

On Saturday, the Cowboys will face No. 4 seed Purdue, which defeated No. 13 seed High Point, 75-63, earlier Thursday in Providence. The teams have only met once before, with Purdue winning, 109-65, in November 2016.

For most of Thursday’s game, Schroyer stood in the front row of McNeese’s section, locked into the game like he was during his coaching days. Now an administrator, he took a risk hiring Wade two years ago, and it’s paying off.

“Everyone kind of thought we were crazy,” Schroyer said. “It’s probably worked out a little bit better than we all thought.”

He added: “It’s just overwhelming because I know people doubted us, people doubted me when I hired him, and there’s so much work by so many people to get here. I just couldn’t be happier for everyone involved in our entire community.”