This is huge for our school,” he said. “We got freaking $25 million in advertisements in the last couple of weeks. It’s going through the roof."

Wade was hired by McNeese State in March 2023 -- keeping his job despite a two-year show-cause penalty and 10-game suspension three months later by the NCAA. He is 58-10 at McNeese State, making the NCAA Tournament both seasons.

NC State entered the market for a new coach after firing Kevin Keatts, one year after he had led the ACC school on a surprising run to the Final Four. Wade has a buyout in his contract with McNeese that would cost another school $1 million to hire him away.