CLEMSON — Who says the NCAA selection committee doesn’t engineer compelling storylines?
Maybe Will Wade facing his alma mater was just some random occurrence.
But … no, of course no one believes that.
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Clemson’s second consecutive NCAA Tournament trip will begin with a juicy subplot in the form of the Tigers taking on Wade’s McNeese team on Thursday in Providence, R.I.
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This has all the looks of a … dare we say it … strong-ass matchup.
The backstory is the most interesting part, and it goes far beyond the fact that Wade went to Clemson and served as a graduate assistant under Oliver Purnell from 2005-07 as Purnell injected life and excitement into the basketball program.
Brad Brownell is firmly established now, with a truly special regular season having followed last year’s magical run to the Elite Eight.
But that of course hasn’t always been the case during his tenure here, and during some of the rocky points Wade’s name has been frequently clamored for by Clemson fans who wanted to bring him home and watch him win big.
Including as recently as a year ago when Clemson went one-and-done in the ACC Tournament and plenty of fans wrongly assumed the Tigers wouldn’t last long in the NCAAs either.
A year later, no one in orange is clamoring for Wade. And the faithful are hoping Indiana or some other school doesn’t pluck Brownell away now that he’s a hot commodity (we think he remains at Clemson, by the way).
After taking over for Shaka Smart at VCU when Smart left for Texas, Wade’s name and reputation soared amid two highly successful seasons that he used as a springboard to take the LSU job in 2017.
But his tactics on the recruiting trail back then didn’t exactly help his reputation, including with the Clemson staff that he battled for a few prospects.
By March of 2019, Wade’s tactics drew even wider scrutiny when an FBI investigation caught him discussing a “strong ass offer” to a recruit. Wade was indefinitely suspended amid the probe, but he was later reinstated and ended up lasting three more seasons before he was fired in March of 2022 amid the NCAA formally serving a Notice of Allegations based on the investigations into the reports of recruiting violations.
After a year off Wade took the job at McNeese but was suspended for the first 10 games of the 2023-24 season and was given a two-year show-cause penalty for recruiting and bribery allegations.
He’s won a lot of games since, amassing a 49-8 record overall and a 36-2 mark in the Southland Conference, and in recent days he’s reportedly been heavily in the mix for the open job at N.C. State.
The mere notion of Wade coaching in the ACC has brought some heartburn among coaches in the conference; he’s not the most popular guy.
But there’s also the fact that he was busted for stuff that is now legal.
That said, there was a stark contrast between the recruiting styles of Brownell and Wade back when paying players was taboo.
It took a while for Brownell’s more methodical and above-board method to take root, but here he is now with a remarkable 73-28 record over the last three seasons since the 2021-22 team finished 17-16 overall and 8-12 in the ACC.
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Wade took his first McNeese team to the NCAA Tournament, where the Cowboys were drubbed 86-65 by Gonzaga in the first round.
This season, Wade’s team went to Alabama in November and battled the Crimson Tide before losing 72-64. In December the Cowboys fell 66-63 to Mississippi State in Tupelo.
“He’s obviously done a great job everywhere he’s been,” Brownell said of Wade Sunday evening. “He’s part of the Shaka tree in terms of how they play — very aggressive and very good defensively, changing defenses, and an excellent offensive-rebounding team.”
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It didn’t take long for folks to start calling for the upset in this 5 vs. 12 matchup. Clemson is suffering from the loss of Dillon Hunter, trying to rediscover its long-range prowess after shooting a combined 9 of 37 from 3-point range in Charlotte.
Then again, Clark Kellogg picked Clemson to play Florida for the national title. That type of forecast hasn’t happened often, if ever, with this basketball program.
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But first things first. And this is quite the first thing.
Will Wade vs. Brad Brownell.
The coach you might’ve lusted for before against the coach you’re now ecstatic to have.
Yeah, it’s a strong-ass storyline.
