‘It’s gonna change lives’: McNeese’s Will Wade emotional after upset over Clemson
Nothing brings out the emotions quite like March Madness.
Nothing brings out the emotions quite like March Madness.
McNeese head coach Will Wade was overcome by just that on Thursday after his 12th-seeded Cowboys staged the first upset of the tourney, defeating No. 5 Clemson 69-67.
“Just to be able to deliver this for them, I can’t even describe it,” Wade told Fox Sports’ John Fanta after the game. “Just to be able to deliver for these folks. Our university, the enrollment was down 4,000 students, and to be able to do this, it’s gonna change lives in our area.”
According to the Associated Press, McNeese president Wade Rousse said applications are up 10 per cent for the fall, the yield of students accepting offers is up three years in a row, and the school’s website crashed at the final buzzer of Thursday’s game.
“We have been in an enrollment decline for 14, 15 years. We turned it last year,” Rousse said. “A large part of that has been our strategic plan to elevate the athletic program, to drive our academic program.”
Wade recited the same statistics during his postgame news conference, and said he hoped the team’s March Madness run will have a ripple effect throughout southwestern Louisiana.
“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.”
“This changes our area, our five-parish area,” he said. “It changes everything.”
It was also their first-ever win at March Madness in their fourth appearance.
This McNeese team came into the tourney as one of the most intriguing storylines to keep an eye on, as the Southland Conference champs rode in on the back of an 11-game win streak and looked like a team poised to stage an upset.
The team then got to put a chip on their shoulders, as it was reported by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello that Wade agreed to take a job at N.C. State following the season.
“Everybody is aware of everything that’s going on,” McNeese forward Christian Shumate said after the game about his coach leaving. “Everybody is transparent on both ends and that’s something we worry about later. We’re just focused on winning these games.”
The enigmatic Wade, past just being emotional, also chose to spread some gossip about other coaching jobs at the collegiate level.
“Villanova’s trying to buy a coach out who’s in the NCAA Tournament right now!” he said to reporters, per Fanta.
Villanova fired head coach Kyle Neptune on Saturday after the Wildcats missed out on the big dance for the third straight year. Wade did not say who Villanova had been checking in on.
To add onto that, eyes were on McNeese due to the emerging virality of their team’s manager Amir Khan, who has gained social media stardom for walking his team out of the tunnel with a massive boombox playing rap tracks.
He has since gained the nickname “Aura” and became the first-ever student manager to sign an NIL deal, penning endorsements with Buffalo Wild Wings, Insomnia Cookies and TickPick.
The Cowboys, who crushed the Tigers on the back of their athleticism and hustle, are now set to take on No. 4 Purdue on Saturday as they gear up to potentially become this year’s surprise contender. They certainly have the storylines that most Cinderella-run teams come with.
— With files from the Associated Press
