VCU second-year head coach Will Wade has guided the Rams to a 26-8 overall record, and second-place finish in the Atlantic 10 in both the regular season standings and the conference tourney. The reward was a No. 10 seed and chance to play Saint Mary’s at 7:20 p.m. Thursday on TBS.
The Wolfpacker talked with an anonymous Atlantic 10 assistant coach who has crossed paths with Wade nine times during his four-year coaching career. Here are his thoughts on the potential future NC State head coach:
How is it to prepare for a Will Wade coached team?
“This year’s team for instance, they shot as a team 30 percent from three. If you are a team that is stuck in your ways, and we are a straight-up man-to-man defense, and we aren’t going to do anything different, they can hurt you, especially with Mo Alie-Cox. They got two interior guys with Mo Alie-Cox and Justin Tillman. They are going to rebound, share the basketball and protect the rim. Alie-Cox can go over his left shoulder and make a right-hand hook on a post move, but outside of that, those guys are catch and finish, ball screen high and finish with dunks and alley-oops. That type of thing.
“From an offensive standpoint, because they didn’t shoot the ball well, if you aren’t willing to get away from some of the things you normally do, they are good. I twisted my coaches arm and said, ‘Coach, we have to play some zone.’ We didn’t zone in one of the games, but in another, we played 50 percent zone or more than that. We did some box-and-one and some triangle-and-two. That caused some big-time problems. We did box-and-one with JeQuan Lewis, and then triangle-and-two when freshman De’Riante Jenkins came in.
“He’ll do some things that are fairly predictable. I’ll give him this, I think he has really grown as a coach. He would do everything like clockwork, the same stuff he did at Tennessee-Chattanooga, but what he is doing now, is sprinkling in after a timeout a quick hitter. He might run a hammer action for Lewis or something like that, which I didn’t see coming before.
“He has grown as a coach because he is doing some things different. Before when he was at UT-C, his first year, everything was based off that quick action that they did when Shaka Smart was there [at VCU]. They’d have a guard go screen down for a big, and then the big would sprint to the opposite side for a side ball screen. Then they’d do some continuity stuff. He got away from that, and I think it was based on his personnel. Lewis would have the ball more.
“The other thing good about him is they would have a package of plays they would do when they have their two bigs in. When they have Doug Brooks in, they are more four-out and one-in, and do some things different. That is tough to do. You are almost teaching two different teams, and you still have to have synergy and not miss a beat during the game.
“Defensively, I tip my hat off to them. They could have done the exact same thing when Shaka was here. He said, ‘You know what, we aren’t going to be 94 feet all game. Their steals percentage was just as high as when Shaka was there. They are still active on the ball. Their ball screen coverage is really good. They are on the screens. He is a very good coach.”
There is a perception that VCU is still playing 94-foot Havoc defense, but they’ve scaled back the press and they seem content playing the game in the 60s and 70s if need be. You get that impression?
“They’ll press teams that they know [they can]. It’s not even a press really. They’ll have their two guards up front messing around with the ball. They’ll do that a whole lot more with teams that struggle a little bit. He’s smart enough to know there are certain teams, like you aren’t going to do that against Dayton. They won’t do that with Rhode Island.
“If he goes against a team with young point guards who are shaky, they will keep that thing on until you show you can adjust and throw the ball ahead. Then, they’ll back off it.”
How have you seen Wade evolve as a recruiter with his four-man class of Lavar Batts Jr., Mayan Kiir, Sean Mobley and Marcus Santos-Silva, who each had offers from the top six conferences?
“I know he works, but a lot of guys work. This isn’t to take a shot at him or VCU, but that place, along with Dayton in our league, they are a step ahead of everybody in terms of resources. Their practice facility, man, if you are recruiting at the A-10 level, and you go to one school and then go to VCU, it’s different. They got something to sell. You get a Lavar Batts and that’s a great job. It could be him or his staff, or the combination of the two, and then add in a beautiful practice facility, and you can tell a kid, ‘Look at those banners, we go to the NCAA Tournament every single year.’ He can say, ‘You’ll be instrumental in that and not be on the bubble and hope to get there in March.’ You at VCU or Dayton, you can beat out a Clemson or a Wake Forest of the world. That’s my opinion.”
How hard do VCU’s players play for Wade?
“No doubt about it. Even going back to Chattanooga, I’ve never looked at his teams and was like, ‘his guys at some point in time will stop playing.’ Never got that sense with Will’s teams.”
Do you think the ACC would be a huge adjustment for Wade if he got a job in the league one day?
“No, not from the standpoint is that with expectations, people underestimate that when you are a head coach and move into a different job, if you got expectations that are really, really high, I’m pretty sure Will has put a ton of pressure on himself to keep VCU going with what Shaka built when he stepped in there. I’m sure he’d do the same kind of pressure going to a job like NC State. People will be like, ‘Hey, I’m coming from a mid-major conference, and I’ve been head coach for four years, but I still haven’t proven myself to people yet.’ He’d also be like, ‘I got Coach K at Duke and Roy Williams at UNC right down the road.’ He would understand the pressure. Anybody that goes there, it’s going to be a ton of pressure. I don’t think he’s a guy that wilted under Shaka’s shadow or pressure at VCU. It will also be about hiring the right staff. You have to have a good staff.”
The Wolfpacker talked with an anonymous Atlantic 10 assistant coach who has crossed paths with Wade nine times during his four-year coaching career. Here are his thoughts on the potential future NC State head coach:
How is it to prepare for a Will Wade coached team?
“This year’s team for instance, they shot as a team 30 percent from three. If you are a team that is stuck in your ways, and we are a straight-up man-to-man defense, and we aren’t going to do anything different, they can hurt you, especially with Mo Alie-Cox. They got two interior guys with Mo Alie-Cox and Justin Tillman. They are going to rebound, share the basketball and protect the rim. Alie-Cox can go over his left shoulder and make a right-hand hook on a post move, but outside of that, those guys are catch and finish, ball screen high and finish with dunks and alley-oops. That type of thing.
“From an offensive standpoint, because they didn’t shoot the ball well, if you aren’t willing to get away from some of the things you normally do, they are good. I twisted my coaches arm and said, ‘Coach, we have to play some zone.’ We didn’t zone in one of the games, but in another, we played 50 percent zone or more than that. We did some box-and-one and some triangle-and-two. That caused some big-time problems. We did box-and-one with JeQuan Lewis, and then triangle-and-two when freshman De’Riante Jenkins came in.
“He’ll do some things that are fairly predictable. I’ll give him this, I think he has really grown as a coach. He would do everything like clockwork, the same stuff he did at Tennessee-Chattanooga, but what he is doing now, is sprinkling in after a timeout a quick hitter. He might run a hammer action for Lewis or something like that, which I didn’t see coming before.
“He has grown as a coach because he is doing some things different. Before when he was at UT-C, his first year, everything was based off that quick action that they did when Shaka Smart was there [at VCU]. They’d have a guard go screen down for a big, and then the big would sprint to the opposite side for a side ball screen. Then they’d do some continuity stuff. He got away from that, and I think it was based on his personnel. Lewis would have the ball more.
“The other thing good about him is they would have a package of plays they would do when they have their two bigs in. When they have Doug Brooks in, they are more four-out and one-in, and do some things different. That is tough to do. You are almost teaching two different teams, and you still have to have synergy and not miss a beat during the game.
“Defensively, I tip my hat off to them. They could have done the exact same thing when Shaka was here. He said, ‘You know what, we aren’t going to be 94 feet all game. Their steals percentage was just as high as when Shaka was there. They are still active on the ball. Their ball screen coverage is really good. They are on the screens. He is a very good coach.”
There is a perception that VCU is still playing 94-foot Havoc defense, but they’ve scaled back the press and they seem content playing the game in the 60s and 70s if need be. You get that impression?
“They’ll press teams that they know [they can]. It’s not even a press really. They’ll have their two guards up front messing around with the ball. They’ll do that a whole lot more with teams that struggle a little bit. He’s smart enough to know there are certain teams, like you aren’t going to do that against Dayton. They won’t do that with Rhode Island.
“If he goes against a team with young point guards who are shaky, they will keep that thing on until you show you can adjust and throw the ball ahead. Then, they’ll back off it.”
How have you seen Wade evolve as a recruiter with his four-man class of Lavar Batts Jr., Mayan Kiir, Sean Mobley and Marcus Santos-Silva, who each had offers from the top six conferences?
“I know he works, but a lot of guys work. This isn’t to take a shot at him or VCU, but that place, along with Dayton in our league, they are a step ahead of everybody in terms of resources. Their practice facility, man, if you are recruiting at the A-10 level, and you go to one school and then go to VCU, it’s different. They got something to sell. You get a Lavar Batts and that’s a great job. It could be him or his staff, or the combination of the two, and then add in a beautiful practice facility, and you can tell a kid, ‘Look at those banners, we go to the NCAA Tournament every single year.’ He can say, ‘You’ll be instrumental in that and not be on the bubble and hope to get there in March.’ You at VCU or Dayton, you can beat out a Clemson or a Wake Forest of the world. That’s my opinion.”
How hard do VCU’s players play for Wade?
“No doubt about it. Even going back to Chattanooga, I’ve never looked at his teams and was like, ‘his guys at some point in time will stop playing.’ Never got that sense with Will’s teams.”
Do you think the ACC would be a huge adjustment for Wade if he got a job in the league one day?
“No, not from the standpoint is that with expectations, people underestimate that when you are a head coach and move into a different job, if you got expectations that are really, really high, I’m pretty sure Will has put a ton of pressure on himself to keep VCU going with what Shaka built when he stepped in there. I’m sure he’d do the same kind of pressure going to a job like NC State. People will be like, ‘Hey, I’m coming from a mid-major conference, and I’ve been head coach for four years, but I still haven’t proven myself to people yet.’ He’d also be like, ‘I got Coach K at Duke and Roy Williams at UNC right down the road.’ He would understand the pressure. Anybody that goes there, it’s going to be a ton of pressure. I don’t think he’s a guy that wilted under Shaka’s shadow or pressure at VCU. It will also be about hiring the right staff. You have to have a good staff.”
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