How much Will Wade earned in a bonus for earning 18th regular season win in victory over Virginia Tech

NC State coach Will Wade isn’t one to bask in a regular season win. Even if it appears to be a major accomplishment, the 1-point victory at SMU on Tuesday night as a prime example, he’s always going to find what went wrong to keep his team moving on an upward trajectory. 

“We should have won that thing by double digits,” Wade said of the narrow win over the Mustangs on his weekly radio show this past Thursday. “It kills your metrics, it kills all sorts of stuff. But I’m the only one that cares about that sort of stuff,” Wade said. “Everybody else is ‘Oh, we won. Let’s all celebrate.’ To hell with that. We need to play to a certain standard, and when you have great performances like that … you should win going away. Period. And we didn’t. We were lucky. We’ll take it.”

But his latest win, an 82-73 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon at the Lenovo Center, came with more than just a pat on the back. Yes, the Wolfpack has now won six straight games to surge to a tie for third place in the ACC standings, but the result also unlocked Wade’s first bonus of the season.

Unlike his predecessor’s contract, Wade can rack up additional paychecks based on the Pack’s win total each year. And 18 regular season victories is the first level to achieve, which the program did so against the Hokies, earning Wade at least an additional $37,500 to his $2.5 million in total pay for his debut season leading the Wolfpack, according to his contract obtained by TheWolfpacker.com.

Wade can unlock three more levels of his win total bonus before the regular season concludes, though they are not cumulative. If NC State were to achieve 12 ACC wins OR 20 regular season victories, the bonus would jump to $75,000, while it moves to $112,500 for 14 conference wins OR 22 regular season victories and $150,000 for 16 league wins OR 24 regular season victories. 

Other bonuses within Wade’s contract

While the regular season provides an opportunity for Wade to increase his paycheck, his contract provides other possibilities for added income as well. But, according to the contract, Wade would max out his bonuses at $1.7 million per season.

Wade could earn $100,000 if NC State wins the ACC Regular Season Championship; and $100,000 for a top-four seed in the ACC Tournament. 

The ACC Tournament also has a non-cumulative bonus structure within Wade’s contract: $5,000 for making the ACC Tournament; $10,000 for a second-round appearance; $25,000 for a third-round appearance; $50,000 for a semifinal appearance; $75,000 for a championship appearance; and $100,000 for a title.

In addition to the conference tournament, the NCAA Tournament bonus structure is similar in a non-cumulative fashion. Wade can earn $50,000 for making a First Four appearance; $75,000 for a Round of 64 game; $125,000 for a trip to the Round of 32; $250,000 for making the Sweet 16; $375,000 as a reward for getting to the Elite Eight; $500,000 for a Final Four appearance; $750,000 for playing in the national championship; and $1 million in the event NC State were to win its third-ever national title.

Other non-performance related bonuses include: $50,000 for finishing the season ranked inside the top 25 in either the Associated Press or USA Today final polls; $100,000 for a top-10 finish; $50,000 for winning ACC Coach of the Year; $100,000 for being named the National Coach of the Year by ESPN, USA Today, AP, Sports Illustrated or the Atlanta Tipoff Club (Naismith College Coach of the Year).