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NC State

NC State's non-conference clash with VCU officially finalized, early-season date set

image_6483441 (3)by: Noah Fleischman07/01/25fleischman_noah
Will Wade
© Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

NC State coach Will Wade cut his teeth as a budding assistant under Shaka Smart for four seasons at VCU. He soon rose to the ranks as the Rams’ head coach once his former boss left for Texas, where Wade led the program to the 2016 Atlantic 10 Tournament title and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.

Now, Wade is set to clash against VCU in his first season at the helm of NC State’s program. The two teams agreed to a home-and-home in May, which is now final as both programs have signed the game contracts, per a Freedom of Information Act request filed by TheWolfpacker.com.

The Wolfpack will host the Rams on Nov. 17 at the Lenovo Center before making a return trip to the Siegel Center in Richmond during the 2026-27 campaign with a date still to be determined.

Wade, who left VCU after two seasons to lead LSU, has played his former program before. He returned to Richmond to face the Rams with the Tigers in 2019, an 84-82 VCU win in front of a raucous crowd. In addition to that contest, Wade scheduled the Rams in his first season at McNeese, though he wasn’t able to coach in it as he served a 10-game suspension from recruiting violations.

Instead, it was VCU alumnus Brandon Chambers, who is currently an assistant at NC State, that led the charge to open the 2023-24 campaign. The former Rams student manager led the Cowboys to a 76-65 win over his alma mater, which he has since called one of the highlights of his coaching career.

In addition to Chambers and Wade, NC State Director of Pack Performance Greg Goldin also worked at VCU. He earned a master’s degree from VCU in sport leadership in 2012 as a graduate assistant on Smart’s staff from 2011 to 2012. He soon followed Wade to Chattanooga as the team’s head strength coach before returning to VCU from 2015-17 with the coach. Goldin and Wade worked together at LSU before reuniting this year at NC State.

NC State’s known 2025-26 schedule

Nov. 3: vs. North Carolina Central
Nov. 7: vs. UAB
Nov. 17: vs. VCU
Nov. 24-25: at Maui Invitational
Dec. 3.: at Auburn
Dec. 13: vs. Kansas
Dec. 21: vs. Ole Miss (in Greensboro, N.C.)
TBD: vs. Liberty
TBD: vs. South Carolina (exhibition in Greensboro, N.C.)

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