Will Wade passionately defends NC State player in postgame rant

First-year NC State basketball coach Will Wade passionately defended Darrion Williams after the Wolfpack’s win over Wake Forest on Wednesday, Dec. 31 as the five-star transfer draws criticism for his inconsistent play as of late.

Williams, one of the top-rated transfer portal recruits last offseason after averaging over 15 points per game at Texas Tech in 2024-25, is 10-of-37 shooting in his last three games combined. He has been held to 11 points or fewer in five of NC State’s last six games.

Wade said everybody needs to ‘shut the hell up about him’ after NC State’s 70-57 win over Wake Forest in response to a question on Williams’ recent struggles.

‘Absolutely zero,’ Wade said of his concern level with Williams. ‘I’m tired of hearing about fricking Darrion. He’s (expletive) playing well, alright. It’s a terrible question. It’s a terrible question. Let me be frank with you. He affects winning. And everybody’s out here (expletive) about him and stuff, he affects winning.

‘He was plus-13 against Ole Miss and didn’t hit a shot. And everybody’s acting like the world’s caving in. The guy’s a damn good player. He didn’t shoot it well today. What’d he have? He had zero turnovers for us today. Darrion Williams. Six rebounds, four assists, zero turnovers. Everybody needs to shut the hell up about him. He’s a damn good player and the shot’s going to fall.

‘I’m tired of answering questions about him. He’s really good. We’re thankful to have him.’

Wade mentioned Williams is playing through a shoulder injury that he claimed is severe enough for most players to sit out from, especially those getting paid as much as Williams.

Williams is shooting 41% from 3-point range this season, up from his 34% mark a season ago. He’s also shooting 45.9% from the field, despite his recent shooting struggles. He shot 43.9% for the year last season at Texas Tech.

It’s not the first time Wade, who led McNeese to a first-round NCAA Tournament win last season, has had a passionate postgame press conference. Wade called out his team’s ‘casual personalities’ after NC State’s 108-72 win over Texas Southern on Dec. 17.

Williams scored 20 or more points in three of his four games during Texas Tech’s run to the Elite Eight last season, also averaging two steals and 2.8 blocks per game. Wade and the Wolfpack are hoping he gets back to that level once healthy.

‘I’m tired of people picking on the kid, man,’ Wade said. ‘I got it. He makes a lot of money for us, but there are about 10 other schools that have paid as much or more than we paid for the kid. The kid is not perfect. I understand that. The kid is not perfect, but he is a damn good player, and we are lucky to have him at NC State.

‘He picked us over a lot of schools with a lot better situations than we had at the time he picked us. Let’s be fricking appreciative. Let’s support the kid. Let’s help the kid.’