NC State reaches deal with Tennessee assistant and ex-Wolfpack player Justin Gainey, AP source says

By Canadian Press on March 30, 2026.

N.C. State has an agreement with Tennessee assistant coach and former Wolfpack player Justin Gainey to lead its men’s basketball program, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Monday.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the school has yet to make a formal announcement. The deal requires approval by the school’s board of trustees to become official, with trustees scheduling an emergency meeting for Tuesday to “consider a personnel matter.”

The school also said Monday that it would hold a news conference for its next coach on Wednesday.

Gainey would replace Will Wade, who lasted just one season in Raleigh before leaving for a second stint at LSU.

Gainey, 49, served as the Volunteers’ associate head coach under Rick Barnes since the 2022-23 season, when he also took over as the team’s defensive coordinator. Defense was a key piece of Tennessee’s run to the Elite Eight for three straight seasons, with the Volunteers ranking third, third and 14th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metrics.

Gainey started his coaching career at N.C. State as an administrative coordinator and later as director of basketball operations.

The Wolfpack guard from 1996-2000 under Herb Sendek also was an assistant at Marquette, Arizona, Santa Clara, Appalachian State and Elon. Set to become a first-time head coach, Gainey is from High Point and played high school ball in Greensboro, a little more than an hour west of the N.C. State campus.

“I hope he gets the job,” Barnes said before losing to No. 1 seed Michigan in the Midwest Region final. “I don’t think there’s anybody in the country that loves N.C. State more than Justin Gainey.”

Gainey would inherit a program with tradition highlighted by winning national titles in 1974 and 1983 — the latter being the famed “Cardiac Pack” run helmed by the late Jim Valvano — as well as an unlikely to run to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title followed by the Final Four just two years ago.

Yet there’s also the tough-neighborhood dynamic of building a winning program in the Triangle region in North Carolina, where UNC, Duke and N.C. State — boasting a combined 13 NCAA championships — share the 919 area code and are all within a half-hour’s drive of one another.

Consistent success has been tricky to maintain of late, too.

The remarkable 2024 run under Kevin Keatts marked the program’s first wins in the NCAA Tournament since a Sweet 16 appearance in 2015 under Mark Gottfried, with the Wolfpack missing five of seven tournaments and experiencing a pair of first-round exits in 2018 and 2023. Keatts was fired after the Wolfpack crashed to 12-19 following the Final Four run.

Wade’s bravado-filled arrival last year included promises of a “reckoning” for the ACC and nationally. N.C. State started 18-6 before collapsing, with a First Four loss to Texas sending the Wolfpack into the offseason with eight losses in 10 games.

Then came Wade’s abrupt departure, exactly two weeks after he proclaimed he was determined to win big with the Wolfpack amid speculation about a possible LSU return and saying he was already talking with school administrators about Year 2 needs. Athletic director Boo Corrigan told reporters last week that Wade provided multiple confirmations he would return in recent weeks, only to no-show a meeting before resigning via an email through his agent.

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Aaron Beard, The Associated Press