If anyone knows what it takes to win at NC State, it’s the players who suited up and won big for the Wolfpack.

Some of the biggest stars in NC State men’s basketball’s storied history have expressed excitement about new head coach Will Wade. With Wade’s winning pedigree and outward confidence, he’s quickly earning the trust of some of the Wolfpack’s greatest.

“I’m just super excited,” said former NC State guard Chris Corchiani. “He’s the right guy at the right time, checks all the boxes for NC State. I mean, he kind of gets our fan base. He’s one of us, and I just think it was a great hire.”

NC State has hired promising coaches in the past, but none quite like Wade. The Pack has seemingly been searching for a coach it can truly embrace since the legendary Jim Valvano. No two coaches are ever the same, especially across such vastly different eras, but there are some notable similarities between Wade and Valvano.

“I’ve told a few people that he definitely has some Coach V tendencies,” Corchiani said. “The players that play for him, much like Coach V, they love him. They’d run through a wall for him. You hate putting comparisons on Will like that, but there’s certainly some similarities.”

There’s no doubt that a coach like Wade, who brings competitive fire and passion to every challenge he faces, will be a hit with Wolfpack fans. Rather than running from adversity, Wade takes it head on. Whether it’s actively looking to schedule difficult non-conference opponents or paying his dues at McNeese State, Wade embraces the grind and a blue-collar mentality — something NC State fans relate to.

“NC State’s fan base is very different,” said former Wolfpack forward Chucky Brown. “Most fan bases are passionate, but this is a different type of passion they feel. … You have a hard-working crowd that feels like they have a stake in what’s going on.”

With that passion comes high expectations. Like the fans, former players also have high expectations. NC State is a program with multiple national championships, a slew of ACC titles and has been to the Final Four as recently as last year. Rightfully, there’s an expectation for NC State to continue to grow and build off of its history with Wade at the helm.

“We put a lot of time in trying to build NC State into a big basketball program, and that’s what we think it deserves,” said former Wolfpack shooting guard Scott Wood. “We want these kids to come through, give everything they got for this fanbase because they’re hungry for a winner, and we think Will Wade can bring that.”

When NC State men’s basketball is at its best, it’s not just high flying — it’s consistent. From 1967 to 1990, when coaches Norm Sloan and Jim Valvano led the Wolfpack, NC State only had two losing seasons. When a program consistently wins like that, it puts itself in a position to win championships, which the Pack did with a pair of national titles in 1974 and 1983.

“We want relevancy,” said former NC State guard Ernie Myers. “Back when I played, we had relevancy every year. We were ranked, we were in the conversation — in recruiting and everything. We were top of the mind when it came to college basketball, and that’s what [Wade] is going to bring.”

Reaching annual relevancy and national success isn’t easy for any program, but with the transfer portal, the opportunity is there for Wade. That starts with establishing a brand and a style of play. From there, the Wolfpack can decide which players to target to maximize its identity.

“Establishing an identity, that’s the beginning of every team,” said former NC State forward Tom Gugliotta. “You get an identity, and you get kids to fit into those roles, that’s a big hurdle, and then you can worry about the little things.”

In addition to setting a culture and building an identity, Wade’s job will also be maximizing talent. Whether it’s adjusting defenses on the fly, like he did masterfully against Clemson in the NCAA Tournament two weeks ago, or drawing up the right play for an end-of-game shot, Wade’s shown the potential to get the most out of the talent he has.

“That’s what you have to do as a coach, you have to throw wrinkles,” Brown said. “When it comes tournament time, everybody’s good, so you gotta throw some wrinkles in with your plays.”

With the right mixture of talent acquisition and in-game coaching, expectations among the basketball program’s alumni are as high as ever. After building a successful program in the past, the players who invested years into NC State are ready for the Pack to be back. Now it’s up to Wade to make the next chapter of Wolfpack basketball a successful one.

“As alumni, all we want is to see success,” Wood said. “We want kids to come through and have the same opportunity that we had, the love for NC State that they developed, the opportunity to play for championships and go to an NCAA tournament, and then when their time comes, just have an appreciation to understand that they have joined a family.”