WILL WADE
Assistant Coach Clemson, ‘05, third season
When Head Coach Shaka Smart hired Will Wade in 2009, all he could talk about was Wade’s work ethic.
After two seasons in Richmond, everyone associated with VCU Basketball knows why. Wade’s relentless work ethic has helped land VCU two of the top mid-major recruiting class in the country according to numerous publications.
His hard work paid off as last year with several components of those classes playing key roles in the Rams’ magical run to the Final Four.
“I came here because I knew the tradition that came with the VCU Basketball program,” Wade said. “I just want to do everything pos- sible to continue that success, while taking this program to even greater heights.”
The first call Smart made after accepting the VCU job was to Wade.
“He called me around noon and said, ‘It’s done’, and I was on an 8:40 flight that evening,” Wade said. “I think I landed about 11 p.m., and then we met until 3 a.m.”
It wasn’t completely a blind leap of faith. The 26-year-old Wade and Smart had known each other for years. Although they had met previously, Smart and Wade forged a close friendship during the 2006-07 season at Clemson. That year, Smart was serving as an assistant coach, while Wade was the director of operations on Oliver Purnell’s staff.
“We hit it off,” Wade said. “We were both very involved with our players, so our paths just crossed a lot. We have a lot of the same core beliefs and many of the same ways of doing things.”
For Smart, the decision to make Wade his first hire at VCU was a no-brainer.
“There’s that saying, ‘don’t work harder, work smarter.’ Well, Will works harder and smarter,” Smart said. “He struck me as the hard- est working guy I knew. His attention to detail is second to none, and he’s really good at developing relationships. I knew that Will was someone we had to have on staff here.”
36 VCU MEN’S BASKETBALL
During their days at Clemson and in the years since, Wade and Smart would occasionally kick around the idea of working together again if one of them secured a head coaching job.
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