McNeese basketball opener will be against Virginia Commonwealth, Will Wade’s old stomping grounds

Published 1:34 pm Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Will Wade may not be on the bench when the new season begins, but he will sure be familiar with the territory.

McNeese State’s coach will miss the first 10 games due to his well-publicized NCAA suspension, but that won’t keep him from traveling to the Cowboy opener on Nov. 6 at Virginia Commonwealth.

Wade coached at VCU for two seasons, leading the Rams to 51 victories in the process, earning trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2015 and 2016.

While the first-year McNeese coach won’t be allowed at the games he can travel with the team and run practices.

“It is what it is and we all knew the situation coming in so we will just work to get through it and move forward,” said Wade.

As for the trip back to VCU, he said it should be exciting.

“It is a great place to play, a very good program, and a great atmosphere for the kids to play in,” Wade said. “I will miss not being on the bench but it is a really good place to start for us.”

McNeese released the 13-game non-conference portion of the Cowboy schedule Tuesday with the Southland part set to drop Aug. 1. Seven of those early games will be played inside the Legacy Center.

“I think it is really good that we will have those seven home games,” said Wade. “It is tough to do on this level and have some quality opponents coming here. I like this schedule but it wasn’t easy.

“I did open up late as everybody started looking for games, but it took a lot of work to get done.”

Three of the seven home games will be against Mid-Major programs starting with Tennesse-Martin coming to Lake Charles on Dec. 2. That is a return game from last year when the Pokes lost at UT-Martin 86-83.

Wade’s first game on the McNeese bench will come two weeks later, on Dec. 13 when the Cowboys host Southern Mississippi. Last year the Pokes lost on the road to Southern Miss 86-67 last season.

This will be the Eagles’ seventh time in Lake Charles and first since New Year’s Eve of 2011. Southern Miss won the Sun Belt regular season championship last year and posted a 25-8 record.

Four days after the Eagles another Sun Belt champ from a year ago will be in town. Louisiana-Lafayette, winner of the league’s postseason tournament and NCAA representative, will make a return trip to the Legacy Center on Dec. 17. ULL won last season 78-70 for its eighth straight victory in the rivalry.

The Cajuns, who finished 26-8 last season, are back for a second straight time as part of a switch in games after the hurricanes of 2020 forced McNeese out of the Legacy Center for 16 months while the building was being repaired.

The teams agreed to play two straight in Lafayette.

Already an intense game every time the rivals meet, this one will be extra interesting given the history between Wade when he was at LSU and the Cajuns.

“That will be a fun one,” Wade said.

After opening at TCU the Pokes will play three straight games against non-Division I teams, College of Biblical Studies (Nov. 10), Champion Christian (Nov. 13), and LeTourneau (Nov. 14).

McNeese will follow those up with a trip to Western Carolina on Nov. 18. The Cowboys lost at home to WCU 88-69 last fall in the first meeting between programs.

The Pokes will then travel to Ruston for a pair of games at Louisiana Tech. First, they will take on North Texas on Nov. 21 before playing Tech on the following day as part of a multi-team event.

“I think that MTE is a great spot for us,” said Wade. “We are on our way back from Western Carolina and will get a chance to play two good teams and one on a neutral court.”

McNeese will play at Alabama-Birmingham on Nov. 28 to close out Wade’s suspension.

Tennessee-Martin will start a stretch of four home games, three of which are against Mid-Majors ending with ULL. A Dec. 5 game against Mississippi University for Women is the only non-Division I game that month.

The Cowboys will close out the non-conference slate at Michigan on Dec. 28.

“We are going to be playing a lot of teams expected to compete for their conference titles,” said Wade. “This makes for a good schedule against a lot of opponents we are similar to. We are looking forward to it.”

McNeese is looking to rebound from a program-record 23 losses last season after falling 22 times the year before that. The 45 losses over two seasons are also a program high.

Wade has predicted McNeese would win 23 games plus one in his first season, setting a high bar in his return to college coaching.