Wade’s debut a winner all around
Published 1:26 pm Thursday, December 14, 2023
- Head coach Will Wade made his debut with McNeese State on Wednesday, Dec. 13. The Cowboys beat Southern Miss 67-48 at the Legacy Center. (Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
Four minutes into Wednesday night’s game, Donovan Ivory rose up and fired a 3-point shot for the visitors from Southern Miss.
Ivory’s shot was true and the Golden Eagles had an early 7-6 lead on the Cowboys.
Nineteen seconds later McNeese State guard Omar Cooper hit a floater over 7-foot USM center Tegra Izay, who is 12 inches taller than him.
Cooper’s shot gave McNeese the lead for good as the Cowboys went on to roll to a 67-48 victory in head coach Will Wade’s debut on the Cowboys bench.
With all the hype surrounding Wade’s return after 642 days away from the sidelines, the 19 seconds got lost. However, they marked the only time McNeese has trailed in six home games this season.
Of the 240 minutes the Cowboys have played inside the Legacy Center they have only trailed for those 19 seconds. They have been tied for just another 4:10, meaning they have had the lead for the other 235:31.
They played Wednesday night knowing 6-foot-9 forward/center C.J. Felder had been cleared to play, for at least a short period of time. Felder, along with fellow transfer Mike Saunders, were waiting for waivers by the NCAA to be cleared to play.
Earlier that day a federal judge ruled in favor of all second-time transfers and against the NCAA for immediate eligibility with a 14-day temporary injunction. Wade held Felder out against Southern Miss even after he was cleared and went through warmups in full uniform.
“He’s dealing with a hand issue right now, we hope to have that figured out by Sunday,” Wade said of Felder. “I anticipate him playing on Sunday.”
That would be against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Against Southern Miss DJ Richards came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points to lead the Cowboys. Christian Shumate had his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
But it was the return of Wade that had everybody talking.
“He (Wade) walked out of that tunnel and the whole place erupted,” said Shumate. “That got us all fired up.”
It also got the crowd of 3,494 fired up as well.
“This was great,” said Wade. “This is what we want. This is how we envisioned it.
“It takes a lot of people working hard to make this happen. I’m just the face of it.”
He is also the guy who has turned this program around. At 9-2 the Cowboys are off to their best start since 1976.
But Wade is quick to give credit to his players.
“We hit the jackpot,” Wade said. “They are good and have worked really hard. They have earned the right to win these games.
“It’s really about the players. It’s the horse, it isn’t the jockey. You aren’t winning the Kentucky Derby on a donkey.”
What has been most impressive are the numbers the Pokes are starting to rack up. Their 6-0 start at home is the program’s best since the 2011-12 season.
They have won all those games by 10 points or more and have an average margin of victory of 39.3 on Joe Dumars Court.
Their five wins over non conference Division I teams is the most since the 1977-78 campaign.
“Why shouldn’t we beat some of these teams,” said Wade. “That’s what I was hired for. No limits on how good we should be.”
The Pokes have lots of weapons as well with Richards being the latest. Richards is one of five guys who have led the Pokes in scoring this season in just the 11 games.
“We have a lot of guys who can score on any night,” said Richards. “This was my night but it is a different guy every time out who can get hot and be the guy.”
After losing a program-worst 23 games last season the Cowboys are looking for some payback, like they got against the Eagles.
“There are a lot of teams we lost to last year that are back on our schedule so we’re looking forward to getting revenge a lot this season,” said Shumate.
It’s also amazing that with all the hype surrounding this team it has been able to stay focused on the prize.
“We keep our head where our feet are at,” said Shumate. “Can only worry about what is in front of us.”
And that view looks pretty good.
