In the ever-evolving landscape of college basketball, the transfer portal has become a crucial avenue for teams to bolster their rosters. One team that continues to punch above its weight in the transfer market is McNeese State. We see you, Will Wade. The quality of his transfers and the team he has assembled over the last two years is akin to what you would find in a power conference. Let’s take a closer look at some of the magic he is pulling off and how many power schools with so much more resources could take note.
McNeese State Resources
It’s first important to understand where he is doing this, and why this makes the job so special. Will Wade’s departure from LSU is well-publicized and allowed McNeese State to hire him at $200,000, making him one of the lowest-paid coaches in America. He has since received a raise after a strong season, now earning a still modest $700,000.
McNeese State had one of the lowest budgets in America in 2023, ranking 300th. Perhaps they have some NIL money, but there is little evidence of that at this time. It also seems unlikely given their struggle to offer Will Wade a competitive contract and overall budget short falls that they would not take care of Wade more will giving players difference making money. We are left to assume, given the evidence, it’s more about Will Wade attracting these recruits and finding those who’s value is at a nadir.
Even if they are finding some NIL money, they were coming off an 11-23 season where they finished 335th in KenPom and play in one of the worst conferences in America, typically ranking 29th through 31st in the nation. That’s the uphill battle that is still faced to get recruits to the Southland. Wade was able to lead them to a remarkable 30-4 record last year, finishing ranked 67th in KenPom and making the NCAA Tournament in what is one of the biggest turnarounds ever few are talking about enough. It marked only their 3rd NCAA appearance in school history and the first since 2002. It was one of the best first year turnaround jobs I’ve ever seen, and the made possible in this new era of transfer free and the portal.
How He Did It in 2023-24
The first thing Wade was able to do was bring back Christian Shumate who averaged 15.1ppg, and 9.7rpg the prior season. In the age of the portal that itself is a great job to re-recruit a player you never coached to stay and retain them when he likely had options.
That’s 7 quality transfers and 1 JUCO that joined Christian Shumate. Now, I believe how he was able to land this caliber of player was because most of these players weren’t coming off their peak season, and their value was at a relative nadir, and they were somewhat forgotten about.
As I have stated before, however, if you’ve proven you can perform at a high level before and shown your ceiling, then I believe you absolutely can return to that level if not exceed it. You still have lots of value as long as there wasn’t a catastrophic injury, in my belief. Would coaches be excited about a player that averaged 16.8 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 3.8 Ast in the Sun Belt? I think so and even with Wells only averaging 5.9 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 2.3 Ast in the most recent season, he was still the same player that was previously in top 100 transfer rankings, but undervalued after a modest year at TCU and no longer ranked like that.
Wade recruited players that had great performances on their resumes, but mostly from a few seasons back. Many had been at the power conference level and were mostly the bench or were role players, and they were now coming down the school ladder, likely looking for more secure playing time and roles. These are the undervalued players, in my opinion, that most of the power conferences weren’t prioritizing in NIL or ignoring or have forgotten, given the influence of recency bias and modest recent seasons. Wade found the value and weak spot in the market in my opinion.
2024-2025
Sincere Parker
Wade continues to build on this undervalued rectruit formula. The latest addition to the McNeese State roster is Sincere Parker from Saint Louis, whose statistics read like something out of a video game. Averaging an impressive 15.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in just 20.7 minutes of play over 16 games, his efficiency is nothing short of remarkable.
Delving deeper into the numbers, it’s evident that this guard’s productivity transcends conventional metrics. With a PER (Player Efficiency Rating) of 30.0, he’s in a league of his own, averaging an astonishing 44.2 points per 100 possessions. For comparison, even the most prolific scorers pale in comparison to his offensive output per possession. Zach Edey led the nation in scoring and was only at 46 points per 100 possessions while having one of the greatest seasons ever.
The biggest knock is only playing in 16 games and 20.7 minutes a game, primarily due to injury. However this isn’t like he just ran the stats up on a weak OOC. His dominance came mostly against A10 competition speaks volumes. A staggering 36.0 PER in 12 conference games of the 16, solidifies his status as potentially one of the most dynamic guards in college basketball. This wasn’t accomplished vs weak teams as the A10 was the 8th ranked conference. The fact he broke his foot on November 17th and came back January 10th and performed the way he did after only makes it more incredible.
Parker scored 33 points in 18 minutes on 14 shots against LaSalle in February, then followed it up with 34 points and 9 rebounds in the next game against St. Joe’s, an NIT team. He continued his scoring prowess with 30 points in the game after that against VCU, another NIT team, and managed to put up 21 points against VCU in their first encounter as well, all in just 21 minutes.
The only explanation for not seeing him on any top 100 transfer rankings is that people doubt how real his performance was because it was only over 16 games, and he wasn’t very good the season prior at Saint Louis (5.9 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 0.2 Ast, 18.1 PER), despite being a former top 10 JUCO with a pedigree. To me, this is exactly the type of high-upside player everyone should be trying to acquire. I think he shown enough regardless, and the ceiling is immense. Yet you hear no one talking much about this. Even my model adjust him down probably more than it should because of the minutes restriction and low minutes, but he’s still in the top 65 recruit by it.
Others
But McNeese State’s success in the transfer portal doesn’t stop there. They’ve also secured the talents of Bryant Selebangue, a formidable presence on the court standing at 6-foot-9. With impressive numbers from his time at Tulsa (12ppg 9.2rpg 21.3 PER). However he fits the same general type of transfer who didn’t find success in the power conferences at Arizona State (4.8 Pts, 4.1 Reb, 0.4 Ast, 18.1 PER) and is now moving back down the ladder. He wasn’t bad when he played, he just didn’t get the minutes.
Furthermore, the addition of Joe Charles, (11.3ppg 9.6rpg 34% on 53 made three 19.3 PER) in the Sun Belt at Louisiana 6-7 a proven double-double threat from Louisiana, further enhances McNeese State’s lineup. With his ability to score inside and stretch the floor with his three-point shooting, Charles is set to make an immediate impact for the team.
Finally, Brandon Murray emerges as a classic reclamation project. Murray is a player who has frequently transferred, making stops at Georgetown, LSU, and Ole Miss in his first three years of college. He’s garnered high rankings on numerous transfer lists over the years, although he never ranked highly on ours due to his lack of efficiency. Nevertheless, acquiring a former player who averaged 13.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists (albeit on a struggling team) from the Big East to the Southland is still notable. Part of this can be attributed to Will Wade, who initially recruited him to LSU and had a relationship with him. However, it’s Murray’s performance this year at Ole Miss, where he averaged 4.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and posted a 9.4 PER, that has diminished his value to a level where other power 5 conferences likely aren’t pursuing him as vigorously. This is where the value is the lowest and can offer a larger role or playing time to.
Conclusion
With the addition of these talented transfers alongside returning standouts Christian Shumate (another great recruiting job to retain him), and bringing back DJ Richards, Javohn Garcia, and Mike Saunders, McNeese State is poised to make noise in the college basketball landscape once again. Mid-majors could take their cues from Wade in identifying players who have been in the Power 5 conferences but were playing limited minutes and are now looking for larger roles, usually coming back down the ladder. Even mid-level power five schools could benefit from his reclamation project approach.
