It would involve a current player leaving the program
Around this time last year, Syracuse Orange men’s basketball was experiencing a wave of departures via the transfer portal. Most of Jim Boeheim’s final recruiting class chose to leave SU and pursue other options, including guard Qaudir Copeland, who joined McNeese State of the Southland Conference.
Q is set to play this afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but he could soon be changing teams again – and heading back to the ACC.
Reports indicate that current McNeese Head Coach Will Wade has been offered the same job at NC State once his team is done for the season. Wade, who previously coached LSU before being fired for serious recruiting violations, has led the Cowboys to back-to-back conference championships.
BREAKING: NC State has reached an agreement with Will Wade to become the Wolfpack’s next head coach, @giglio_OG reports
Wade is set to coach McNeese State in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday vs. Clemson. https://t.co/5Gd5fxgF9A pic.twitter.com/rL6FBkslii
— On3 (@On3sports) March 19, 2025
If the reports are true, Wade could bring some of his current players with him, as many coaches do when changing jobs. Quadir has found success as the Cowboys’ distributor this season, averaging 9.0 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.3 rebounds. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
A twist to the situation is how Copeland reacted to current SU forward Chris Bell’s end-of-season Instagram post:
It could be as simple as the two plan to see each other in the offseason, but since this is sports we’re talking about, of course there’s speculation to go around.
Bell’s post (included below) ends with the Green Goblin speech from Sam Rani’s Spider-Man, which is clearly a nod to the situation he’s in after a rough junior year.
If Bell does feel that Syracuse fans have turned on him, then a conference foe would make sense to be on his radar. Whether the feeling is mutual or not remains to be seen, but there is potential for him to return to form next fall. Bell shot 42% from deep in the 23-24 season and showed flashes of that again once ACC play began.
The scholarship limit expanding from 13 to 15 next fall, so another Power program like NC State might feel more inclined to take a flyer on Bell.
McNeese plays the wrong Orange, a.k.a. Clemson, at 3:15, so all of this will have to wait until at least the conclusion of that game – maybe longer if they can pull off the upset.
What are your thoughts on Copeland potentially coming back to the Dome in another uniform?