McNeese/Clemson Set For Battle in 1st Round of NCAA Tournament

For just the fourth time in program history, the McNeese Cowboys have on their dancing shoes as they will take on Clemson in the 1st Round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Providence, Rhode Island.

For Will Wade and his Bayou Bandints, it is the 2nd trip to the Big Dance in as many seasons for McNeese State. This marks the first time in program history that McNeese will have back-to-back tournament appearances.

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The storylines will be there for McNeese and Clemson as the triumphant return of Head Coach Will Wade and Assistant Coach Vernon Hamilton will take center stage. That was until Wednesday afternoon when many reports broke that Wade had agreed to terms to become the next Head Coach at NC State. Nothing is official yet, but it is likely to become official in the coming days.

Wade, a 2005 Clemson graduate, got his start in coaching as a team manager before moving into roles as a graduate assistant (2005-06) and Director of Operations (2006-07) for the program.

Hamilton, who played for Clemson from 2003-07, was an elite defensive player, earning All-ACC Defensive Team honors in 2006. He still holds the school record for most steals in a single season (83 in 2005-06) and in a career (271 from 2003-07). He also started a school-record 36 games during the 2006-07 season before earning his degree in 2007.

"It's definitely been a thing. He told us how bad he wants this one and we've just been taking it all in. Everyone as a team, we have been practicing really heavily knowing what's at stake, and it's also Coach Verns' alum, too. They have been telling us about it. We got to get the win for them guys." said Senior Javohn Garcia

With all of the storylines aside, there is still a basketball game to be played and a pretty big one at that.

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For McNeese, the Cowboys will have to take on a really good Clemson team, one that is just one year removed from a trip to the Elite Eight.

"It's hard to be here, it's hard to not get excited. It's hard to get here, so it's hard to not be excited when you get here. But I think everybody understands we really want to try to win a game or two and try to advance in this thing and it's not just so giddy about getting here. Last year we were giddy about just being here and it was almost like a field trip. This year it's much more about our business and about, hey, let's see if we can do the things we need to do to try to win a game, or maybe more than one, but we'll start at one." said Will Wade in his media briefing ahead of the NCAA Tournament

Clemson had a record-breaking season, winning 27 games—more than any other year in school history. They finished 18-2 in the ACC, their best-ever conference record, landing them in second place. The Tigers lost to Louisville in the ACC Tournament Semifinals, but before that, they had won nine straight games.

The biggest task for McNeese will be handling one of the ACC's best in Chase Hunter. Hunter averages around 16 points per game, and 3 rebounds a game.

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