College Basketball

Will Wade on Darrion Williams Criticism: 'Everybody Needs to Shut the Hell Up'

Published Jan. 1, 2026 3:38 p.m. ET

Once Darrion Williams decided to transfer from Texas Tech to NC State after withdrawing from the NBA Draft, there was always going to be additional criticism and focus on his play. Wolfpack coach Will Wade is tired of hearing that criticism, though, especially given that Williams "affects winning" and deserves to be appreciated for his play, not endlessly critiqued.

In the postgame conference following Wednesday's ACC matchup against Wake Forest, a 70-54 win for the Wolfpack, Wade responded at length to a question focused on what his "concern level" was about the play of Williams, who scored 11, 8, 9, 17, 1 and 8 points in five December games to close out the 2025 portion of the schedule.

"Absolutely zero. You know I’m tired of hearing about fricking Darrion. He’s f------ playing well. It's a terrible question. It's a terrible question. Let me be frank with you: He affects winning. And everybody is out there b------- about him.

""He was plus-13 against Ole Miss and didn't hit a shot and everybody is acting like the world is caving in. He didn't shoot it well [Wednesday]. Who had zero turnovers for us today? Darrion Williams. Six rebounds, four assists, zero turnovers. So everybody needs to shut the hell up about him. He's a damn good player and the shots are going to fall. I'm tired of answering questions about him. He's really good. We're thankful to have him. Next question."

Williams has seen his points drop of late, but the 6-foot-6 fourth-year player is also just 0.9 points per game behind last season's total while playing nearly two minutes fewer per game. His rebounds and assists are practically static, while his field goal percentage has actually increased from 43.9% to 45.9%, thanks to his 3-point shot percentage climbing to 40.6%.

Wade would continue to speak on Williams, who has been dealing with both a shoulder injury and defenses keying in on him in a way that they had not while he was with Texas Tech.

"He affects us winning games even when he doesn't make shots. He helps us win. Teams are game-planning for him. Yeah, it's an adjustment. Teams didn't game-plan for him as much [at Texas Tech], but he does a lot of winning stuff, and he's taking a lot of unfair heat right now. All right? He does a lot of winning stuff."

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