Justin Gainey Takes Over as NC State Head Coach After 19 Years as Assistant

Justin Gainey is now the 22nd head coach for NC State men's basketball. The former Wolfpack point guard worked 19 years as an assistant in various places before landing this job.

Gainey played four years at NC State, then spent two years as a pro in Austria and France. When his playing days wrapped up, he returned to the Triangle. He started coaching Cary Academy's eighth-grade team in the mid-2000s. That volunteer gig with 13- and 14-year-olds? His squad went undefeated.

Coaching wasn't always what he had pictured for himself. Late in his playing days, during a bus ride, then-assistant John Groce asked if he'd thought about it. "I don't want to," Gainey told him, per On3.

He thought he'd play pro ball for 10 or 20 years, then figure out what came next. But after his overseas stint ended, he tried coaching. He fell hard for it.

"I was drawn to it. I wanted to do it," said Gainey. "I wanted to mentor. I wanted to share my experiences with guys like me that have come from places like me; that had shared experiences and needed some direction, needed some guidance."

This first-time college head coach brings two decades of experience. His name sits in the record books as a player, and now he's back to lead the program through ACC battles.

"As I've developed and grown within the profession, you always think you're ready," Gainey said. "You really do."

This appointment brings the former floor general back home. He inherits a program steeped in tradition, one with steep expectations in the conference.