After eight seasons with the Jax State Men’s Basketball program, assistant coach Tommy Wade announced his retirement. Wade served as an assistant for head coach Ray Harper at Kentucky Wesleyan, Oklahoma City and finally Jacksonville State.
“Tommy has played an important role in our program ever since he first stepped foot on campus,” said Jacksonville State head coach Ray Harper, “He is a special person that will be deeply missed by our coaching staff, players and community. His hard work, loyalty and love for the game has been unquestioned throughout his time in college basketball.”
Wade has spent over 40 years in the coaching ranks, with the final eight years of his career coming in Jacksonville. In his time at Jacksonville, Wade helped guide the Gamecocks through its second league change in three seasons. After five seasons in the OVC, Wade and the Gamecocks spent a few seasons in the ASUN before making the move to Conference USA.
Wade joined Harper in Jacksonville in 2016 and helped the Jacksonville State basketball program reach new heights in his first season. After being picked to finish last in the preseason OVC poll, the Gamecocks rattled off three consecutive wins in the OVC Tournament to win the conference title and made the first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Just five years later, as members of the ASUN Conference, Jax State made the second NCAA tournament appearance following a 21-11 showing and winning the regular season conference title with a 13-3 conference record.
“Having him by my side for multiple NCAA tournament appearances, Conference Championships and National Titles will be memories I will never forget. Tommy is not only a long time friend and colleague but also a brother for life.”
Wade is part of a coaching staff that has averaged nearly 19 wins per season since arriving in Jacksonville and twice broke the record for the program’s Division I single-season wins mark. Over the past eight seasons, Jacksonville State has tallied 146 wins, appeared in the seven conference postseason tournaments and three national postseason tournaments including the 2017 and 2022 NCAA Tournaments.
While at Oklahoma City, Wade and Harper helped guide the team to back-to-back NAIA Division I Championship seasons. Wade coached six All-Americans at OCU, made three NAIA national title game appearances, and won two SAC tournament titles while stringing together a 95-17 record.
Prior to his time at OCU, Wade served as an assistant for Harper at Kentucky Wesleyan, where the Panthers took home the 2001 NCAA Division II National Championship, reached four national championship games, three conference titles and posted four 30-win seasons in six years. During Wade’s tenure, Kentucky Wesleyan went 161-24.
“Coach Wade has been a key component for the success I have seen throughout my career. His ability to build relationships with the players, the community and the fans has been phenomenal in each of our stops,” said Harper, “Tommy is a person of high character and set a great example every day for our players and coaches. I am forever grateful to him for his unwavering support and loyalty to the program. Tommy’s retirement is well deserved after a tremendous career and we only wish him the best going forward.”
Wade spent time as an assistant at OCU, Kentucky Wesleyan, Missouri State, Murray State, South Alabama and St. Catherine College in Kentucky while also making stops at Oklahoma State and Saint Louis. He began his coaching career at Hopkinsville University Heights Academy in Kentucky, where he directed the team to the Class A state championship in 1991.
Wade has been a crucial piece of three NCAA Tournament teams. At South Alabama, Wade aided in winning two Sun Belt Conference championships and two NCAA Tournament berths working as an assistant coach for Bill Musselman and Bob Weltich. Wade was also part of an Ohio Valley Conference championship team at Murray State.
A native of Hopkinsville, Ky., Wade was an all-state player at Hopkinsville High School as a senior in 1975. He played basketball at Murray State his freshman and sophomore seasons and transferred to Southeast Missouri State for his junior and senior years. His basketball career continued by playing professionally in Argentina for three years and one season in Europe before entering the coaching ranks.
Wade earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Southeast Missouri State in 1992.
