Justin Gainey valued experience. NC State provided investment for highest-paid assistants in program history

Justin Gainey was rather confident as he spoke in front of an assembled media corps of a couple dozen local reporters after his introductory press conference. He held court on a perch of the second floor of Lenovo Center, overlooking the Carolina Hurricanes’ sheet of ice, oozing a humble bravado. While there was seven months until NC State’s hardwood would be placed on top of the slippery sheet of pristine frozen surface, Gainey laid out the vision for his program as a first-year coach. A longtime assistant coach himself after spending 19 years on the bench at six programs with his most-recent being Tennessee, Gainey had plenty of time to think about the type of basketball minds he wanted at his hip at all times.  Clad in a gray suit with white button-up dress shirt and red tie, the 49-year-old had a clear understanding of who he wanted to surround himself with on his first-ever coaching staff.  “I want to get experience,” Gainey said. “I want guys around me with a lot of experience. We’ve got to have someone that is young enough to be able to connect with the guys on the team as well, so that’s going to be a huge part.  “Someone, maybe a little younger, that’s still experienced but can relate to the guys. I want to have a variety of characteristics and guys that come from different backgrounds that can help our guys.” Gainey worked the phones in the hours leading up to this April 1 moment and the next few days were filled with more conversations to interview candidates he deemed a good fit for his first-ever staff. By the end of the process, Gainey hired a collection of hoops gurus that fit exactly what he was looking for.  He landed Kentucky associate head coach Alvin Brooks III and Georgia offensive coordinator Anthony Goins, a pair of assistants he’d coached against at Tennessee, while adding former North Florida head coach Matthew Driscoll to round out his top three on the bench.  But in order to land that trio, all of whom would have been able to find jobs elsewhere across the college basketball landscape, NC State needed to make a significant investment. The result of the hires? Gainey now has the three highest-paid assistant coaches in program history, backing the athletics department’s desire for the former Pack point guard to win at the highest level possible.