NC State coach Justin Gainey reflects on journey, brings personal touch to job

NC State coach Justin Gainey was introduced as the Wolfpack’s new coach April 1 at the Lenovo Center in front of friends, former teammates, media and family.

The whirlwind of the day ended with Gainey at his hotel with his wife, Courtney Gainey, and his youngest son Jaxson. Eventually, Gainey and Courtney started to take in all the emotions from the day.

“So much happened that day,” Gainey said. “It was a whirlwind. I had my whole family from all over. They came, they were here. All the former players that were there. Man, some of them I hadn’t seen in a while. It was so good to see them and to spend some time with them. 

“After all of that happened we got to the hotel and it was just my wife and I and my little guy had finally went to bed, it was just something where we just kind of sat there and just kind of reflected on the entire journey that we’d been through.”

Courtney, who went to Winston-Salem State, has been the backbone during every single coaching stop for Gainey. Nothing has come easy and Gainey wasn’t born “on third base” in the coaching world. He had to grind from the start.

“I’m sure all coaches have that journey, but I told her I wouldn’t be here without her because of her willingness to be by my side —her willingness to just pick up and move. 

Gainey’s journey took him from NC State where he worked for coach Sidney Lowe, to getting his first chance to recruit and be on the road as an assistant coach at Elon, about 45 minutes west of Raleigh. He then worked at Appalachian State from 2010-14, and then landed at Marquette in a non-recruiting role, where he truly learned what cold weather and snow was.

Gainey was hired at Santa Clara to work for his former coach Herb Sendek, and then to Arizona where his former NCSU assistant coach Sean Miller was the coach. He returned to Marquette and then on to Tennessee, which proved to be his biggest break, learning from coach Rick Barnes. The Volunteers went to three Elite Eight’s and one Sweet 16 while Gainey was in Knoxville, Tenn.

Gainey knows with all that moving around, it’s not easy on his family.

“My oldest son [Jordan Gainey] went to three different high schools,” Gainey said. “Never once did she say, ‘No, we’re not moving. No, we can’t do it.’  She always had my back. 

“That was the kind of exhale moment. That was kind of everything — the dust had settled. I have to thank her. Without here, it wouldn’t happen.”

Gainey has regularly come back to Raleigh over the years, and usually recruits at the John Wall Holiday Invitational after Christmas at Raleigh Broughton High.

Even so, Gainey has seen the changes at NC State and Raleigh as he gets re-acquainted with the area the last six weeks. Aspects like seeing all the changes on Hillsborough Street has opened his eyes.

“That’s been one of the coolest things is riding around campus on the golf cart with [director of on-campus recruiting and business manager] Chris Zupko who kind of directs those guided tours. It’s been cool for me to see the growth of campus. Like Harrelson Hall is no longer there. The Brickyard, isn’t what the Brickyard used to be. I tell all the recruits, I remember just hanging out on this Brickyard right here. We didn’t have cell phones. This was the meet-up place.”

Gainey still has some of his “special places” like Cloos Coney Island or the legendary Amadeo’s Italian Restaurant.

Gainey also makes sure recruits understand the importance of his former arena — historic Reynolds Coliseum.

“I’ll share stories about Reynolds, right?” Gainey said. “They did an unbelievable job renovating Reynolds. It was the hardest place to play in the ACC.”

Being emotionally tied into NC State made it obvious to Gainey to be there for point guard Tre Holloman and guard Jordan Snell’s graduation last week. The moment went viral in Wolfpack circles, but it went deeper than just what the video showed.

Gainey made sure the players from last year stayed on task academically and took care of business during the last few weeks of the semester.

Gainey and the players will have memories of the moment for the rest of their lives.

“They are NC State, they are Wolfpack,” Gainey said. “They put on a uniform. Regardless of how long it was or who was their coach, it doesn’t matter. We’re all the same because we come from NC State, right?”