Let’s meet a man who might be the man.
Is this a coaching search, or an elaborate scheme to Remember Some Guys? Why not both. Tennessee associate head coach Justin Gainey put himself in NC State lore in 1997 when he played every minute of the ACC tournament, as the eighth-seeded Wolfpack made a run all the way to the final, beating top-seeded Duke in the process. That was a hell of a weekend.
In the time since, he’s been paying his dues on the bench.
1.) How old is this fellow? He won’t be hitting retirement soon, right?
Justin Gainey is 47 years old. He’s got plenty of coaching left in him.
2.) Does he have head coaching experience?
He doesn’t, but he’s worked for some good ones: Sean Miller and Rick Barnes. He’s also worked with Herb Sendek, Steve Wojciechowski, Sidney Lowe, and Jason Capel. Look at this grab bag of ACC connections! These stops include four high-major schools, NC State of course among them. He began his coaching career at State in 2006 in an administrative role, and got his first fully-fledged assistant coaching gig at Elon in 2009.
He’s held the top assistant role (associate head coach) at Marquette and Tennessee.
3.) Does he currently work for ESPN?
What kind of crackpot operation do you think we have here?
4.) To what extent has he elevated his program(s)?
It’s tough to separate the influence of an assistant on a program, of course, though his time at Tennessee has coincided with a run of four straight years in the KenPom top 10. Rick Barnes was already well established there, but reached a new level of success and consistency beginning with the 2021-22 season.
5.) Does he have a track record of getting teams to the NCAA tournament?
Gainey’s teams have made four NCAA appearances (five if you’d like to count Arizona in the canceled 2020 season). He’ll be four-for-four at Tennessee this season.
6.) Is there evidence he can recruit blue chip players?
Plenty. That’s usually how an assistant coach works his way up the ladder, after all. His Tennessee coaching profile helpfully notes that he has recruited or coached a half dozen NBA draft picks. Arizona had back-to-back top-10 classes while he was there that included a couple five-star guys. UT has landed nine prospects graded at four stars or higher since Gainey joined that staff, including a couple guys in the 2025 class. Recruiting is one of the things I’d worry about the least if Gainey were to end up at NC State.
7.) How is he handling roster management in the NIL/portal era?
Tennessee wasn’t working the portal heavily until prior to this season, when it brought in four players, three of whom have become important parts of the Vols’ rotation. Dalton Knecht was a noteworthy portal addition in 2023, and Tennessee also brought in Gainey’s son, Jordan, in that class. Though I’m guessing that was the easiest recruiting job Justin has ever had.
8.) How do his teams perform offensively and defensively?
Here I need to tip my cap to whoever wrote his UT profile, which might be the first I’ve seen that includes numbers from KenPom. Take it away, anonymous hero!
Upon his promotion to associate head coach in 2022-23, Gainey also assumed duties as the team’s defensive coordinator. Under his tutelage, the Volunteers led the nation in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency with a historically strong mark of 87.5 points per 100 possessions. Tennessee’s scoring defense (57.9 ppg) was the best by an SEC team since 2014-15 and its 3-point defense (26.5) was the second-lowest among all Division I programs since at least 2007-08.
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With Gainey imparting the nuance of point guard play, Tennessee has finished top-15 nationally in assist rate every year, posting a mark over 60 percent in each campaign. Additionally, Tennessee’s starting floor general—Kennedy Chandler in 2021-22, Zakai Zeigler in 2022-23 and 2023-24—has earned All-SEC status in all three years. Zeigler won SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2023-24, his third straight season collecting SEC All-Defensive Team status and second in a row leading the league in assists per game.
Tennessee’s defense is No. 1 in efficiency this season, and the offense’s assist rate again ranks in the top 20. The defense has finished no lower than third in efficiency since Gainey joined the staff. Rick Barnes’ coaching history is a bit all over the place when it comes to defense, so we definitely could be seeing some of Gainey’s impact in UT’s numbers. I’d sure love to have an NC State team that plays good defense, man. It’s been a while.
The offense I don’t worry about too much, though it’s been well above average the last few years, since that generally takes care of itself with good recruiting.
9.) Any obvious red flags?
The lack of head coaching experience is it. And hiring an assistant coach might damper enthusiasm a little within the fanbase, but he checks plenty of boxes: he’s an alum, he knows the area and the ACC, he’s worked for good coaches and programs, and he’s steadily worked his way up the assistant coaching ladder in the process. How he’d build his staff would be the key question, but there’s plenty to like here.