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Quadir Copeland on facing Syracuse: ‘It’s definitely gonna be personal’

Quadir Copeland on facing Syracuse: ‘It’s definitely gonna be personal’

For the first time since transferring from Syracuse, Quadir Copeland will face his former program when NC State hosts the Orange Tuesday night in the Lenovo Center. Maxine Brackbill | Daily Orange File Photo

By Justin GirshonSenior Staff Writer

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Will Wade sent Quadir Copeland packing for 10 days. It was the summer leading up to the 2024-25 season, and Copeland was in his first offseason with McNeese State after transferring from Syracuse.

“He didn’t know whether he was ever going to come back,” Wade said.

Copeland returned, becoming a key piece on a Cowboys squad that won the program’s first NCAA Tournament game. When Wade left to take over NC State’s program, Copeland followed and has since emerged as one of the nation’s top point guards — his 7.60 EvanMiya Bayesian Performance Rating leads all Atlantic Coast Conference guards.

At SU, Copeland saw limited action as a freshman under Jim Boeheim before breaking out as a sophomore and finishing as the runner-up for the 2023-24 ACC Sixth Man of the Year award in Adrian Autry’s first season at the helm. Copeland said he then wanted to bet on himself to find a situation where he could play point guard for a coach who believed in him, which Wade exemplified.

When NC State (14-6, 5-2 ACC) hosts Syracuse (12-8, 3-4 ACC) Tuesday, it’ll mark the first time Copeland plays against the program where he began his collegiate career.

“It’s personal, it’s gonna be a show,” Copeland said of facing SU. “It’s going to be a great game to be back home, but it’s definitely gonna be personal for sure.”

Before transferring to McNeese State for the 2024-25 season, Quadir Copeland started his career at Syracuse, where he played for two years. Maxine Brackbill | Daily Orange File Photo

Copeland’s decision to enter the transfer portal came five days after the Orange’s season ended in an ACC Tournament loss to the Wolfpack. He explained that it didn’t take long because he felt he already knew what he wanted to do.

Autry said he thought “a lot of factors” contributed to Copeland entering the portal, specifically citing the free market and the head coach transition that SU was going through.

While Copeland noted that he had played point guard his whole life, he explained that he never played the position for the Orange — a role Joe Girard III, Judah Mintz and J.J. Starling mostly filled during that time.

“The vision didn’t align, so I just made the decision best for myself,” Copeland said.

Unlike teammate Maliq Brown, who transferred from Syracuse to Duke, Copeland said the guys around him — seven of the Orange’s players entered the portal — didn’t influence his decision. However, he highlighted how Mintz was going to the NBA, Brown was leaving, Justin Taylor was leaving and his recruiting coach, Gerry McNamara, became Siena’s head coach.

Ultimately, Copeland’s decision came down to two questions:

What do I really want to be?

What do I really want to do?

Julian Dunkley, Copeland’s long-time trainer and mentor, explained Copeland could’ve gone “almost anywhere in the country except for maybe Duke or North Carolina” after entering the portal. He ended up at a mid-major located in Lake Charles, Louisiana, because of Wade.

“Quadir had so much moxie, a chip on his shoulder and focus,” Dunkley said. “You could have put him in Antarctica; it wouldn’t have mattered. He had a plan, he wanted to be the best basketball player he could be and I think that situation (with McNeese State) was the best for him.”

In Wade’s first season coaching McNeese State in 2023-24, the Cowboys won 30 games and secured their first March Madness berth since 2002. Combining that success with knowing Wade’s vision, which was to leave McNeese State after his second season, and the head coach’s belief in him as a point guard, Copeland committed to Wade.

When building his relationship with Copeland via FaceTime and hosting him for an on-campus visit, Wade said he remembers personality, confidence and swagger stood out. On the visit, Wade recognized that Copeland doesn’t ever stop talking — both good and bad.

“He’s not the same person or player that he was at Syracuse,” Wade said. “I think he’d tell you that he made some mistakes, and he’s learned quite a bit since then.”

In Wade’s eyes, Copeland has grown most in his reliability and dependability. Wade mentioned that Copeland had a lot of outstanding academic obligations at SU, adding that he was in a crunch because he was “missing stuff for a while.”

Before playing for McNeese State, Wade nearly kicked Copeland off the team during what Copeland described as a clash between two hard-headed personalities. Copeland said he’d never been disciplined that way before.

“It was a great experience for me, because I got to realize who coach was, and I also got to understand how to play this game and how to go about certain things, how to be coachable, how to want to accept coaching and things like that,” Copeland said.

When Copeland and Wade had a later conversation, Copeland remembers Wade — who was on his first job since being fired as LSU’s head coach following accusations of five Level I NCAA violations that involved the FBI — saying that he couldn’t judge his point guard the way he thought he could because he was given a second chance.

“He was just like, ‘Who am I to not give you a second chance?’ Once I got my chance, I just went all the way with it, and he trusted me,” Copeland said.

Copeland averaged 9.2 points and 22.8 minutes per game with the Cowboys, both decreases from his respective 9.6 and 22.3 clips at SU the season prior. However, he started 24 games, dished out a career-high 4.5 assists per contest and increased his EvanMiya BPR from 2.95 to 4.04.

It helped McNeese State clinch a viral March Madness run before Wade departed for NC State.

After Wade took over the Wolfpack’s program, Copeland entered the portal with a “do not contact” tag, then followed his coach.

Thus far, Copeland has started all 20 of NC State’s games while playing a career-high 27.7 minutes per game and has the ball in his hands more than ever. It’s resulted in him registering career highs of 14.1 points and 6.2 assists per game on a Wolfpack squad that looks likely to reach March Madness.

Copeland has been backed by a career-high 63.8% true shooting percentage while his 41.1% assist rate ranks seventh in the country. To Autry, Copeland’s 3-point development is what jumps out most.

He’s shooting a career-high 47.6% from beyond the arc, nearly doubling his previous best 25.0% clip. Additionally, Autry noted how Copeland’s assists are up and his turnovers are down.

“When you talk about at Syracuse, unfortunately, he wasn’t here long enough,” Autry said. “But the year that he was here for me, he had the ball in his hand more, he became more of a playmaking wing for us. I think eventually it would have progressed into him being more of a main ball handler at some point, which is where he’s at now.”

Since Copeland’s departure, Syracuse has turned to Hofstra transfer Jaquan Carlos and Georgia Tech transfer Naithan George as its primary point guards. Carlos averaged 6.7 points and 4.1 assists per game before graduating, while George — the reigning ACC leader in assists — is averaging 10.0 points and 5.5 assists this season.

What Copeland might have become at Syracuse will never be known. Tuesday night in the Lenovo Center, he’ll face his former program as one of the nation’s top point guards.

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Published on January 26, 2026 at 10:53 am
Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon

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