How one Unrivaled basketball coach went from blogger to first in command

Just a few years ago, Andrew Wade was a sports blogger.

In 2018, he published an article debating the pros and cons of the Washington Wizards trading Bradley Beal. In 2019, he dove into his favorite NBA team’s three-point shooting.

Wade, a senior in college, loved basketball — and after playing three years of collegiate basketball at Catholic University in Washington DC, he wanted to be as immersed in the sport as possible.

Now, the longtime basketball enthusiast will get a chance to coach some of the best women’s basketball players out there, like perennial MVP candidate Alyssa Thomas and four-time All-Star Kayla McBride.

That’s because Wade, a current assistant coach on the Washington Mystics, was named one of six head coaches for Unrivaled, the new women’s professional 3-on-3 basketball league launching in Miami on January 17th.

“I’m excited to be in the head seat for the first time,” he said. “I’m excited to have that challenge and face that pressure.”

Wade will lead the Laces Club, which includes five WNBA players representing four WNBA teams (Kelsey Plum was the sixth, but she dropped out last week).

Laces Players: Kayla McBride (Minnesota Lynx), Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Sun), Courtney Williams (Minnesota Lynx), Kate Martin (Las Vegas Aces), Stefanie Dolson (Washington Mystics)

He is ready for the experience.

“From a growth and kind of opportunity standpoint, obviously [Unrivaled] is phenomenal for the players,” Wade said. “But for myself, who’s been in the W for six years — kind of behind the scenes a little bit — it’s a great opportunity for me to get the chance to be a head coach. So I’m super excited for all the situations, and all the opportunities, that I’ll grow from.”

It’s been a long journey. In 2019, he started his career as a video coordinator for the Capital City Go-Go (the Wizards’ G League affiliate) and the Washington Mystics. That initial experience eventually turned into a more permanent player development role for the Mystics.

But, even before he was officially compensated for his work, Wade was getting in player development reps in hopes of eventually securing a more professional opportunity.

“I came up in the player development video space, and the biggest thing that I would recommend is just staying busy,” Wade said. “Make yourself available. A lot of the time, I was doing video work, doing player development work before an opportunity was even there. I was training my college teammates, friends that went on to play professionally overseas.”

Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

Andrew Wade has coaching experience in both the G-League and WNBA

Wade is one of several Unrivaled coaches who have managed to immerse themselves in both the mens’ and womens’ games. And to him, coaching is fundamentally the same — regardless of the gender.

“I always tell the truth — it’s relationships first,” Wade said. “That carries over from the G-league to the W. I’ve definitely spent more time in the W: six years. So I’m a lot more comfortable with W players, the personnel in the league — just familiarity with the league as a whole.”

In addition to the sheer experience he has, a big part of why Wade has been drawn to the WNBA as of late is because of its more versatile style of play.

“In the WNBA right now, you’ll see a lot of the teams in our league right play through the elbow, still play through the post,” he said. “You’ll see bigs handling and pick and rolls, which is starting to come into the NBA. Team to team, there’s so much more of a diversity in personnel. Every single night you’re practicing, you’re scripting, for something different. That’s the beauty and the challenge of it — that’s what I enjoy so much.”

Andrew Wade has long prioritized building relationships

In his introductory press conference for Unrivaled, Andrew Wade reiterated time and again how relationship building was at the center of his coaching philosophy.

“I‘ve made my mark in this league by being genuine with players, building relationships, and telling the truth,” Wade said. “That’s what’s led to a lot of my success throughout these last six years in the W, and then my two seasons in the G-League as well. I’m a big relationships guy.”

One of those relationships will carry over to Unrivaled: his bond with Stef Dolson. Dolson, a veteran member of the Mystics who was also on the U.S. Olympic 3×3 basketball team that won gold in the 2020 Olympics, is someone Wade has formed a close relationship with, something that should aid in his transition.

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

“She’s one of the players that I was assigned to this past year,” he said. “We formed a relationship that went beyond just coach and player. She was comfortable coming to me with anything and, I’ve got no problem telling her the truth whenever. We have a phenomenal relationship.”

For eight weeks in Miami, Wade will once again get a chance to work closely with Dolson — while also forming relationships with Lynx standout guards Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams, Aces rookie Katie Martin, and Sun star Alyssa Thomas. He looks forward to establishing close bonds with each of the five players, who will compete in 3-on-3 games three times a week.

“The people matter in this business,” Wade said. “That’s the biggest thing to me. Establishing that trust early and maintaining it throughout the duration of the season is the most important thing to me. This experience is extremely important for the players, and that’s why we’re all here. I want them to be comfortable coming to me with anything — I want this to be about their growth, their development, and, at the end of the day, winning.”

In practice, that emphasis on relationship building plays out with Wade asking players for input rather than speaking at them, and telling them what to do.

“I‘m not sitting here on day one saying, ‘Hey, Kelsey, these are the three things I want you to work on by the end of March,’” Wade said. “I have my input, but I’m very open, and a willing listener to what they’ve got to say as well.”

Wade joins Teresa Weatherspoon, Phil Handy, and others in Unrivaled

The full list of Unrivaled head coaches includes: Teresa Weatherspoon, a former WNBA star and head coach of the Chicago Sky; Phil Handy, a well-known longtime NBA assistant; Adam Harrington, a former NBA player with 8 year of NBA assistant coaching experience; DJ Sackmann, a well-known skills coach who founded Hoopstudy; and Nola Henry, a player development coach on the Los Angeles Sparks.

Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

Wade might not have quite the name recognition that other Unrivaled coaches like Weatherspoon and Handy have, but he’s happy to be in their company.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be among some legends and some coaching greats that I’ve looked up to for years,” Wade said. “I’m sure a lot of people were looking up there, like, ‘Who is Andrew Wade?’ I’ve been behind the scenes in the W for the past six years.”

And, while Wade will be competing against the other coaches, he also looks forward to learning from them.

“I’m super grateful to be up there with some of the legends of the game,” he said. “I’m really excited again and curious of how they coach, and, what kind of schemes that we see from then.

Unrivaled is front of mind as Andrew Wade looks forward

Wade will soon begin his tenure with Unrivaled. At the same time, he doesn’t exactly know his future in the WNBA given the Mystics’ recent personnel changes. The Mystics fired Eric Thibault this fall, who Wade worked under as an assistant. And, Thibault is now set to serve as an assistant coach on the Lynx under Cheryl Reeve.

“As of right now, I’m still operating as if I’ll be part of the Mystics staff next year,” he said.

Regardless, he looks forward to the individual growth that will come from the Unrivaled opportunity.

“This is my first time being in the head seat,” Wade said. “So, everything from sub patterns to implementing an offense and defense through messaging, and just being in that lead seat for the first time — I can’t speak to how highly I value this opportunity for all those areas of growth.”