From the Quad
3/8/2023 9:37:00 AM | General
Presented by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
Good Morning Demon Deacon Nation,
It's another beautiful March day in Winston-Salem, just like this past Sunday when my daughter Mary-Dell and I took in a big Wake Forest women's tennis win over No. 19 Georgia Tech on the Jim Leighton Courts, and then watched our No. 2-ranked Diamond Deacs earn their 13th win of the season over Cornell inside David F. Couch Ballpark.
But as pretty as it is outside, nothing beats Tournament Time on Tobacco Road, and I am just about to hop in the car to make the quick drive back to the Greensboro Coliseum for the Demon Deacons noon tip against Syracuse in the New York Life ACC Men's Basketball Tournament. With the 2023 Associated Press ACC Player of the Year Tyree Appleby and his teammates putting it all on the line, our squad has continued to battle and are in the hunt for a second-straight postseason berth. Thanks to the leadership and determination of Coach Steve Forbes and his staff, we are assured of back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in more than a decade (2008-09 & 2009-10), and we're just two victories away from a second-straight 20-win season.
While a season-ending injury to the ACC's leading three-point shooter, Damari Monsanto, two weeks ago in Raleigh has hindered our offensive versatility down the stretch, we have had some incredible triumphs this season including a victory over a ranked Duke Blue Devils squad, a tough road win at Wisconsin in the ACC/B1G Challenge, sizable home victories over the Tar Heels and the SEC's Georgia Bulldogs, and many thrilling moments among our 18 overall and 10 ACC wins.
It was great to see the Joel Coliseum awakening continue as we recorded our highest student attendance for a season since 2008-09 (12,643) and almost all of our second semester games featured over 1,000 Screamin' Demons in the stands. Additionally, we averaged nearly 10,000 fans in attendance across our 10 home conference games, which marked the sixth-highest total in the ACC. Those passionate crowds helped fuel our student-athletes to those aforementioned big-time wins and we can't wait to have the Winston-Salem community back next year as we strive to improve upon the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina. Our staff is already working on enhancements for next season - please send your thoughts and suggestions directly to me at wfuad@wfu.edu or fill out one of our recent surveys.
You still have time to grab tickets for today's game against Syracuse. And, we have partnered with Alumni Engagement to host a gathering for fans at Steel Hands Brewing across the street from the Greensboro Coliseum from 4:30 to 6 p.m. A Demon Deacons win will advance us to play Miami tomorrow at noon! Remember to wear your Old Gold & Black!
Women's Basketball Grabs Two ACC Tournament Wins to Qualify for Postseason Berth
Speaking of hoops, our women's basketball program is postseason eligible for the fourth-straight season thanks to a valiant comeback victory over Florida State last week, which came a day after a 68-57 victory over Virginia. All the buzz among veteran women's basketball observers in Greensboro was about the great job Coach Megan Gebbia has done building our program since her arrival just 10 months ago. Tough defense and smart, creative offense are becoming the hallmarks of our program. Individually, Olivia Summiel was named a CSC Academic All-District honoree and Jewel Spear was named an All-ACC level performer for the second-straight year.
The future is extremely bright for our women's hoops team as Coach Gebbia and her staff signed multiple top-100 rated players in their first recruiting class! It was the first time since 2014 that our program achieved that on National Signing Day. Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com and our social media channels for information this weekend and early next week on our postseason news.
Paul Family Impact on Winston-Salem Continues
It was great to welcome back the Paul Family, including Chris and his wife, Jada, CP3's brother CJ and wife, Desireé, and their parents, Robin and Charles, when the Deacs hosted Boston College on Senior Night. The Paul family brought together athletes from Wake Forest and Winston-Salem State as a part of the Skip Prosser Literacy Program where they read Chris' new book, Basketball Dreams, to a couple dozen young boys and girls from Cook and Kimberley Park Elementary Schools. The kids then enjoyed the Deacs and Eagles inside Joel Coliseum.
The Paul family is passionate about giving back to our Winston-Salem and Forsyth County communities. Watch here as Robin and Charles describe what the Skip Prosser Literacy Program means to them and how important it is to give back to our community.
The Paul family truly embraces the spirit of Pro Humanitate!
Diamond Deacs Off to Impressive 13-1 Start; Ranked No. 2 in Country!
Following another undefeated weekend at David F. Couch Ballpark, our highly-ranked baseball program is off to an impressive 13-1 start. Despite a loss last night at Coastal Carolina, the Deacs started this spring with 13-straight wins for just the second time in program history, joining the 1949 Deacs.
Coach Tom Walter's squad is 38-5 against non-ACC competition over the last two seasons and the Deacs have used all-around team performances to fuel its near-perfect start, outscoring opponents 169-40, while Wake Forest is batting .344 as a team and holds a team ERA of just 1.98 with 189 strikeouts.
We get our first taste of ACC action this weekend in Durham at Duke. If you live in the Triangle, come out and support our Demon Deacons this weekend as we look to continue our hot start to this season. Meanwhile, make plans now for our next home weekend series against Notre Dame on March 17-19 as the 'One More Rule' applies to Demon Deacons baseball too!
Quartet of Demon Deacons Awarded as ACC Scholarship Recipients
The Weaver-James-Corrigan-Swofford and Jim and Pat Thacker postgraduate scholarships are awarded to elite student-athletes who intend to pursue a graduate degree following completion of their undergraduate requirements. With so many outstanding Demon Deacons student-athletes, it was again hard to narrow down to our four 2023 honorees - Nat Friedman, field hockey; Madeline Rehm, women's cross country / track & field; Adam Cecere, baseball; and Rachel Kuehn, women's golf! These young men and women represent our University extremely well in competition, but more importantly in the classroom and in the community.
Spring Sports Competition News & Notes
Speaking of top-ranked programs, our reigning ACC Champion men's golf team hosted the Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst on Monday and Tuesday this week. Coach Jerry Haas' squad placed in a tie for fourth and the Deacs had two players, Andrew McLauchlan and Michael Brennan, finish inside the top 10.
Coach Kim Lewellen's No. 2 ranked women's golf team is off to an amazing spring start. Last week our squad turned in a top-five finish at the Darius Rucker Invitational and they will be back in action this weekend at the Valspar Augusta Invitational. This event this weekend is a warm-up for Rachel Kuehn, Emilia Migliaccio and Carolina Chacarra as they will be competing in the Augusta National Women's Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club at the end of the month. Additionally, Lauren Walsh was named the ACC Women's Golfer of the month yesterday afternoon!
On the tennis court, Coach Jeff Wyshner's women's team earned a pair of ACC victories last weekend over Clemson and the aforementioned ranked victory over the Yellow Jackets! The win over GT marked the Deacs first against a top-25 opponent since March 6, 2021. Additionally, we have now won six-straight matches! Meanwhile on the men's side, Coach Tony Bresky's squad opened the conference schedule with road wins over Georgia Tech and Clemson. The Deacs are back home to take on FSU at 5 p.m. Friday and host Miami (11 a.m.) and Coastal Carolina (3 p.m.) on Sunday.
Remember, all tennis matches are free! Additionally if you are not in Winston-Salem this weekend for our home matches, the Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC Network and Cracked Racquets announced a partnership recently that will increase coverage of collegiate tennis throughout the conference. Cracked Racquets' coverage of ACC tennis began last Sunday and will continue throughout Friday, April 16 on ACC Network Extra.
Finally, we have two student-athletes who are competing to Win Championships this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field meet in Albuquerque, N.M. Thomas Vanoppen (one mile) and Andrew White (weight throw) head west today as they get set for competition this weekend. Stay turned to GoDeacs.com and our social media platforms for complete coverage of these two young men!
Gminski, Teel Co-Recipients of 2023 ACC Skeeter Francis Award
The Skeeter Francis Award, presented by the Atlantic Coast Sport Media Association (ACSMA), recognizes individuals for distinguished service to, or coverage of, the ACC and is named in memory of Demon Deacons legend, Marvin 'Skeeter' Francis. He served as our longtime sports information director before becoming the first administrator of the ACC's media services division. We congratulate veteran television color commentator Mike Gminski and longtime sportswriter David Teel who are this year's recipients of the award. Both of them are true professionals and we salute their dedication to telling the stories of the ACC.
Each fall our media relations staff, led by senior associate AD Will Pantages, host Skeeter's son, Marvin, at a football game inside the Skeeter Francis Press Room on the sixth floor of McCreary Tower at Truist Field. His father's legacy lives on as we do our best each day to serve all media outlets who cover our University and the Atlantic Coast Conference.
From the Quad Big 3
Before we close, here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:
As always, please send your thoughts, ideas and suggestions to me at wfuad@wfu.edu, and …
Go Deacs!
John Currie
Director of Athletics
Good Morning Demon Deacon Nation,
It's another beautiful March day in Winston-Salem, just like this past Sunday when my daughter Mary-Dell and I took in a big Wake Forest women's tennis win over No. 19 Georgia Tech on the Jim Leighton Courts, and then watched our No. 2-ranked Diamond Deacs earn their 13th win of the season over Cornell inside David F. Couch Ballpark.
But as pretty as it is outside, nothing beats Tournament Time on Tobacco Road, and I am just about to hop in the car to make the quick drive back to the Greensboro Coliseum for the Demon Deacons noon tip against Syracuse in the New York Life ACC Men's Basketball Tournament. With the 2023 Associated Press ACC Player of the Year Tyree Appleby and his teammates putting it all on the line, our squad has continued to battle and are in the hunt for a second-straight postseason berth. Thanks to the leadership and determination of Coach Steve Forbes and his staff, we are assured of back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in more than a decade (2008-09 & 2009-10), and we're just two victories away from a second-straight 20-win season.
While a season-ending injury to the ACC's leading three-point shooter, Damari Monsanto, two weeks ago in Raleigh has hindered our offensive versatility down the stretch, we have had some incredible triumphs this season including a victory over a ranked Duke Blue Devils squad, a tough road win at Wisconsin in the ACC/B1G Challenge, sizable home victories over the Tar Heels and the SEC's Georgia Bulldogs, and many thrilling moments among our 18 overall and 10 ACC wins.
It was great to see the Joel Coliseum awakening continue as we recorded our highest student attendance for a season since 2008-09 (12,643) and almost all of our second semester games featured over 1,000 Screamin' Demons in the stands. Additionally, we averaged nearly 10,000 fans in attendance across our 10 home conference games, which marked the sixth-highest total in the ACC. Those passionate crowds helped fuel our student-athletes to those aforementioned big-time wins and we can't wait to have the Winston-Salem community back next year as we strive to improve upon the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina. Our staff is already working on enhancements for next season - please send your thoughts and suggestions directly to me at wfuad@wfu.edu or fill out one of our recent surveys.
You still have time to grab tickets for today's game against Syracuse. And, we have partnered with Alumni Engagement to host a gathering for fans at Steel Hands Brewing across the street from the Greensboro Coliseum from 4:30 to 6 p.m. A Demon Deacons win will advance us to play Miami tomorrow at noon! Remember to wear your Old Gold & Black!
Women's Basketball Grabs Two ACC Tournament Wins to Qualify for Postseason Berth
Speaking of hoops, our women's basketball program is postseason eligible for the fourth-straight season thanks to a valiant comeback victory over Florida State last week, which came a day after a 68-57 victory over Virginia. All the buzz among veteran women's basketball observers in Greensboro was about the great job Coach Megan Gebbia has done building our program since her arrival just 10 months ago. Tough defense and smart, creative offense are becoming the hallmarks of our program. Individually, Olivia Summiel was named a CSC Academic All-District honoree and Jewel Spear was named an All-ACC level performer for the second-straight year.
The future is extremely bright for our women's hoops team as Coach Gebbia and her staff signed multiple top-100 rated players in their first recruiting class! It was the first time since 2014 that our program achieved that on National Signing Day. Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com and our social media channels for information this weekend and early next week on our postseason news.
Paul Family Impact on Winston-Salem Continues
It was great to welcome back the Paul Family, including Chris and his wife, Jada, CP3's brother CJ and wife, Desireé, and their parents, Robin and Charles, when the Deacs hosted Boston College on Senior Night. The Paul family brought together athletes from Wake Forest and Winston-Salem State as a part of the Skip Prosser Literacy Program where they read Chris' new book, Basketball Dreams, to a couple dozen young boys and girls from Cook and Kimberley Park Elementary Schools. The kids then enjoyed the Deacs and Eagles inside Joel Coliseum.
The Paul family is passionate about giving back to our Winston-Salem and Forsyth County communities. Watch here as Robin and Charles describe what the Skip Prosser Literacy Program means to them and how important it is to give back to our community.
The Paul family truly embraces the spirit of Pro Humanitate!
Diamond Deacs Off to Impressive 13-1 Start; Ranked No. 2 in Country!
Following another undefeated weekend at David F. Couch Ballpark, our highly-ranked baseball program is off to an impressive 13-1 start. Despite a loss last night at Coastal Carolina, the Deacs started this spring with 13-straight wins for just the second time in program history, joining the 1949 Deacs.
Coach Tom Walter's squad is 38-5 against non-ACC competition over the last two seasons and the Deacs have used all-around team performances to fuel its near-perfect start, outscoring opponents 169-40, while Wake Forest is batting .344 as a team and holds a team ERA of just 1.98 with 189 strikeouts.
We get our first taste of ACC action this weekend in Durham at Duke. If you live in the Triangle, come out and support our Demon Deacons this weekend as we look to continue our hot start to this season. Meanwhile, make plans now for our next home weekend series against Notre Dame on March 17-19 as the 'One More Rule' applies to Demon Deacons baseball too!
Quartet of Demon Deacons Awarded as ACC Scholarship Recipients
The Weaver-James-Corrigan-Swofford and Jim and Pat Thacker postgraduate scholarships are awarded to elite student-athletes who intend to pursue a graduate degree following completion of their undergraduate requirements. With so many outstanding Demon Deacons student-athletes, it was again hard to narrow down to our four 2023 honorees - Nat Friedman, field hockey; Madeline Rehm, women's cross country / track & field; Adam Cecere, baseball; and Rachel Kuehn, women's golf! These young men and women represent our University extremely well in competition, but more importantly in the classroom and in the community.
Spring Sports Competition News & Notes
Speaking of top-ranked programs, our reigning ACC Champion men's golf team hosted the Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst on Monday and Tuesday this week. Coach Jerry Haas' squad placed in a tie for fourth and the Deacs had two players, Andrew McLauchlan and Michael Brennan, finish inside the top 10.
Coach Kim Lewellen's No. 2 ranked women's golf team is off to an amazing spring start. Last week our squad turned in a top-five finish at the Darius Rucker Invitational and they will be back in action this weekend at the Valspar Augusta Invitational. This event this weekend is a warm-up for Rachel Kuehn, Emilia Migliaccio and Carolina Chacarra as they will be competing in the Augusta National Women's Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club at the end of the month. Additionally, Lauren Walsh was named the ACC Women's Golfer of the month yesterday afternoon!
On the tennis court, Coach Jeff Wyshner's women's team earned a pair of ACC victories last weekend over Clemson and the aforementioned ranked victory over the Yellow Jackets! The win over GT marked the Deacs first against a top-25 opponent since March 6, 2021. Additionally, we have now won six-straight matches! Meanwhile on the men's side, Coach Tony Bresky's squad opened the conference schedule with road wins over Georgia Tech and Clemson. The Deacs are back home to take on FSU at 5 p.m. Friday and host Miami (11 a.m.) and Coastal Carolina (3 p.m.) on Sunday.
Remember, all tennis matches are free! Additionally if you are not in Winston-Salem this weekend for our home matches, the Atlantic Coast Conference, ACC Network and Cracked Racquets announced a partnership recently that will increase coverage of collegiate tennis throughout the conference. Cracked Racquets' coverage of ACC tennis began last Sunday and will continue throughout Friday, April 16 on ACC Network Extra.
Finally, we have two student-athletes who are competing to Win Championships this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field meet in Albuquerque, N.M. Thomas Vanoppen (one mile) and Andrew White (weight throw) head west today as they get set for competition this weekend. Stay turned to GoDeacs.com and our social media platforms for complete coverage of these two young men!
Gminski, Teel Co-Recipients of 2023 ACC Skeeter Francis Award
The Skeeter Francis Award, presented by the Atlantic Coast Sport Media Association (ACSMA), recognizes individuals for distinguished service to, or coverage of, the ACC and is named in memory of Demon Deacons legend, Marvin 'Skeeter' Francis. He served as our longtime sports information director before becoming the first administrator of the ACC's media services division. We congratulate veteran television color commentator Mike Gminski and longtime sportswriter David Teel who are this year's recipients of the award. Both of them are true professionals and we salute their dedication to telling the stories of the ACC.
Each fall our media relations staff, led by senior associate AD Will Pantages, host Skeeter's son, Marvin, at a football game inside the Skeeter Francis Press Room on the sixth floor of McCreary Tower at Truist Field. His father's legacy lives on as we do our best each day to serve all media outlets who cover our University and the Atlantic Coast Conference.
From the Quad Big 3
Before we close, here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:
- March is Women's History Month and I encourage all those in our Wake Forest community to check out our University's Women's History Month Calendar. Additionally, it is National Athletic Training Month - we are so thankful for the dedication of our sports medicine staff and all they do for our 400-plus student-athletes!
- Read about how Chemistry professor, Elham Ghadiri has received a 2023 NSF Early CAREER Award and a grant for $650,000 that will be distributed to Wake Forest over five years. Scholarships like this sets our University apart from the competition as we strive to provide a World Class Experience for all our students at Wake Forest.
- Our 2023 football schedule is set and with multiple sellouts expected, let's continue to raise the standard together this fall by purchasing season tickets! For assistance, please contact the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext 1 or tix@wfu.edu.
As always, please send your thoughts, ideas and suggestions to me at wfuad@wfu.edu, and …
Go Deacs!
John Currie
Director of Athletics