“There’s an emphasis on being more consistent, playing well when we go into hostile environments, finishing strong,” senior center David Weaver said.
No doubt. The Demon Deacons’ 24-7 campaign last winter included a 16-0 start, a victory over then-No. 1 North Carolina, a rise to the top spot in the polls and second-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Then came the ultimate thud: an 84-69 loss to No. 13 Cleveland State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Mixed in with the disappointment of that defeat this summer were the departures of underclassmen Jeff Teague and James Johnson to the NBA Draft, leaving Wake picked sixth in the ACC preseason poll.
That may not be high enough, the Deacs agreed.
“We have great freshmen who came in and they’re really talented,” offered star point guard Ish Smith. “It’s going to be exciting this year.”
Added coach Dino Gaudio, in his third year leading the team following the death of Skip Prosser: “I’m excited about the season. We’ve got four seniors – Ish Smith, L.D. Williams, Chas McFarland, David Weaver – who have been through the ACC wars. I think we have one of the best point guards in the ACC and one of the best young talents in the league in Al-Farouq Aminu. We lost some very good players, but we have some very good players coming back.”
It starts with Aminu, the 6-foot-9, 215-pound sophomore forward who landed on the Naismith preseason watch list. The athletic wing can play small forward and dominate foes with his size, or slide into the power forward spot and use his quickness to thrive.
Aminu started 30 times last year and averaged 12.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game to go along with 38 blocks, 30 steals and 46 assists. Opponents also can expect an improved outside game after Aminu went just 7-for-39 from long range last winter.
“Al-Farouq spent a lot of time shooting,” Gaudio said. “He didn’t shoot great on 3s last year, but he’s really a kid that can play inside as well as out. He’s really worked on his perimeter game this offseason.”
With Teague gone, the unquestioned backcourt star this year is Smith. The 6-foot, 175-pound senior from Concord seemed unstoppable after leading the ACC in assists as a freshman, then took a backseat last year to Teague. Smith, however, said he learned valuable lessons serving as a reserve in all 29 games due to a broken foot suffered in September.
“Last year probably was the best I’ve played since I’ve been at Wake Forest,” Smith offered. “The last 10, 11 games, what I did was I took the role and tried to be more aggressive. I learned a lot from Jeff. I watched him and he was always aggressive, kept the defense back on their heels, and he always had scoring opportunities for our team.”
Smith hopes to score his own points and dish out assists in equal number this season. Wake boasts an embarrassment of riches in the post in 7-foot senior McFarland, 7-foot sophomore Ty Walker, 6-11 senior Weaver and 6-11 sophomore Tony Woods, and Smith plans to feed the post every chance he gets.
“That’s not a bad crop to pick from,” Smith said with a smile. “I’m blessed to have those guys running beside me. I’m going to try to find those guys and get easy buckets every time.”
The big guys, along with Williams – the impressive senior guard – also should help Wake continue its recent success on the defensive end. Gaudio praised last year’s team for finishing in the top 25 defensively after being 241st three years ago.
“We held teams to 39.8 field-goal percentage on defense, we were the best 3-point field-goal percentage team in the ACC, we can also be very good on the backboards,” Gaudio said.
But can they score? That remains to be seen as Wake enters the 2009-10 season on the 13th at home against Oral Roberts.
Aminu and Smith should star. Woods and junior guard Gary Clark should be bigger threats, and freshmen C.J. Harris (Mount Tabor) and Ari Stewart could offer immediate contributions.
“When you lose guys of NBA caliber such as Jeff and James Johnson, you have to replace that,” Weaver said. “It’s not necessarily going to be a burden on one or two guys to do that. We’ve got to do that collectively”
shanf@hpe.com | 888-3526
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