Wahoo Wire

With basketball season gearing up, Wahoo Wire will be previewing each ACC team.

Wake Forest

Last Season:

Overall: 20-11

ACC: 9-7

Postseason: Lost in NCAA Rd. 2 to Kentucky

What they lost:

A lot.  Seniors Ish Smith, Chas McFarland, and LD Williams all graduated, Tony Woods left the program, and Al-Farouq Aminu declared for the NBA draft leaving Wake with big holes all across their starting lineup and bench.  Smith was arguably the best point guard in the conference last season and with the departure of McFarland, Woods, and Aminu (all over 6′-9″), you could say that Wake’s “forest” has been cut down this season (I’ll be here all week, thank you). Head coach Dino Gaudio, who took over the team after the tragic death of Skip Prosser, was also relieved of his duties after two underachieving seasons in Winston-Salem.

What they gained:

Wake had four Rival’s Top 100 recruits enter the program this season with 6′-6″ forward Travis McKie being the best of the bunch.  These newbies will be thrown right into the fire as Wake, much like Virginia, has a pretty depleted roster following the turbulent offseason they had.  The new coach is former Colorado head man Jeff Bzdelik who had a less than stellar record with the Buffalos from 2007-2010.  He led them to only 36 wins in four seasons (good for a .383 winning percentage) and the ACC is historically tougher than the Big 12, so this should be interesting.

Summary:

In a league where it seems everyone is rebuilding, Wake might have the most work to do.  Losing four of five starters in the offseason puts them in a bind, especially since so much of their offense last season was based on Ish Smith’s drives to the hoop.  That headache is now gone for their opponents as it’s now time for new blood to carry the Deacons.  It will be interesting to see how the new coach and players adapt to life in the ACC, but I can’t see them finishing any higher than eighth this season.

• Boston College
• Clemson
• Duke
• Florida State
• Georgia Tech
• Miami
• Maryland
• North Carolina
• NC State
• Virginia
• Virginia Tech