Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-24, 1-15)
Projected starting five:
So. G Tony Chennault
Jr. G C.J. Harris
So. F Travis McKie
Sr. F Nikita Mescheriakov
Sr. C Ty Walker
Important departures:
J.T. Terrell: 11.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.6 apg
Gary Clark: 10.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.6 apg
Ari Stewart: 8.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.1 apg
Percent returning scoring and rebounding:
Scoring: 54.4 percent
Rebounding: 71.6 percent
Additions:
None of note.
Schedule highlights:
Best non-conference game: at Seton Hall
Toughest conference stretch: Jan. 19-28 (at Duke, at Boston College, vs. Florida State, at Clemson)
Outlook:
Last season turned pretty ugly for coach Jeff Bzdelik and the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest dropped 15 of 16 ACC games and ranked as one of the worst major conference teams in the country. Since last season, the team lost about 50 percent of its scoring as Gary Clark graduated and J.T. Terrell and Ari Stewart left the team.
Sophomores Travis McKie and Tony Chennault return to lead a relatively young roster. The team figures to struggle again this season, but they should have better chemistry in Bzdelik’s second season. The team must remain competitive in more games to keep the heat off Ron Wellman, the university’s athletic director who canned Dino Gaudio, a Skip Prosser disciple whose teams had a bad habit of peaking in January, in favor of Wellman’s friend, Bzdelik.
