Happy hump day everyone. It's obviously a slow week for Wake news, but we are doing our best to give you some stuff to snack on. A good source every day is with some hot link action. And as always, if you have an idea for a story or want to see us dive into anything in particular, just let us know. Oh and definitely keep an eye on the Vance-West Charlotte game tonight and if you're in the area, there is no excuse for you not to make it out there.

CCU gets road win - WMBFNews.com | Myrtle Beach/Florence, SC | News, Weather, Sports
The 12th-ranked Coastal Carolina University baseball team (3-1) used a solid outing from its pitching staff and made the two runs it had in the first four innings hold up in a 2-0 shutout of Wake Forest (2-3) Feb. 23 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Demon Deacons say it's time to refocus | time, refocus, align - Sports - Burlington Times News
"We’ve got to find ourselves and refocus," Wake Forest’s L.D. Williams said. "We’ve got to find what we did to get to where we were at and get back to it."

Wednesday's High School Gameday - CharlotteObserver.com
Sweet 16 No. 6 Vance (19-6) at No. 7 West Charlotte (19-9), 7 p.m.: Gates open at 5:45. This second-round game will match two teams that are legitimate state title contenders very early in the postseason. Vance won two regular-season meetings, but 6-foot-6 forward Anthony Estes has made a difference since joining the Lions a few weeks back.

An instant KO punch | Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Willie always starts off fast. He punched them first," said Wake Forest-bound McKie, who snacked on fruity Skittles at the scorer's table before each quarter. "Our offense is always there, but if we can lock people down on defense, we can beat anybody in the state." McKie scored 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Little, who penetrated the Monacan defense repeatedly, logged 19 points, and Mangum added 18 even though he sat out the third quarter in foul trouble.

Moving on up? - Fire Confidential
I'm hoping to speak with Corben Bone this afternoon. If you have any last minute questions for the Wake Forest product, feel free to post them in the comments section below. As always, I'll do my best to work them into the interview.

Projecting the ACC Tournament Field - BC Interruption
With four games to go, a look at where the Eagles need to be in terms of seeding for this year's ACC men's basketball tournament.

Study: Good players aren't afraid to touch teammates - TrueHoop Blog - ESPN
As a supportive teammate, one of my favorite players has always been Tim Duncan. He's always putting an arm around teammates' shoulders and the like. I once asked him about an episode at Wake Forest. Duncan's teammate Randolph Childress was feeling down. Coach Dave Odom was talking to Childress and Duncan. Childress stared at the floor. As they both listened to Odom, Duncan reached out a hand and lifted Childress' chin, steering Childress' face towards his coach's. Not just anyone can do that. It's rude and bold, done poorly. But Duncan is exploding with love and support for his teammates. It was intended, Duncan insisted to me later, not to correct Childress for disrespecting the coach in some way (he couldn't even imagine that anyone would think that) but to uplift Childress. To inspire him. To increase his self-confidence. It's not hard for me to believe having a player behaving like that could make a team perform better, over time, by keeping everyone as motivated and connected as could be.

Terrapins Insider - Gary Williams: 'We should be ranked'
"Well the ACC has more than one team in the top 25," Williams said. "Because Carolina's not good, that shouldn't affect the way it's judged. I think the teams outside of Carolina this year, as a group, besides Duke, are better than they were last year." (Thank you Gary)

Spreading the name: BB&T sees benefit in affixing bank's name to stadiums here and elsewhere

Demetri McCamey’s journey to the Hall | The Daily Illini
What were the other schools recruiting you? "I made a list of the top five with Illinois, Boston College, Wake Forest and two more— I believe it was Michigan State— and one more other school that I don’t remember because after the middle of June, I decided to come to Illinois my junior year." Did you make campus visits to any other schools? "I was at Wake Forest, I visited a couple more schools like North Carolina and things like that. It’s just, during the AAU (season) it’s hard to get out to schools. Whatever schools we were playing at were close around, me and my AAU coach went there after the tournament and made a visit."

State ACC players headed to NFL combine – ACC Insider - Wilmington Star News - Wilmington, NC - Archive
Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner, cornerback Brandon Ghee and offensive Chris Degeare.

Wake Forest edges Francis Marion for Wexford victory | islandpacket.com
Led by co-medalist Lee Bedford, Wake Forest rallied from four strokes down to win the fifth annual Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate golf tournament on Tuesday on Hilton Head Island. Bedford carded a 2-under-par 70 to finish the two-day tournament with a score of 142, sharing co-medalist honors with Davidson's Jackson Taylor.

My Take on Wake - It’s Time for Leaders to Lead | JournalNow.com
Many of you have observed that this team is probably not as talented as last year’s team, but that it appears to have better chemistry. I agree, even after the debacle in Raleigh. Jeff Teague and James Johnson were obviously skillful athletes, or else they wouldn’t have been drafted among the top 19 players in last summer’s NBA draft. But Teague is introverted by nature and Johnson has a flippant personality that is hard to read. Neither were the natural leaders that Smith and Williams appear to be. Not to absolve Gaudio of any responsibility, but it’s mostly up to Smith and Williams and the rest of the veterans to assert their leadership and ownership of the team over this next week and have everybody ready to play North Carolina in Joel Coliseum Saturday.