Interesting slate of games last night (and more to come today). We learned that UNC's freshmen might be the real deal, but just like all freshmen, they will have some growing pains even though they were so highly touted. I'm still not 100% convinced UNC has solved the PG position. Despite Jay Williams gushing over Larry Drew, I still don't know if he can carry the load. So here's a bunch of basketball links, enjoy.
Rivals.com College Basketball - Rivals.com 2009-10 Preseason 347 Countdown
33. Wake Forest This could be a critical season for Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio. Gaudio has shown he can recruit, but he needs to prove he can coach at the same level as the ACC's top tacticians.
It all starts with defense | Charlottesville Daily Progress
Wake Forest liked the system so much that it decided to implement it three years ago. "When I first got here, we were somewhere around the 100s [in defense]," said Wake Forest senior Ish Smith. "My sophomore year we were in the 40s. Now we’re a top-25 defensive team. It does work."
ACC's big men build versatility - CharlotteObserver.com
As a result, coaches are recruiting more versatile forwards to match up with the other versatile forwards in the league. A year ago, when only three ACC teams started small forwards 6-8 or taller, playing 6-9 Henson or 6-9 Singler at the "3" spot would have created matchup problems for other teams.
At UNC, Heavy Player Losses Won't Lead to Many Losses -- NCAA Basketball FanHouse
The next five or six teams could be interchangeable in the standings, depending on who gets on a roll at the right time. The same fate as last March could very well await -- a jaw-dropping four ACC teams lost their opening games, including Wake Forest, which had been ranked No. 1 earlier and that now has to replace its two best players in forward James Johnson and guard Jeff Teague. But that doesn't mean they won't get in North Carolina's and Duke's way regularly
Scout.com: This Week @ Wake -- 11/09/09
DeaconSports' Martin Rickman provides Deacon fans with Demon Deacon athletics results from this past week as well as a look into this week's action in the initial installment of DeaconSports' weekly feature, This Week @ Wake. Shameless plug alert!
MSNsportsNET.Com -- West Virginia University Mountaineers
Wake Forest will serve as one of 16 host schools for the first and second rounds of the national tournament. The other first-round match in Winston-Salem features 10th-ranked Wake Forest versus Kennesaw State. The Mountaineers and Greyhounds will kickoff on Friday at 3 p.m., while the Demon Deacons and Owls begin at 5:30 p.m. The winners of Friday's games will face off in the second round on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. Tickets prices have been set at $5 for students and seniors and $7 for adults.
Deacons Run Past Mars Hill, 109-65, in Exhibition Game - WAKE FOREST OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
Freshman Sandra Garcia netted 22 points and three other Demon Deacons scored in double figures as Wake Forest stormed past Mars Hill with a score of 109-65 in the first and only exhibition game of the Wake Forest women's basketball 2009-10 season.
Manuel poised, ready to lead FSU to victory | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
Ponder will travel with the Seminoles to Wake Forest, largely to encourage his teammate. "He's got a lot of tools to be successful," Ponder said of Manuel. "He's intelligent, has got a great arm and is obviously very athletic."