Now that the NBA draft has officially ended the 2009-2010 basketball season, it's time to stop dwelling on the past and move on to the future of Wake Forest sports. Since football season is still a couple months away, the perfect event to keep Deacon fans busy in the meantime is the Triad Summer Pro-Am, in which all the basketball players take part. Click through for information about the league as well as which Deacs will be teaming up this summer.
In case you have not had the opportunity to make it to the summer league in the past, I'll start with the general information. The games are held at Forsyth Country Day School, which is located nearby Winston-Salem in Lewisville, NC and are free of charge (but stop by the concession stand to help the Triad Hoops Academy stay alive!). This year the league starts up on Monday, July 6th, and runs throughout the month of July on every Monday and Thursday until the single-elimination playoffs are held from July 29th to the 31st. Each night there are three sessions of games at two gyms, which are only a short walk apart. The games last about an hour and fifteen minutes each and the first session starts at 6:00.
In addition to all the Wake Forest players participating, the league consists of players and alumni from area colleges such as UNCG, Elon, High Point and Winston-Salem State. Since it is summer league action the intensity often varies from game to game, but it is a lot of fun to get an up close look at all the talent on display, as well as to check out the abilites of the incoming freshmen. This year I am especially looking forward to seeing JuCo transfer Konner Tucker as well as Ari Stewart and CJ Harris for the first time against college-level competition. I have a feeling Ari will give LD Williams some competition for best dunker in the league.
Due to NCAA rules, only two current Wake players can play on the same team and I've listed the pairings below. If the schedule is released online this year like it usually is, check back to Blogger So Dear each week and I'll let you know who is playing in which gym and at what time so you can check out the best matchups at Forsyth Country Day. Also, Wake alums such as Chris Paul, Eric Williams and Justin Gray seem to stop by for a session or two each year, so that is yet another reason to make it out to Lewisville this summer.
Wake Forest Players Team (Sponsor)
Gary Clark and Tony Woods Champion
Al-Farouq Aminu and Harvey Hale Farm Bureau
Chas McFarland and C.J. Harris Grace, Tisdale & Clifton
Cameron Stanley and Chris Paul (only a couple sessions) Mercedes Benz
Ish Smith and Ari Stewart Mountain Fried Chicken
L.D. Williams and Ty Walker Page's Screen Printing
David Weaver and Konner Tucker The Happy Tooth
At first glance of the Wake pairings it seems like it will be fun to watch Ish throw alley-oops to Ari Stewart as they try to build some on-court chemistry. Also, the L.D. and Walker team should be a tough out. It'll be interesting to see which teams pan out since there are always several very impressive non-Wake players that stand out consistently each summer. Here is the link for the rosters in their entirety (pdf format).
Again, check back soon for the schedule and I'll see you there!
**Thanks to TriadHoops.com for all the information