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Wake Forest Basketball Coaches’ First Wins vs. ACC Teams Through History

A look at Wake Coaches against ACC competition at home and on the road

NCAA Basketball: Wake Forest at N.C. State Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Danny Manning has yet to beat Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, or Clemson in his fifth year as Wake Forest’s head basketball coach.

So I decided to take a look at Wake Forest basketball coaches throughout the years and see how long it took them to beat various ACC teams.

Murray Greason (1953-56)

Coach Greason coached the Deacs in the inaugural season of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953-54. All matchups listed are only considered after the formation of the ACC.

Clemson: Win in first matchup on the road/first overall, Win in first matchup at home/second overall

Duke: Loss in first game at neutral site/first overall (Dixie Classic Tournament), Win in first game at home /second overall matchup, win in third game on road/eighth overall

Maryland: Win in first game at home/overall, Win in second game on road/fourth overall

North Carolina: Win in third game at home/sixth overall, Win in first game on road/second overall

North Carolina State: Win in first game at home/first overall, Win in first game on road/second overall

South Carolina: Win in first game at home/second overall, Win in first game on road/first overall

Virginia: Win in first game at home/first overall, Win in first game on road/second overall

Horace “Bones” McKinney (1957-65)

Bones’ first season as head coach of the Demon Deacons was in 1957-58.

Clemson: Win in second game at home/third overall, Win in third game on road/sixth overall

Duke: Win in third game at home/eighth overall, Win in third game on road/ninth overall

Maryland: Win in second game at home/fourth overall, Win in third game on road/fifth overall

North Carolina: Win in fifth game overall (neutral site), Win in fourth game at home/tenth overall, Win in third game on road/seventh overall

North Carolina State: Win in third game at home/sixth overall, Win in fifth game on road/eighth overall

South Carolina: Win in first game at home/first overall, Win in first game on road/second overall

Virginia: Win in first game at home/second overall, win in second game on road/third overall

Jack Murdock (1965-66)

Former player Jack Murdock coached the Deacs for one season in 1965-66.

Clemson: Lost both matchups-one on road and one at home

Duke: Won only home matchup/third overall, lost on road and two neutral games

Maryland: Lost both matchups-one on road and one at home

North Carolina: Lost both matchups-one at home and one on road

North Carolina State: Lost both matchups-one at home and one on road

South Carolina: Won both matchups-one at home and one on road

Virginia: Won only home matchup, lost only road matchup

Jack McCloskey (1966-72)

McCloskey’s first season was in 1966-67

Clemson: Won first home game/first overall, Won third road game/seventh overall

Duke: Won neutral game in seventh overall matchup (at Greensboro Coliseum), Won sixth home game/sixteenth overall, Never won on road

Maryland: Won first home game/second overall, Won first road game/first overall

North Carolina: Won fourth home game/eleventh overall, won fourth road game/tenth overall

North Carolina State: Won in fifth home game/thirteenth overall, Won first road game/first overall

South Carolina: Never defeated Gamecocks in eleven games

Virginia: Won in first home game/first overall, Won in third road game/sixth overall

Carl Tacy (1972-85)

Tacy’s first season as head coach of the Deacs was in 1972-73.

Clemson: Win in first home game/second overall, win in fourth road game/eighth overall

Duke: Win in first home game/second overall, win in second road game/fifth overall

Georgia Tech: Win in first home game/second overall, win in first road game/first overall

Maryland: Win in first home game/second overall, win in fifth road game/ninth overall

North Carolina: First win in ACC Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum in third game overall, win in sixth home game/seventeenth overall, win in fifth road game/fifteenth overall

North Carolina State: Win in fourth road game/sixth overall, win in fourth home game/eleventh overall

Virginia: Win in third home game/fifth overall, Win in fifth road game/tenth overall

Bob Staak (1985-89)

Staak’s first season as head coach was in 1985-86.

Clemson: Won neutral game in fifth overall matchup in ACC Tournament, Won third home game/seventh overall, Never won on road

Duke: Won neutral game at Greensboro Coliseum in ninth overall matchup, never won on road

Georgia Tech: Never won in eight games

Maryland: Won in second home game/third overall, won in second road game/fourth overall

North Carolina: Won in third home game/fifth overall, never won on road

North Carolina State: Won in third home game/sixth overall, never won on road

Virginia: Never won in eight games

Dave Odom (1989-2001)

Dave Odom’s first season as head coach of Wake Forest was in 1989-90.

Clemson: Won in second home game/fifth overall, Won in second road game/fourth overall

Duke: Won in second home game/fourth overall, Won in fourth road game/eighth overall

Florida State: Won in second home game/third overall, Won in second road game/fourth overall

Georgia Tech: Won in second home game/third overall, Won in fourth road game/seventh overall

Maryland: Won in first home game/second overall, Won in third road game/fifth overall

North Carolina: Won in fourth home game/eighth overall, won in sixth road game/fourteenth overall

North Carolina State: Won in second home game/third overall, Won in first road game/second overall

Virginia: Won in second home game/fourth overall, Won in first road game/second overall

Skip Prosser (2001-07)

Skip’s first season as head coach of Wake Forest was in 2001-02.

Boston College: Never won (0-2 at home, 0-1 on road)

Clemson: Won in first game at home/first overall, won in second game on road/third overall

Duke: Won in second game at home/fifth overall, never won on road in six matchups

Florida State: Won in first home game/first overall, won in first road game/second overall

Georgia Tech: Won in first home game/first overall, won in second road game/fifth overall

Maryland: Won in second home game/third overall, won in third road game/sixth overall

Miami: Won in first home game/first overall, won in first road game/second overall

North Carolina: Won in first home game/first overall, won in first road game/second overall

North Carolina State: Won in first home game/second overall, won in first road game/first overall

Virginia: Won in first home game/second overall, won in fourth road game/seventh overall

Virginia Tech: Won in first road game/first overall, lost in only home game

Dino Gaudio (2007-10)

Gaudio took over after Prosser’s death in July of 2007.

Boston College: Won in first home game/third overall, won in second road game/third overall

Clemson: Won in first home game/third overall, won in second road game/third overall

Duke: Won in first home game/first overall, never won on road in two matchups

Florida State: Won in first home game/first overall, won in first road game/second overall

Georgia Tech: Won in second home game/third overall, never won on road in three matchups

Maryland: Won in third home game/fifth overall, won in second road game/fourth overall

Miami: Won first home game/first overall, never won on road in two matchups

North Carolina: Won first home game/second overall, won second road game/third overall

North Carolina State: Won first home game/second overall, never won on road in three attempts

Virginia: Won first home game/first overall, won first road game/second overall

Virginia Tech: Won first home game/first overall, never won on road in three matchups

Jeff Bzdelik (2010-14)

Bzdelik took over in 2010 after Gaudio’s firing.

Boston College: Won in second home game/fourth overall, won in second road game/third overall

Clemson: Won second home game/sixth overall, never won on road in four matchups

Duke: Won fourth home game/eighth overall, never won on road in four matchups

Florida State: Won third home game/fifth overall, never won on road in three matchups

Georgia Tech: Won second home game/third overall, never won on road in three matchups

Maryland: Never won in eight matchups

Miami: Won second home game/third overall, never won on road in two matchups

North Carolina: Won second home game/fourth overall, never won on road in three matchups

North Carolina State: Won third home game/seventh overall, Never won on road in four attempts

Notre Dame: Won in first home game/first overall, Did not play on road, Won in ACC Tournament/second overall matchup

Pittsburgh: Lost in only home matchup/first overall, lost in ACC Tournament/second overall matchup

Syracuse: Lost in only matchup at home, Did not play on road

Virginia: Won first home game/first overall, Never won on road in two matchups

Virginia Tech: Won second home game/third overall, Won third road game/sixth overall

Danny Manning (2014-Present)

Manning took over after Bzdelik resigned in 2014.

Boston College: Won first home game/second overall, won second road game/fourth overall

Clemson: No wins in six matchups

Duke: No wins in nine matchups

Florida State: Win second home game/fourth overall, Never won on road in three matchups

Georgia Tech: Won first home game/first overall, Never won on road in four matchups

Louisville: Won second home game/third overall, Never won on road in two matchups

Miami: Won first home game/first overall, Never won on road in three matchups

North Carolina: No wins in five matchups

North Carolina State: Won first home game/second overall, won third road game/sixth overall

Notre Dame: Won third road game/sixth overall, Never won at home in three matchups

Pittsburgh: Won first home game/first overall, Won second road game/fourth overall

Syracuse: Won second home game/fourth overall, Never won on road in three matchups

Virginia: Never won in six matchups

Virginia Tech: Won first home game/first overall, Won in second road game/fifth overall

Summary:

Murray Greason beat every ACC team in the inaugural season of the ACC, except for Virginia whom they did not play. They did defeat Virginia in their first ACC matchup. He beat every team both at home and on the road within the first three years.

Bones McKinney beat every ACC team both at home and on the road within five years.

Jackie Murdock only coached one season and failed to beat Clemson, Maryland, North Carolina, and NC State.

Jack McCloskey never beat South Carolina and never beat Duke on the road. He did beat every team except for South Carolina at home, and all other teams on the road.

Carl Tacy defeated every team both at home and on the road within six years.

Bob Staak never beat Georgia Tech or Virginia. The only ACC team he beat on the road was Maryland.

Dave Odom beat every ACC team, both at home and on the road, within six years. He was the coach the last time Wake Forest won in Cameron Indoor Stadium in 1997-Tim Duncan’s senior year.

Skip Prosser never beat Boston College in three tries, and never beat Duke on the road.

Dino Gaudio beat all ACC teams in two years, and never beat Duke, Georgia Tech, or Miami on the road.

Jeff Bzdelik never beat Maryland in eight tries, lost the only matchups with Pitt and Syracuse, and never won on the road against Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, and Virginia.

Danny Manning has never beaten Clemson, Duke, North Carolina, or Virginia in 26 games. In addition to these losses, he has never won on the road against Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, or Syracuse. He has also never won at home against Notre Dame.