Wake Forest Athletics
Men's Basketball Makes Eigth Straight Postseason Trip
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 30, 1998
EIGHTH STRAIGHT POSTSEASON TRIP - By playing in the 1998 NIT, Wake Forest appeared in postseason play for the eighth consecutive year under head coach DAVE ODOM. The Demon Deacons had been in the NCAA Tournament the past seven years (1991-1997), the seventh-longest streak in the nation.
Before Odom's arrival at Wake Forest prior to the 1989-90 season, the Deacons had gone four years without a postseason invitation to either the NCAA or NIT.
Wake Forest's eight straight postseason trips rank second among ACC schools.
Consecutive Postseason Appearances by ACC Schools
North Carolina 32 Duke 3
WAKE FOREST 8 Florida State 2
Clemson 6 N.C.State
Maryland 5 Georgia Tech 1
THE 1997-98 LINEUP - Wake Forest used 12 different starting lineups during the season, including eight different starting fives during a nine-game stretch in December and January. Freshmen played a key role as starters beginning in mid-January. Three rookies had started on a couple of occasions early in the year, then on January 17th vs Maryland, Coach Dave Odom went with four freshman starters (as noted below) for the first time. Wake became the first team in ACC history to start five freshmen on February 4th at N.C.State (with JAMES GRIFFIN replacing TONY RUTLAND) and kept that same lineup at Clemson the following game, but returned to only four first-year players thereafter.
The five players listed below were the most frequently used combination during the season, starting 12 games together, including seven of the last eight contests.
No player started every game. The team leaders in starts were freshman NIKI ARINZE and senior TONY RUTLAND with 24 starts each. The longest string of consecutive starts was 20 by freshman RAFAEL VIDAURRETA, who was the only Deac to start all 16 ACC regular season contests.
1997-98 DEMON DEACON LINEUP
Career
No. Name Pos. Ht. Class 97-98 Key Statistics (*led team) Starts
20 Niki Arinze F 6'5 Fr. 7.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 24 stls*, 76 off.rebs* 24
44 Josh Shoemaker F/C 6'9 Fr. 3.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg 17
41 Rafael Vidaurreta F/C 6'8 Fr. 4.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg 21
30 Tony Rutland G 6'2 Sr. 12.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 93 asts*, 80.5 FT%. 39.6 3pt% 82
4 Robert O'Kelley G 6'1 Fr. 16.6 ppg*, 2.1 rpg, 80.6 FT%*. 42.1 3pt%* 19
TOP RESERVES
11 Joseph Amonett G/F 6'5 Jr. 2.3 ppg, 0.9 rpg 10
25 Jerry Braswell G 6'1 Sr. 4.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg 72
5 Steven Goolsby F 6'4 Sr. 8.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg 13
13 Loren Woods C 7'1 So. 8.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg*, 50 blocks* 25
HEAD COACH - Dave Odom (9 years at Wake Forest) / Won 182, Lost 93
(12 years overall) / Won 220, Lost 135
NATION'S SECOND-TOUGHEST SCHEDULE - The "RPI Index" (as compiled by Collegiate Basketball News) credited Wake Forest with having played the 2nd-most difficult schedule in America this season. Only Maryland's 97-98 schedule was considered tougher in that ranking prior to the start of the NCAA and NIT tournaments.
NON-ACC SLATE DEMANDING, TOO - The Demon Deacons faced a difficult array of non-ACC opponents as well this season. In addition to Top Ten teams Utah and Princeton, Wake Forest played (and defeated) four teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament by winning their league titles--Davidson (Southern), Navy (Patriot), Radford (Big South) and Richmond (Colonial).
The RPI Index ranked Wake's non-conference schedule as the 18th-most difficult in the country.
WAKE A WINNER VS POSTSEASON FIELD - Wake Forest had a winning record against the teams selected for the 1998 NCAA and NIT tournaments. The Demon Deacons were 8-9 versus the NCAA field, and 4-2 in competition with four other NIT participants, leaving them with an overall ledger of 12-11.
Six of those 11 losses came to "Top Ten" teams--two to both #1 North Carolina and #3 Duke, and one each to #7 Utah and #8 Princeton.
Deacs vs NIT Teams (4-2) Deacs vs NCAA Teams (8-9)
Georgetown (1-0) Clemson (1-2)
Georgia Tech (0-2) North Carolina (0-2)
Davidson (1-0) Princeton (0-1)
Missouri (1-0) Duke (0-2)
Richmond (1-0) N.C.State (2-0)
Radford (1-0)
Florida State (1-1)
Maryland (2-0)
Utah (0-1)
Navy (1-0)
ACC WIN STREAK ENDS AT FIVE STRAIGHT YEARS - Wake Forest had enjoyed five straight winning seasons in ACC play before finishing 7-9 against league opponents this year. The last time that the Demon Deacons did not have a winning record in the league was 1992 (also 7-9).
The Deacs still finished 4th in the conference regular season race (actually tied for 4th with Clemson). They are only the second ACC team to be that high in the league standings and not be invited to the NCAA Tournament since the NCAA expanded its field to 64 teams in 1985 (Virginia was the other in 1992).
ACC SUCCESS - Since dropping its first 11 league contests and finishing with a 3-11 mark in the league in 1990, the Demon Deacons under head coach Dave Odom have achieved winning records against seven of their eight ACC foes, with only North Carolina holding an advantage over the Deacs the past eight years.
Wake Forest in the ACC
CLEM DUKE FSU GATECH MD UNC NCST UVA
Last Five Years 8-4 8-3 8-3 7-5 6-4 5-8 8-2 9-3
Last Eight Years 13-5 11-6 8-7 10-8 10-6 6-14 13-3 13-7
DEACS IN THE "O-DOME" - In nine seasons in Lawrence Joel Coliseum, Wake Forest has compiled an excellent 108-26 record (81% winning pct) in its home facility. That mark includes a 60-4 record against non-ACC foes, as well as a solid record of success the past eight years versus conference opponents.
Non-conference losses suffered by the Demon Deacons in nine years in Joel Coliseum came to Colorado in January of 1991, California in December of 1993, and Utah and Vanderbilt (in the NIT) this season.
After winning just one league game here in Joel in its inaugural campaign (1989-90), Wake Forest has gone 47-16 in the ACC on its homecourt since 1990, including 25 wins in its last 32 league games beginning in 1995.
Wake Forest has a winning record against every ACC opponent except one (North Carolina) in Lawrence Joel Coliseum.
Deacs vs the ACC in Joel Coliseum Clemson 8-1 Maryland 6-3 Duke 5-4 North Carolina 4-5 Florida State 5-2 N.C.State 7-2 Georgia Tech 6-3 Virginia 7-2
DEACS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS - After being nationally ranked for four consecutive weeks, Wake Forest dropped out of both major polls following losses to Marshall (December 17) and Princeton (December 19). The Demon Deacons had appeared in 54 consecutive Associated Press polls prior to being unranked at the beginning of the 97-98 campaign.
Wake Forest in the National Rankings
Pre Nov.16 23 Dec.1 8 15 22
Associated Press nr nr nr 24 25 23 nr
USA Today/CNN nr nr 24 24 24 22 nr
A WINNING CLASS - Wake Forest's three seniors--guards TONY RUTLAND and JERRY BRASWELL and forward STEVEN GOOLSBY-- helped the Demon Deacons compile an excellent 90-33 record the past four years. They took part in two ACC Championships (1995 & 1996) and were active members of last year's squad that was ranked 2nd in the nation--the highest ranking ever attained by a Wake Forest team.
The current senior class is the third-winningest class in Wake Forest history with its 90 victories. Last year's class, headed by Tim Duncan, won 97 games over four years (1994-1997). The previous four-year period (1993-1996) brought 94 wins to Wake Forest.
RUTLAND RANKS #2 IN WINS - Deacon senior TONY RUTLAND participated in all 90 of the Wake Forest wins the past four years, placing him second on the school's all-time victory list. The only player to appear in more wins as a Demon Deacon is Tim Duncan, who took part in 97 "Ws" during his four seasons.
Prior to Duncan, former guard Danny Young had held the school record, playing in 85 WFU wins during his career (1981-84).
RUTLAND ON THE WFU CAREER CHARTS - Demon Deacon senior TONY RUTLAND became the 37th player in Wake Forest history to score 1,000 points this season, surpassing that figure against Princeton on December 19th. Rutland is now a member of the WFU all-time "Top Twenty" in scoring, ranking 19th in school history with 1,274 career points. He passed the school's 18th-leading scorer Kenny Green (1,252 pts) in the opening round of the NIT with a 20-point performance against UNC Wilmington.
Rutland also is the 7th player in school history to total more than 300 assists, finishing 7th in that department with 356, while also standing 9th in Wake history in career steals with 130.
WOODS MISSES SEVEN-GAMES - Sophomore center LOREN WOODS started the first 14 games of the 97-98 season and ranked among the ACC leaders in blocked shots (2nd) and rebounding (4th) at that point, but was given an indefinite leave of absence from the team on January 16th by head coach Dave Odom. After missing seven games, he returned to game action against Georgia Tech on February 11th.
"Loren needs some time away from basketball," Odom said in January. "The amount of pressure that he places on himself regarding his own performance and our team's performance is, I believe, unhealthy. The best way to relieve that pressure is to give him some time away from the game in the hope that he will understand that basketball is not an all-or-nothing proposition."
Woods averaged 11.6 ppg and 8.5 ppg in this year's first 14 contests. In eight games after returning, he scored 32 points (4.0 ppg) and grabbed 38 rebounds (4.8 rpg) while playing 131 minutes (16.4 mpg). He did not play at all in the final contest against Vanderbilt.
DEACS IN DOUBLE FIGURES - Ten Deacons scored in double figures at least once this season and six did so at least three times. Freshman ROBERT O'KELLEY topped the team with 27 double-digit scoring outings, including 24 of the last 25 games. An O'Kelley streak of 21 consecutive games in double figures was ended when he totaled only 5 points in the regular season finale versus N.C.State.
Double Digit Deacons
Scoring Rebounding
Joseph AMONETT once (Richmond)
Niki ARINZE seven times; none in last eight games three times
Jerry BRASWELL five times (first three games; two of last four)
Steven GOOLSBY 12 times; none in last four games
James GRIFFIN once (Radford)
Robert O'KELLEY 27 times; 24 of last 25
Tony RUTLAND 18 times; five of last seven games
Josh SHOEMAKER once (Radford) once (Maryland)
Rafael VIDAURRETA three times four times
Loren WOODS seven times (in first 12 games) four times (first nine games)
FRESHMAN FACTS - For the season, Wake Forest's freshman class accounted for 51% of the Demon Deacon points and 60% of the squad's rebounds while participating in 54% of the total minutes played.
A freshman was the leading scorer (or tied for the lead in points) for the Demon Deacons 19 times, with ROBERT O'KELLEY topping the Deacs in points on 18 occasions. NIKI ARINZE led the Deacon scoring against Princeton with 15points.
A first-year player was also the leading rebounder (or tied for that distinction) in 22 dates. RAFAEL VIDAURRETA led the team in rebounding 11 times, including career highs of 14 vs North Carolina (at home) and UNC Wilmington in the NIT. NIKI ARINZE topped the WFU rebounding chart on eight occasions, while JOSH SHOEMAKER was the Deacs' leading rebounder in both wins over Maryland and in the regular season finale victory against N.C.State.
Wake Forest Freshmen vs ACC Freshmen in the 1997-98 Season
(Conference Games Only)
STARTS POINTS PER GAME REBS PER GAME
WAKE FOREST 55 35.8 20.4
Georgia Tech 46 31.1 15.3
NC State 36 28.8 15.1
Duke 10 19.9 11.6
Maryland 0 14.8 7.8
Florida State 2 5.7 3.6
Virginia 15 4.8 3.4
North Carolina 0 2.9 2.6
Clemson 6 2.1 1.3
DEACON FROSH MAKE ACC HISTORY - Wake Forest became the first team in ACC history to start five freshman when Coach Dave Odom went with that lineup on February 4th at N.C.State (and again at Clemson three days later).
Records indicate that prior to the current Demon Deacon squad, three ACC teams started four freshmen. The first was another Wake Forest team in 1979. Those four rookies were guard Mike Helms, center Jim Johnstone, and forwards Alvis Rogers and Guy Morgan, who joined veteran guard Frank Johnson in the lineup for much of the season. Johnstone and Rogers each started 24 games that year; Morgan started 16 and Helms 12.
The 1983 Duke squad started four freshmen (Mark Alarie, Jay Bilas, Johnny Dawkins, David Henderson), as did Clemson two years ago--a group that included current Tigers Terrell McIntyre, Tom Wideman, Harold Jamison and Tony Christie.
Four Freshman Starters in the ACC
School (Year) ACC Record/Finish Overall Record Postseason Play
Wake Forest (1979) 3-9/tied for 6th 12-15 none
Duke (1983) 3-11/7th 11-17 none
Clemson (1996) 7-9/6th 18-11 lost in NCAA 1st round
WAKE FOREST (1997) 7-9/tied for 4th 16-14 NIT 2nd round
MORE ACC FRESHMAN FACTS - The highest scoring freshman class ever in the ACC was that '83 Duke crew, which along with a couple of lesser known classmates scored 1,481 points. In ACC history--including the recently concluded season--seven freshman classes have scored at least 1,000 points. Wake Forest can now claim three of those seven frosh groups. Wake's 1979 freshmen (named above) scored 1,029 points, and the 1991 rookie class which featured future All-Americans Rodney Rogers and Randolph Childress tallied 1,040.
The '98 Wake Forest freshmen completed the season with 1,009 points. They also totaled 586 rebounds to become the sixth freshman class in ACC history to record the 1,000 pt/500 reb "double." (Georgia Tech's 1998 freshmen also achieved that distinction this season.)
O'Kelley Named ACC Rookie of the Year & Freshman All-America
Wake Forest freshman guard ROBERT O'KELLEY was named "ACC Rookie of the Year" by the Atlantic Coast Sports Writers Association. He is only the second freshman in school history to receive this honor. The first was Rodney Rogers in 1991.
O'Kelley was also named to the first-team "Freshman All-America" squad selected by Basketball Times magazine.
O'KELLEY LEADS WITH FOUR WEEKLY AWARDS - Wake Forest freshman guard ROBERT O'KELLEY was named "ACC Rookie of the Week" a league-high four times this season, including three times during the ACC portion of the 1997-98 schedule (since January 6th).
The Deacon standout first was named the "Rookie of the Week" in November after a 25-point outing which included the game-winning basket in a win over Georgetown, then again following a January 4th meeting with Virginia when he netted 29 points. His third weekly award came after he scored 20 points in a win over Virginia and 25 in a the Deacs' first meeting with North Carolina. He added a fourth after leading the Deacs to wins at Maryland (with 31 points) and against Florida State (26 points).
NIKI ARINZE also received one "Rookie of the Week" honor on January 19th after recording his first career "double-double" (16 pts/10 rebs) in a win over Maryland.
O'KELLEY NAMED FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN - As noted above, Demon Deacon ROBERT O'KELLEY was named to the 1998 "Freshman All-America" 1st team selected by Basketball Times magazine. He joined Khalid El-Amin (UConn), Baron Davis (UCLA), Larry Hughes (Saint Louis) and Marcus Fizer (Iowa State) on the the top five.
FIRST AMONG FRESHMEN - ROBERT O'KELLEY averaged 16.6 points per game this season--the highest by a Wake Forest freshman in 45 years (since the formation of the ACC). Rodney Rogers had the top freshman scoring mark of modern times at 16.3 ppg in 1990-91. Rogers is also the last Wake freshman to lead the team in scoring, although O'Kelley is now the fourth rookie in the last 13 years to head the Deac scoring chart. Dick Hemric owns the overall school record for scoring as a freshman at 22.4 ppg in 1952.
Top Wake Forest Freshman Scorers
(double figures since 1953)
ROBERT O'KELLEY* (1998) 16.6 ppg Alvis Rogers (1979) 13.5 ppg
Rodney Rogers* (1991) 16.3 ppg Rod Watson* (1986) 13.5
Chris King* (1989) 14.4 Skip Brown (1974) 13.2
Randolph Childress 14.0 Sam Ivy (1987) 13.2
Rod Griffin (1975) 13.9 Frank Johnson (1977) 11.6
*team leader in scoring
O'KELLEY IN IMPRESSIVE COMPANY - Deacon first-year player ROBERT O'KELLEY is only the 12th freshman in ACC history to lead his team in scoring. The most recent rookie to gain that distinction was Georgia Tech's Stephon Marbury in 1996. The first was Clemson's Skip Wise in 1975.
Other freshmen in this group include Johnny Dawkins (Duke, 1983), Mark Price (GaTech, 1983), Rodney Rogers (Wake, 1991), Joe Smith (Maryland, 1994) and Greg Buckner (Clemson, 1996).
SECOND AMONG FRESHMEN - ROBERT O'KELLEY turned in two of the top four single game scoring performances by a freshman in Wake Forest's ACC history this season--a 29-point (with 25 of pts in the 2nd half) at Virginia on January 4th, and a 31-point effort in a February 19th win at Maryland. The only first-year player to surpass that point-total against an ACC opponent was Chris King, who did so in 1989 with 34 points against N.C.State (in a four-overtime games). King also had 31 that year versus Duke.
The school's premier all-time freshman scorer is center Dickie Hemric, who as a rookie in 1952 (Wake was then in the Southern Conference) netted 30-or-more points six times, topped by a 37-point effort at Clemson.
DEACONS SHUT OUT ON ALL-ACC SELECTIONS - Wake Forest did not have any individuals receive All-ACC recognition in 1998. This marks the first time since 1990 that the Demon Deacons have not had an All-ACC representative.
Freshman ROBERT O'KELLEY came close to being chosen for the all-league 3rd team, collecting the 16th-most votes. O'Kelley totaled 74 points in voting by the Atlantic Coast Sports Writers Association membership. Maryland's Rodney Elliott totaled 80 points, the lowest figure for a 3rd-team member.
O'Kelley was, however, selected to the ACC All-Freshman team along with Dion Glover and Alvin Jones of Georgia Tech, Shane Battier of Duke, and Kenny Inge of N.C.State.
ACC LEADERS - Freshman ROBERT O'KELLEY ranks among the ACC's top eight individuals in four categories. He is 2nd in three-point production (2.6 per game), 3rd in three-point accuracy (42.1%), 4th in free throw shooting (80.6%), and 8th in scoring (16.6 ppg).
TONY RUTLAND also was among the ACC "Top Ten" in four departments--4th in three-point field goals (2.4 per game), 5th in free throw shooting (80.5%), 7th in three-point accuracy (39.6%) and 10th in assists (3.3 apg).
STEVEN GOOLSBY gave Wake Forest another productive three-point marksman by averaging 1.8 "3s" per contest (9th in the ACC).
LOREN WOODS would have been 2nd in the ACC in blocked shots (2.3 per game) and 7th in rebounding (7.1 rpg), but did not participate in the minimum number of games (75% of team total) required to qualify for the ACC statistical rankings. Woods played in 22 of Wake's 30 games (73%), one shy of the minimum.
RECORD-SETTING 3PT EFFORT - Wake Forest set a new ACC single game record and tied another on January 31st against North Carolina when the Demon Deacons attempted 43 three-point shots (a league record) and made 18 (to tie an ACC high).
THREE-POINT STREAK ALIVE FOR NEXT YEAR - Wake Forest has now gone 199 consecutive games with at least one three-point field goal. That streak was nearly interrupted early this season when the Deacs were 1-of-11 from long range versus Navy. The last time that Wake did not make a three-pointer in a game was in a 1992 win over Tulane.
NOVEMBER WIN STREAK ALIVE, TOO - The Demon Deacons will enter their 1998-99 season with a 14-game winning streak during the month of November. Wake Forest won four times this past November, including victories over conference champions Navy and Richmond and NIT participant Georgetown.
Wake's last loss in November came in the opening game of the 1993-94 campaign (11/25/93) when the Deacons were upset by Alaska in the first round of that year's Great Alaska Shootout.
THE WAKE FOREST RECORD WHEN At Home 12-5 WF Scores 80+ Pts 4-0 On Opponent Court 3-7 WF Scores 70+ Pts 9-2 On Neutral Court 1-2 WF Scores 60+ Pts 14-7 Leading at Halftime 15-6 WF Scores Under 60 Pts 2-7 Trailing at Halftime 0-7 WF Shoots 50%+ 4-0 Leading with 10:00 Left 15-5 WF Shoots Under 50% 12-14 Trailing with 10:00 Left 1-9 Opponent Shoots 50%+ 0-5 Final Margin Fewer than 5 Pts (includes OTs) 6-3 WF Atts More FTs than Opp 13-6 Final Margin 5-to-9 Pts 4-5 WF Out-Rebounds Opp 9-4 Final Margin in Double Figures 6-6 Opp Out-Rebounds WF 7-9
