Wake Forest Athletics
Deacon Basketball Tips-Off Thursday Night
11/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 13, 2002
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Wake Forest (0-0) vs. Gulbene Buki (1-1)
Exhibition #1 - Nov. 14, 2002
Lawrence Joel Coliseum (14,665)
Winston-Salem, NC
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m.
Television: None
Radio: None
Websites: WAKE (wakeforestsports.com)
The Records: WAKE FOREST is 0-0, playing its first exhibition game of the season. GULBENE BUKI is 1-1 entering Wednesday night's game at Charlotte.
The Rankings: WAKE FOREST is not ranked.
WFU Coach Skip Prosser: Prosser (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy '72) is 21-13 in his second season at Wake Forest, 186-91 in 10 years overall as a head coach. Prosser coached one season at Loyola (MD) and seven seasons at Xavier before coming to Wake.
Opponent Coach: Gulbene Buki is coached by Janis Zeltins.
Series History: Wake Forest won last year's meeting, 117-64.
Trivial Statistic: Gulbene Buki has three players on its roster older than Wake Forest basketball director of operations Pat Kelsey (27).
The Officials: Announced on game day.
Deacons tip-off exhibition season Wednesday night vs. Gulbene Buki
Wake Forest, which doesn't open the regular season until the late start of Nov. 27, hosts its first exhibition game Wednesday night at Lawrence Joel Coliseum against a Latvian team called Gulbene Buki (7:00 p.m./no TV). The Demon Deacons, 21-13 a year ago, begin their second season under coach Skip Prosser. With nine freshmen and sophomores on the roster, Wake Forest is one of the nation's youngest teams. Plagued with injuries throughout the preseason, Wake Forest hopes to have all players available for action, with the notable exception of senior guard Steve Lepore, who is still recovering from a knee injury suffered in the ACC Tournament. Gulbene Buki, which hails from Latvia and lost to Wake Forest in an exhibition game last season, is 1-1 on its college tour. Gulbene Buki fell to American (93-71) last Thursday, then knocked off VMI (70-66) on Saturday. They will play Charlotte Wednesday night before playing at Wake Forest on Thursday. Buki closes out its tour Friday night at Richmond.
A quick look at Gulbene Buki
Former Missouri standout Johnnie Parker has scored 37 points in two games to lead Gulbene Buki in scoring. Parker had 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals in Saturday's win at VMI. Raimonds Gabrans, a 6-2 guard, scored 17 points and hit a pair of three-point field goals against VMI. Aaron McMillian, who played at Wake Forest as a freshman in 1997-98, pulled down 13 rebounds versus VMI.
Gulbene Buki's Aron McMillian played one season with the Deacons While most of the Gulbene Buki roster will be unfamiliar to Wake Forest fans, Aron McMillian is one name that will ring a bell. McMillian played at Wake Forest as a freshman in 1997-98, seeing action in 14 games under then-coach Dave Odom. The former Greensboro Day School standout averaged 1.7 points and 1.4 rebounds for the Deacons as a rookie before transferring. The 6-9 McMillian saw significant action for the Deacons during an eight-game stretch when starter Loren Woods temporarily left the squad.
Senior All-American candidate Josh Howard racks up preseason honors
A preseason injury (severe shin splints) possibly cost senior Josh Howard the honor of ACC Preseason Player of the Year, but he continues to rack up the individual honors anyway. Howard received 20 of 88 votes for ACC Preseason Player of the Year (won by Duke's Chris Duhon). He was named first team Preseason All-ACC. On the national level, Howard is on the preseason list for the John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith Award. Both go to the nation's top college player. In addition, Howard has received considerable praise from preseason publications. Athlon ranks him as an honorable mention preseason All-American and the magazine calls Howard the nation's fourth-best "slasher".
Howard's Preseason Honors
- 1st team All-ACC - 1st team All-ACC (Athlon)_ - 1st team All-ACC (ACC Handbook)_ - Wooden Award candidate - Naismith Award candidate - Honorable mention All-America (Athlon) - ACC Top Defensive Player (Athlon)
Taron Downey held hot hand in Nov. 2 intra-squad scrimmage
Sophomore guard Taron Downey poured in 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-6 from three-point range, to lead all Wake Forest scorers in a closed intra-squad scrimmage at Budd Gymnasium Nov. 2. Downey, who started 10 games as a freshman last season, added four assists and two steals. Rosters of the teams changed throughout the scrimmage, thus no official team score was kept. Sitting out the scrimmage were senior Steve Lepore (recovering from ruptured patella tendon), freshman Eric Williams (bruised knee) and freshman Justin Gray (strained neck). Senior All-American candidate Josh Howard (severe shin splints) played just six minutes, but managed to score 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Junior walk-on Alan Williams added 17 points, going 5-of-5 from three-point range. Sophomore forwards Jamaal Levy and Vytas Danelius each added eight points and seven rebounds. Levy led all Deacons with five assists. Freshman Chris Ellis blocked three shots.
Trent Strickland's 20 points led all scorers at Oct. 26 Black/Gold Game
Freshman Trent Strickland led all scorers with 20 points and paced an impressive showing by Wake Forest's five-man freshman class at the annual Black/Gold intra-squad scrimmage at Reynolds Gym Oct. 26. The 30-minute scrimmage consisted of three 10-minute periods. Rosters were rotated after each period. Strickland (East Flat Rock, NC), 6-5, made 8-of-14 shots from the field and also contributed three steals and one blocked shot. He was especially impressive in the first 10-minute period when he poured in 10 points, had two steals and blocked a shot in the Gold team's 31-11 win. Sophomore Taron Downey continued to have a solid preseason, chipping in 17 points, a game-high seven assists and three steals. Sophomore Vytas Danelius scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Freshman Richard Joyce (Mt. Airy, NC) tossed in 14 points and made four consecutive three-point field goals without a miss during one stretch. Freshman Chris Ellis (Marietta, GA) scored 12 points and pulled down five boards and sophomore Jamaal Levy nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Demon Deacon All-American candidate Josh Howard and Steve Lepore -- the only two seniors on the Wake roster -- sat out of the scrimmage.
Justin Gray, Taron Downey shine in Midnight Madness scrimmage
Freshman guard Justin Gray scored 13 points, including 3-of-6 from behind the three-point arc, to lead the Black past the Gold, 37-29, in a abbreviated intra-squad scrimmage at Reynolds Gym Oct. 12. Gray (Charlotte, NC) was 5-of-8 from the field, including one from 26 feet that brought the capacity crowd to its feet. Freshman Trent Strickland (East Flat Rock, NC) added seven points, one block and two steals for the Black team. Freshman Eric Williams (Wake Forest, NC), sophomore Jamaal Levy (Panama City) and junior walk-on Alan Williams (Memphis) each contributed five points for the Black. Downey (Oxford, NC) was equally impressive for the Gold team, scoring 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers, and a game-high three assists. Freshman Richard Joyce (Mt. Airy, NC) added six points for the Gold. Senior All-American candidate Josh Howard added five points, freshman Chris Ellis (Marietta, GA) scored four points and junior Dshamal Schoetz (Cottbus, Germany) four points for the Gold. While the game was sloppy at times (eight combined turnovers in 15 minutes), it was an impressive display by Wake's five-man freshman class. The freshmen combined for 35 of the game's 66 points.
Deacons receiving votes in ESPN/USA Today poll
Just like last season, Wake Forest begins the year outside looking in at the national polls. Last year's squad leaped into the top 25 in late November, reached a ranking as high as 14, and remained in the polls for 14 consecutive weeks. The Deacons received 17 votes for the ESPN/USA Today preseason poll, which would rank 38th. Just three Wake Forest opponents -- Duke, Maryland and Marquette -- are ranked in both national polls. However, among the top vote-getters not in the top 25 are Deacon foes Virginia, NC State, Temple, Georgia Tech and St. John's.
Next and final exhibition game is Monday vs. EA Sports All-Stars
Wake Forest's final tune-up -- a Monday night exhibition game versus EA Sports All-Stars -- should provide the Deacons with a big challenge before opening the regular season Nov. 27 against Yale. Monday's game will tip at 7 p.m. and will not be televised. EA Sports has defeated Kansas State (91-81), Penn State (86-77), Old Dominion (83-78) and James Madison (85-80). The All-Stars have lost to North Carolina (97-109), George Washington (89-96) and Alabama (94-97).
