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Wake Forest University Director of Athletics Ron Wellman

Ask Director of Athletics Ron Wellman

Submit your questions now to Wake Forest University's Director of Athletics.

Ron Wellman, who has elevated Wake Forest University athletics to its highest level ever and committed to preparing the program for greater success in the future, enters his 14th year as director of athletics.

Wellman, who was officially named athletic director in October of 1992, is only the fifth man to assume the top position in the athletic department at Wake Forest during the modern era of intercollegiate sports, following Pat Preston, Jim Weaver, Bill Gibson and Dr. Gene Hooks, WFU's athletic director from 1964 through 1992.

Since taking over control of WFU Athletics, Wellman has seen Deacon athletic teams rise to national prominence in several sports while perennially competing for Atlantic Coast Conference championships.

Bill (Raleigh): I was curious about the East Carolina football series. I am sorry to see it end. What happened?

Director of Athletics Ron Wellman: It appears that our 2006 game with ECU will be cancelled and we are currently looking for another opponent. It is my understanding that ECU has run into some scheduling challenges that will force them to cancel the last game of our contract with them. I am sorry that we will not play them next year. Wake Forest was the first ACC school recently to schedule ECU on a regular basis and the series has evolved into a good rivalry. Our fans have enjoyed going to ECU and I hope that their fans have enjoyed their trips to Wake Forest.

Brittany (Charlotte): Is it likely that Wake will try to start a Womens Fastpitch Softball program in the upcoming years?

Director of Athletics Ron Wellman: We do not have any plans to add women's softball to our varsity program in the future. We do, however, have a very good club program that might be of interest to you if you decide to attend WFU.

Steve (Roanoke): Is there anything you or the conference can attempt to do to stop the madness called the NCAA with respect to the mascot issue?

Director of Athletics Ron Wellman: As you have probably noticed, the NCAA has granted a number of "waivers" to those institutions that have appealed the ruling about their mascot/nickname. For instance, Florida State and Central Michigan now can continue to use their nicknames of Seminoles and Chippewas since they demonstrated that the university has a very positive relationship with those tribes and that the tribes support the use of their tribe's name as the university nickname. Now that the NCAA has made this legislative decision, though, it would be very difficult to reverse it. The only way that universities that use such mascots/nicknames will have to continue to use those names will be through the appeal process.

John Nashville: When will the 2005-2006 roster and media guide for women's basketball be available?

Director of Athletics Ron Wellman: The women's basketball media guide will be available for purchase near the end of October. It may be available on-line prior to that. This year's team will be very exciting so I hope that you will have many opportunities to attend our games.

Chad Crockford (winston-salem): Why aren't graduate students allowed to join Screamin' Demons a student organization that promotes (perfect) attendance at Football and Basketball games?

Director of Athletics Ron Wellman: Graduate students are permitted and encouraged to join the Screamin' Demons. In fact, we have a number of graduate students in the group. If you are interested in joining, please call Mr. Craig Keilitz at 758-4638. Go Deacs!

nashville tenn: i have recently heard that you signed a from middle tennesse to play for your lady deacons. i would appreciate any information you have. also, how has her signing affected your recruiting class rating?

Director of Athletics Ron Wellman: I think you are speaking of Sarah Riddle from Lascassas, Tenn. She is 6'5. She is considering a redshirt season in 2005-06, but she will eventually be a very strong center for us.

JAN ,MB. CA: AS A VB FAN FOR THE LAST 6YEAR ,JUST WONDERING WHAT DIRECTION THE PROGRAM IS GOING

Moderator: Our volleyball team finished strong this year with an 10-12 ACC record after getting off to a slow start. We played very well the last 4-5 weeks of the season and beat a number of teams in the top half of the conference. We just gave Coach Heather Kahl a multiple year contract and we believe that she will lead our team to the top of the ACC.

Will Wheeling Clemmons. NC: When will I be able to purchase nike Wake football jerseys?

Moderator: The jerseys are available in the Deacon Shop at the mall and campus. Good time to get them for Christmas gifts!

Dylan (chester SD): Hi Ron, for years i have been a WF fan, i can never see any games just casue i live in SD. I am tired of watching the same teams (Duke and UNC) play WF and that being the only WF games on tv. will there be more games this year??? thanks

Moderator: Actually, most of our basketball games are televised. Many of those games are not televised nationally so you might have a difficult time seeing them unless you have purchased one of the special college basketball packages on Direct TV or ESPN. With the success of our team the last few years and our exciting style of play, we have become an attractive team for television so I hope you can find our games regularly.

Mike (Tobaccoville, NC): I really like the new banners hanging from the rafters at the coliseum that honors our outstanding basketball players and their retired numbers. I was wondering if something similar could be done for the football players at Groves Stadium.

Moderator: We are looking for ways to honor our great football players and teams when we renovate Groves Stadium over the next few years. You are correct that we need to recognize those players and teams publicly more effectively.

Jen (Charlotte): Are Wake fans prevented from storming the basketball court after a win? It is always disappointing to watch other schools celebrate in such a way. It makes Wake look like their school spirit is lacking.

Moderator: Storming the court after a good win is not something that we promote for a couple reasons. First, there are safety concerns when students and others leap over tables and chairs at the end of the court to get to the court. Secondly, we want to respond to any victory as though it is not a surprise. Storming the court to celebrate suggests that we did not expect to win that particular game and we do not want that to be our mentality.

Steve (Roanoke): With only about 4,000 students and with a basketball facility with over 15,000 capacity, why do WF students have to "camp out" for basketball tickets?

Moderator: They have a great time! And they want to get the best seats.

Nick (Washington, DC): Are we completely phasing out the Deacon head logo in favor of the 'WF'? I think the Deacon mascot is one of the most unique in all of college athletics and something we should display and be proud of.

Moderator: We still use the Deacon head as our logo regularly. It is one of the logos that we use most often. In fact, we use the WF and Deacon head logo on the basketball floor.

Jim (Tallmadge, OH): Has there been any decisions as to whether the baseball team will move into the Ernie Shore Stadium or stay at Gene Hooks. I have heard the players like Gene Hooks as it is closer. If they stay at Gene Hooks would there be any more rupgrades?

Moderator: We are making good progress on our baseball team moving to Ernie Shore Field. No decision has been made yet but we hope to know something for sure in the next 2-3 months. If we do not move to Ernie Shore, then we definitely need to improve Gene Hooks Stadium. For instance, we are the only ACC team without lights which puts us at a severe disadvantage. There are many other improvements that need to be done at Hooks if we stay there.

Joseph (DeLand, Fl): Has Wake ever played Notre Dame? I can't find Wake's records for Football anywhere.

Moderator: No we have not played Notre Dame in football. However, we are talking with them about the possibility of a game in the future. Nothing has been decided yet but we will continue to talk with them as there is interest in such a game by both schools.

Jared (Raleigh): What is the status of the feasibility study on Groves Stadium? I never saw or heard about the results of the study.

Moderator: The Groves Stadium feasibility study is done and it produced very encouraging results. Since the completion of that study, we have been working with architects and others to produce plans for a major renovation of the stadium. We hope to complete those plans sometime this spring or summer and display them publicly at that time. We do plan to continue preparing the stadium for renovation this summer with major work being done on the infrastructure of the stadium. We will be working on the concrete and other structural issues, electrical and water pressure this winter, spring and summer. We also plan to announce a new field sometime in the next few months and install that field this spring and summer.

Jonathan (Burnsville, NC): Since, it seems like the NCAA might make the college football season 12 games long, do you think the ACC should add another conference game? If it did, each school could desiginate two rivalry games instead of just one. Then we could get UNC back on the schedule every year and still have 3 out of conference games. 2nd Rivals Wake-UNC NC State-Duke Florida State-Georgia Tech Boston College-Miami Clemson-Uva Maryland-Virginia Tech It seems like a good idea to me and would solve a lot of the problems people had with the football side of expansion at least.

Moderator: When we expanded the ACC, we discussed a nine-game football schedule for many of the reasons you identified. There were a number of reasons that we ultimately decided not to play nine games, though, including our desire to advance as many teams to bowl games as possible. When we a play a conference game, one conference team wins and one conference team loses. However, when we play non-conference games, the ACC teams always have the opportunity to win. Although we do not play some of our traditional conference rivals every year in the expanded conference, we also have the opportunity to develop new rivalries. For instance, our rivalry with Boston College promises to develop into great rivalry. Our last three games with them have been incredible games and it is already one of the games we look forward to each year.

Fred (Lewisville): Who is on WFU's non-conference football schedule in 2006?

Moderator: Our 2006 non-conference opponents are Syracuse (home), Liberty (home), Mississippi (away) and Connecticut (away).

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