Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Will Host USC-Spartanburg In Nov. 4 Exhibition Game
6/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
June 11, 2004
USC-Spartanburg, an NCAA Division II team with strong ties to Wake Forest and Winston-Salem, will be the Demon Deacons' opponent for a Nov. 4 exhibition game at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.
USC-Spartanburg is coached by Eddie Payne, who played guard for Wake Forest from 1971-73. Payne averaged 11.0 points per game for Demon Deacon teams coached by Jack McCloskey (1971 and 1972) and Carl Tacy (1973). Payne was on the 1973 team that pulled off one of the biggest upsets in ACC Tournament history when No. 7 seed Wake Forest beat No. 2 seed and eighth-ranked North Carolina in overtime in the quarterfinals.
"Not unlike our exhibition game against Winston-Salem State (Nov. 11), this game is a natural," Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser said. "Bringing back Eddie Payne is terrific. He had a great career as a player at Wake Forest, he has been a successful coach on the Division I level at East Carolina and Oregon State, and now he is doing a great job at USC-Spartanburg. We know his team will be well-coached and very prepared. It will be a challenge for us."
Payne will begin his third season at USC-Spartanburg and his 20th season overall as a head coach after previously serving as the head coach at Truett-McConnell, Belmont Abbey, East Carolina, Oregon State and Greensboro College.
"We are very excited about the opportunity to compete against a top five team in Wake Forest University," Payne said. "It will be a tremendous thing to witness C.J. and Chris Paul compete against one another and I am looking forward to seeing many friends as a Wake Forest Alum. Skip Prosser has done an outstanding job at Wake Forest and we are grateful for this opportunity."
C.J. Paul, a USC-Spartanburg senior guard, and Chris Paul, a Wake Forest sophomore guard, are brothers who grew up not far from the Wake Forest campus in Lewisville (NC). The siblings will face one another in a competitive game for the first time ever.
"This game will be something I will never forget," Chris Paul said. "Playing against my brother in his final year of college basketball is something that my family and I will cherish. I am thankful to Coach Prosser for scheduling this game."
Chris and C.J. Paul were both standouts at West Forsyth High School, but the brothers were on the court simultaneously as teammates just briefly in 2000-01. The Paul brothers have not played against each other since playing in a recreation league when C.J. was seven and Chris was five.
"My dad coached my team and we won the game, I remember that," Chris said. "But C.J. went off for more than 20 points against us."
USC-Spartanburg returns three starters from a team that finished 14-14 last season. The Rifles are members of the Peach Belt Conference, which produced 2004 Division II champion Kennesaw State.
Coupled with a Nov. 11 game against Winston-Salem State, Wake Forest's exhibition schedule for 2004-05 is complete.
The Demon Deacons return 11 letterwinners, including all five starters, from a team that finished 21-10 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen last season.
