From the Quad

Happy Thanksgiving Eve Deacon Nation!

In just a few hours, the Steve Forbes era of Demon Deacon men's basketball will tip off in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. And, earlier this morning Coach Jennifer Hoover and Wake Forest women's basketball's charter jet blasted out of Winston-Salem's Smith-Reynolds airport heading to Florida to launch the 2020-2021 season against Arkansas on Friday.

Yesterday I stopped by both teams' practices to speak with each squad. I can assure you that the spirit of Thanksgiving is strong at Wake Forest as our student-athletes are both excited and grateful to finally be able to take the court again after the longest and most unusual offseason of their lives!

We are thankful for President Hatch's leadership and the community effort and adaptability of Wake Forest faculty, students and staff that enabled Demon Deacon students to complete the full residential learning phase of the fall 2020 semester. Most students have now returned home for a post-Thanksgiving week of online classes, and are wrapping up papers and projects to ready themselves for final exams. We anticipate that 26 Demon Deacon student-athletes will complete their undergraduate degrees in December, with four more earning their masters.

These 30 student-athletes are continuing Wake Forest's tradition of academic excellence in Athletics as evidenced by the recently announced 96 percent overall Graduation Success Rate, including 11 Deacon teams scoring a perfect 100% rate!

We are also thankful for patience and perseverance, which we need plenty of in COVID times!

Wake Forest Football Schedule Update
With the Deacons sitting at 4-3 following a last-possession loss in Chapel Hill, our squad was anxious to get back on the field at Duke this past Saturday. Unfortunately, a combination of COVID, contact tracing and plain-old-fashioned injuries caused us to have to take the weekend off and we announced several schedule changes Saturday morning. Although the ACC had granted us the ability to schedule a non-conference game this weekend, with a number of programs shutting down and others not able to play for COVID reasons, we have turned our attention to preparing to host No. 10 Miami on Saturday, Dec. 5 at Truist Field. I am proud of Coach Clawson, his staff and players for their resilience as we look to finish the season strong. Click here for a full list of Demon Deacons up for ACC and national football awards.

Thank You, Barbara Walker
Congratulations are in order to Deputy AD/Senior Woman Administrator Barbara Walker, who announced her retirement last week. Barbara has dedicated her entire 40-year career to serving student-athletes and Wake Forest is blessed that she spent more than two decades in Winston-Salem. Barbara is a trusted friend, colleague and leader. Her impact on Wake Forest Athletics and the University community goes well beyond the six national championship teams for whom she served as sport administrator, as she represented the Demon Deacons so well on the national level, chairing the NCAA Women's Soccer Committee and NCAA Honors Committee, and she also served on the NCAA Volleyball Committee and NACDA Executive Board. While we will miss Barb's daily leadership contributions, we look forward to seeing her often at Wake Forest events!

Wake Forest Scores Another Rhodes Scholar
We are proud to salute Savarni Sanka, who on Monday was named as Wake Forest's 14th Rhodes Scholar since 1986! Savrani, a senior from Raleigh majoring in politics, international affairs and Spanish, is one of 32 Americans chosen by the Rhodes Trust to study at England's Oxford University in the fall of 2021. Congratulations Savarni!

Women's Basketball Heads to the #BeachBubble
Wake Forest women's basketball opens up the season at the #BeachBubble Gulf Coast Showcase against a challenging field. Coach Hoover brings back an experienced and talented squad led by preseason All-ACC selection and Cheryl Miller Award candidate Ivana Raca. After a strong finish in March, including a pair of wins over North Carolina in the final few weeks, I am excited to see this team build on that momentum this season.

Coach Steve Forbes and Jen Hoover also welcomed a new set of Demon Deacons last week with their most recent signing classes!

Mako Medical Wake Forest Classic at the Joel
The Steve Forbes era of Wake Forest men's basketball will tip off this afternoon at 4 p.m. against Delaware State (on ACC Network Extra) as the opening game of the Mako Medical Wake Forest Classic. The Deacons will take on Longwood on Friday at 7 p.m. on the ACC Network. Here is the latest edition of the Demon Deacon schedule. Stay tuned...

Each visiting player and staff member received a Mako Classic welcome bag with Winston-Salem goodies as well as an overview of the inspirational story of LJVM namesake Sgt. Lawrence Joel. Wake Forest is the only Power 5 school which plays its men's basketball games in a building named for an African-American.

Although the current state advisory prevents us from hosting fans in Joel Coliseum to begin the year, Wake Forest Athletics has introduced a number of opportunities for Deacon Nation to support and stay engaged with each program during the 2020-21 season! These engagement initiatives include the continuation of the first-of-its-kind Deacon Virtual Season Ticket and fans can secure a Demon Deaclone fan cutout inside the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the entire season.

Soccer Fall Season Recap
While Wake Forest's No. 2 nationally ranked men's soccer team's season ended sooner than we all hoped, it was an outstanding fall for Coach Bobby Muuss and our student-athletes.

Overall, Wake Forest finished the fall regular season with a 7-1-0 record (4-0 against Big 4 opponents) and clinched the No. 1 seed for the ACC Tournament out of the South Region with 15 points, which was four more than any other school. The Deacs were ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in all eight of the United Soccer Coaches' polls this fall and remarkably, Coach Muuss' squad has been ranked in the top 10 of the national polls for 55-straight weeks.

On the women's soccer side, Hannah Betfort was selected as a third-team All-ACC honoree, while Sophie Faircloth was picked as an ACC All-Freshman Team recipient. Wake Forest played top-tier competition this fall with six of its nine matches against opponents at one point ranked in the top 15, including a 1-0 victory at No. 14 Notre Dame.

Golf Magazine Tabs Old Town as No. 41 in the United States
More national recognition came to Winston-Salem as Old Town Club earned the No. 41 ranking of the Top 100 U.S. Courses by Golf Magazine! Thanks to the generosity of OTC members, our men's and women's golf programs have the incredible opportunity to play one of the best courses in the country every single day, just minutes from campus. Old Town played a big factor again this year in helping Coach Jerry Haas and Coach Kim Lewellen sign two more top-rated signing classes.

Atrium & Wake Forest Baptist Merger Brings $3.4 Billion to Winston-Salem
Big news also came recently in the form of $3.4 billion in planned investments coming to Winston-Salem as a result of the Wake Forest Baptist Health and Atrium merger. We are proud to welcome Eugene Woods, president and chief executive officer of Atrium Health and his 70,000 teammates to the Wake Forest Athletics family. With 41 hospitals, over 900 care locations, Atrium Health is responsible for nearly 14 million patient interactions each year. A new Wake Forest School of Medicine branch campus in Charlotte will further enhance the Demon Deacon presence in the Queen City.

Wake Forest Annual Lovefeast Tradition Goes On, Virtually!
One of Wake Forest's most cherished traditions is almost here! Wake Forest has been celebrating the Lovefeast since 1965, and COVID isn't going to stop us this year either! The 2020 annual Christmas Lovefeast will be livestreamed on Sunday, Dec. 6. Prelude beginning at 5:45 p.m. EST with service to follow. I encourage you and your family to join virtually through the Office of the Chaplain's website or the Wake Forest Facebook event.

Thanksgiving 2020 is bittersweet as we consider all for which we are grateful while also remembering that so many of our neighbors have suffered loss and isolation due to the pandemic. Mary Lawrence, Jack, Gigi, Mary-Dell and your entire Wake Forest family join me in wishing you a safe Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Remember to keep wearing masks, wash your hands and watch your distance.

As always, send your thoughts, questions and suggestions to me at wfuad@wfu.edu.

Happy Thanksgiving & Go Deacs!

John Currie
Director of Athletics

Wake Forest Athletics

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