From the Quad

Good Evening Deacon Nation!

It's been a heck of a week for the Demon Deacons, although unfortunately not all the news has come on the fields and courts of play. As COVID-19 case counts reach record highs across our country, North Carolina and Forsyth County, we have finally experienced prolonged disruptions in Demon Deacon athletics activities.

First, because of COVID positive tests and contact tracing, we made the decision to pause all men's basketball activities earlier this week. As we follow COVID-19 return to competition protocols for Wake Forest's men's basketball student-athletes, it will be several weeks before the Demon Deacons can return to action, and as a result, we will not play Presbyterian on Sunday, Dec. 13. Our ACC opener against Virginia slated for Wednesday, Dec. 16 will be postponed indefinitely, and the status of the VMI game on Monday, Dec. 21 is unclear at this time.

As you can imagine, pausing now after three months without a positive test, and two big wins to start the Coach Forbes era, is frustrating for our student-athletes. Our top priority is the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff. In addition to the supervision of our medical director Dr. Chris Miles, we are very fortunate to also have the guidance of student health center director Dr. Cecil Price, WFU clinical director Dr. Joanne Clinch and Wake Forest Baptist's esteemed epidemiologist Dr. Chris Ohl. I offer my personal thanks to the countless hours spent by these professionals to ensure the best possible decisions for the University community, including Wake Forest student-athletes.

Football Shuffle Brings New Opportunities for Demon Deacons
After a short break, followed by socially distanced workouts over the last few days, Coach Clawson anticipates that the 4-3 Demon Deacons will be back on the practice field Saturday.

The ACC has announced schedule changes for the final two weeks of the regular season that send Wake Forest to Louisville on Saturday, Dec. 12, before returning home to Truist Field to host Florida State for Senior Day on Saturday, Dec. 19. While we are certainly disappointed to not be able to host Notre Dame for the Duke's Mayo Classic, we are glad to have two more regular season opportunities to compete and secure an upper-division league finish, as well as a program-record fifth-straight bowl berth!

I am extremely proud of the resilience of Coach Clawson and our student-athletes. The adaptability and collective spirit of our league ADs, and the leadership of Commissioner Swofford, have enabled the ACC to provide more competition opportunities for student-athletes than any other conference. Through games of Nov. 28, the ACC has played 74 of its 85 scheduled games (87.1 percent).

Ticket holders for the Duke's Mayo Classic and Miami contests will hear directly from our Wake Forest Ticket Office staff. Additionally, information is forthcoming regarding tickets for the Deacons home finale on Dec. 19 and a potential bowl game.

And, now, let's spotlight a bunch of Deacon stars who are inspiring us all as we persevere through the pandemic. Here's the rest of From the Quad, No. 37!

Demon Deacon Women's Basketball Bringing Home Win Streak
I broke away from ZOOM to head down I-85 for a 72-70 Wake Forest women's basketball win at Charlotte last night, the third-straight road victory for Coach Hoover's squad. Now receiving votes in the AP Top-25 poll, the Deacs will host North Carolina looking for a third-straight win in the series, on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. Tune into the live ACC Network broadcast to see Cheryl Miller Award Preseason Watch List nominee Ivana Raca and senior point guard Gina Conti fresh off last night's combined 47-point outburst.

Fans on the move can also now listen to our new audio broadcasts for all home women's basketball games featuring play-by-play voice Ty Collins, better known as the host of the Deacon Virtual Season Ticket pregame show. Connect to this live audio through the Wake Forest Athletics App and GoDeacs.com/Watch.

#ProDeacs -- Kendall Hinton Make National News
Former Demon Deacon quarterback and wide receiver Kendall Hinton, who was signed to the Denver Broncos practice squad on Nov. 4, made his NFL debut on Nov. 29 at quarterback and became the nation's biggest sports story.

From NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner to Coach Dave Clawson, Kendall received national acclaim for the way he competed and kept the Broncos in the game given that he had zero practice reps with the team prior to kickoff!

A 35th year for Student-Athletes to Show Humanitate Through Santa's Helper
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has affected many traditions in our lives, our student-athletes, coaches and staff's commitment to Santa's Helper perseveres, albeit with modifications to create smiles and goodwill in our Winston-Salem community as in these past versions. This year Santa's Helper is partnering with Christmas for the City and Gift Mart to help identify families and provide gifts for as many as 300 families and 1,000 children again this year.

Go Emilia Go!
Senior Emilia Migliaccio is making her second appearance next week in the U.S. Women's Open as one of just 24 amateurs in the field of 156! Read more in this excellent preview of the event with comments from Emilia by John Dell from the Winston-Salem Journal.

I hope to "see" you as the annual Wake Forest Christmas Lovefeast goes virtual this Sunday beginning at 5:45 p.m. EST through the Office of the Chaplain's website or the Wake Forest Facebook page. Best wishes to all Wake Forest student-athletes and students for final exam success next week!

Go Deacs!

John Currie
Director of Athletics

Wake Forest Athletics

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