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From the Quad
7/17/2023 1:40:00 PM | General
Presented by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
Good Afternoon Demon Deacon Nation,
Can you believe we are just 45 days away from Opening Night at Allegacy Stadium? The countdown is on for our Thursday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. kick off vs. Elon that will be nationally televised on the ACC Network. And, ticket sales for all six Demon Deacons home football games are moving at a torrid pace!
One of my favorite experiences of the past few years, most recently illustrated during our historic baseball run in May and June, is watching new Deacon fans discover the fun and excitement of Wake Forest sports. The expressions on the faces of the kids of the Winston-Salem area as they welcomed our baseball team home from Omaha reminded us once again how sports can bring communities together. I love walking the concourses of LJVM Coliseum and Allegacy Stadium and seeing how much fun people from all walks of life are having cheering on the Deacs.
But there are still plenty of good folks in Winston-Salem and the Triad who might not know how easy and affordable it is to enjoy the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina, and this morning I have a challenge for both longtime and new Deacon fans alike!
Today, consider buying one of our limited remaining $59 Opening Night four packs and make a specific invitation to join the fun to a friend, a new neighbor, colleague, or a favorite teacher of one of your grandchildren, etc. Remember that a four pack includes a free parking pass (!) so it's a turnkey way to show true Deacon hospitality. You can transfer the tickets electronically, and best of all, since we have plenty of pregame fun and food in the DEACTOWN Fan Zone, and tons of enhanced concessions options inside Allegacy Stadium, including food trucks, you don't even have to worry about cooking, entertaining or cleaning up!
And remember, season tickets start at just $125 - only about $20 per game. Click here for all the great options! For questions or assistance, please contact the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext. 1 or tix@wfu.edu. Regular office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Send me an email at wfuad@wfu.edu and let me know who you are inviting to Allegacy Stadium this fall! And, let me know if you'd like one of our outstanding ticket executives to reach out to you directly to personally discuss all the options, including our great group ticket packages for parties of 10 or more.
Before we move on, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips announced last week that The CW has been added to our weekly television lineup for ACC football and basketball games. The CW replaces Bally Sports and the other Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) for an ongoing package of 50 ACC football and men's and women's basketball games annually through 2026-2027. This is especially great news for those fans who have been frustrated when they could not get Bally in their package, or worse, when a local hockey or baseball game preempted the RSN coverage of the ACC, and the channel guide was wrong!
The CW is available nationwide and over the air and you can find it in your area by clicking here. If you have Spectrum and live in the Charlotte or Piedmont Triad, The CW is channel 3. Meanwhile, if you have Dish Network it is channel 7269 or if you have DirecTV it will be channel 20.
Hats off to Commissioner Phillips and our ESPN and Raycom partners for working proactively to deliver this big upgrade in exposure benefitting ACC and Wake Forest student-athletes, teams, alumni and fans everywhere.
Looking Back on a Spring & Summer of Championship Performances
With our student-athletes immersed in summer classes and offseason workouts and with report dates for all our fall sports teams for their preseason training camps just a few weeks away, the days are just flying by as we have gone from one successful and exciting milestone or achievement to another. In fact, it's only been 25 days since our last contest, as the Diamond Deacs battled eventual national champion LSU through 11 innings, captivating America and an ESPN audience of 2.1 million people in what many observers are calling the best Men's College World Series game of all time.
April's big hit was Michael Brennen winning Wake Forest's 23rd individual ACC men's golf championship on April 23! In May, Wake Forest became one of only seven ACC schools to win 10 or more national championships as WGCA National Coach of the Year Kim Lewellen and Lyons Family Associate Head Coach Ryan Potter led our women's golf team to its first NCAA Championship! In June, our Diamond Deacs authored an incredible run to the Men's College World Series for the first time since 1955 and Coach Tom Walter's ballclub was ranked No. 1 in the country for two months of the 2023 season. Finally so far in July, we had the most players in the ACC and the second-most in the country (10) selected in the 2023 MLB Draft, including two first-round picks for the first time in school history with two-time ACC Pitcher of the Year Rhett Lowder going No. 7 to the Cincinnati Reds and All-American third baseman Brock Wilken going No. 18 to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Meanwhile, the accolades for our student-athletes have been rolling in. Here's a quick recap of those honors:
All of these aforementioned accomplishments and accolades are proof of Wake Forest Athletics fulfilling its mission to be A Model Intercollegiate Athletics Program.
As we continue through today's updates, we are going to start re-introduce Deacon Nation to the five goals I shared with you all back in August 2019 over the next several editions of From the Quad and how Wake Forest Athletics is striving each day to achieve these ambitions.
Goal No. 1 - A World Class Student-Athlete Experience
Wake Forest University is a combination of world-class academics, unrivaled campus experience, intimate learning environment and Power 5 athletics in a top-growing metro market. Academically, Wake Forest is ranked in the Top 30 Nationally by U.S. News and World Report for the past 27 years (and counting) and ranked 21st Nationally in Undergraduate Teaching according to the 2022-23 US News and World Report. Wake Forest's comprehensive excellence includes its highly regarded school of medicine, business school, law school and an innovative department of engineering.
A record total of 317 Wake Forest student-athletes have earned spots on the 2022-23 Atlantic Coast Conference Honor Roll, which marks the fourth-consecutive year that the Demon Deacons have landed more than 280 student-athletes on the ACC Academic Honor Roll. Overall, 317 student-athletes represent 70 percent of the all Demon Deacon student-athletes! Additionally, this is the fourth-consecutive year that over 50 percent of the student-athletes have landed on the list.
I am very proud of our student-athletes and their ability to balance academics and athletics and extremely grateful for Sr. Associate AD Jane Caldwell and her staff for their leadership and mentorship of our young men and women through this past academic year. I would also like to extend my gratitude to our professors and faculty members for their hard work in assisting our entire student body as it was another great year for our 2022-23.
The ability to maximize the incredible offerings we have to provide our young men and women on our Reynolda Campus are buoyed when incredible gifts come in from passionate supporters like Pam ('79) and Jeff Kentner ('78).
A critical element in the rise of Wake Forest Athletics to a leadership position in the ACC and nationally has been intentional philanthropic investments at important moments in time, which in turn enables us to provide a World Class Student-Athlete Experience.
Major commitments, like the recent gift from the Kentner Family or the Lyons Family provides substantial immediate support for multiple enhancements building on the capital facility investments of nearly $250 million over the past 10 years alone.
It's important to note the incredible platform our student-athletes have to showcase their skills as they compete on an annual basis. Beyond the aggregate 20 million fans that watch our football team compete on an annual basis each fall, more than six million fans watched our Diamond Deacs compete in the Men's College World Series and our men's hoops team draws high ratings each time they are on linear television. Specifically on baseball, our games against LSU in Omaha drew over 2 million viewers, which outranked ESPN's average broadcast of a Red Sox - Yankees game on Sunday Night Baseball! Additionally, all our Olympic sports have their contests on ACCN and streaming on ACCNX when they compete in Winston-Salem or on the road in the conference.
Before we move on, I encourage you to watch this clip of catcher Bennett Lee's postgame interview after we defeated the Tigers in our second game in Omaha. As ESPN's Kris Budden said, "You came to Wake Forest to play in big games and big moments!"
Wake Forest Athletics Inks Agreement with Industry Innovator Proof of the Pudding
In the continued effort to provide the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina, we announced last week Athletics selection of national catering company Proof of the Pudding as its official concessions & catering partner. This experience-enhancing partnership will enhance the experiences for the nearly 500,000 fans who attend Wake Forest Athletics events on an annual basis at all our venues, including Allegacy Stadium, LJVM Coliseum, David F. Couch Ballpark, the Wake Forest Intercollegiate Tennis Center, Spry Soccer Stadium and Kentner Stadium, the home of Wake Forest field hockey and track.
As part of the new partnership, fans can look forward to elevated food and beverage offerings, including grab-and-go concessions and a new point-of-sale system offering greater speed and more payment options. On behalf of our University leadership, I would like to thank CEO Adam Noyes and his staff for their collaboration through this process and we are extremely grateful for their partnership as this long-term agreement began on July 1.
Claim Your Spot! Season Tickets Now on Sale for Men's and Women's Basketball
Speaking of Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Wake Forest men's and women's basketball season tickets are on sale! While both squads are competing hard in summer workouts, Deacon Nation can make their plans now for an exciting season with affordable ticket packages that start at just $60 for women's basketball and $150 through our variable pricing model for men's hoops. Click the aforementioned links or call the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 today to secure your seats today!
Remember, with your purchase of a women's basketball season ticket package there are many added benefits that include a lunch opportunity with the team, access to The Blue Ridge Room for free light refreshments and snacks before and during each home game and a season ticket holder will be recognized at each game! On the men's side, which is new for this season, Athletics is offering a fan-friendly lower level season ticket option at just $325 per seat.
Stay tuned as our complete 2022-23 schedules will be announced soon, but Opening Night is just a few short months away on Monday, Nov. 6 as we will host a doubleheader! Entering his fourth season in DEACTOWN, Steve Forbes and an exciting new roster will start their season against in-state foe Elon. The second season of the Gebbia era and a top-25 recruiting class will begin against Wofford. Meanwhile, in the first ACC/SEC Challenge the Deacons will host Florida for the men and Texas A&M for the women in Joel Coliseum at the end of November, respectively.
From the Quad Big 3
Finally, here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:
Thanks all you do to support Wake Forest student-athletes! Stay cool and…
Go Deacs!
John Currie
Director of Athletics
Good Afternoon Demon Deacon Nation,
Can you believe we are just 45 days away from Opening Night at Allegacy Stadium? The countdown is on for our Thursday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. kick off vs. Elon that will be nationally televised on the ACC Network. And, ticket sales for all six Demon Deacons home football games are moving at a torrid pace!
One of my favorite experiences of the past few years, most recently illustrated during our historic baseball run in May and June, is watching new Deacon fans discover the fun and excitement of Wake Forest sports. The expressions on the faces of the kids of the Winston-Salem area as they welcomed our baseball team home from Omaha reminded us once again how sports can bring communities together. I love walking the concourses of LJVM Coliseum and Allegacy Stadium and seeing how much fun people from all walks of life are having cheering on the Deacs.
But there are still plenty of good folks in Winston-Salem and the Triad who might not know how easy and affordable it is to enjoy the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina, and this morning I have a challenge for both longtime and new Deacon fans alike!
Today, consider buying one of our limited remaining $59 Opening Night four packs and make a specific invitation to join the fun to a friend, a new neighbor, colleague, or a favorite teacher of one of your grandchildren, etc. Remember that a four pack includes a free parking pass (!) so it's a turnkey way to show true Deacon hospitality. You can transfer the tickets electronically, and best of all, since we have plenty of pregame fun and food in the DEACTOWN Fan Zone, and tons of enhanced concessions options inside Allegacy Stadium, including food trucks, you don't even have to worry about cooking, entertaining or cleaning up!
And remember, season tickets start at just $125 - only about $20 per game. Click here for all the great options! For questions or assistance, please contact the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext. 1 or tix@wfu.edu. Regular office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Send me an email at wfuad@wfu.edu and let me know who you are inviting to Allegacy Stadium this fall! And, let me know if you'd like one of our outstanding ticket executives to reach out to you directly to personally discuss all the options, including our great group ticket packages for parties of 10 or more.
Before we move on, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips announced last week that The CW has been added to our weekly television lineup for ACC football and basketball games. The CW replaces Bally Sports and the other Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) for an ongoing package of 50 ACC football and men's and women's basketball games annually through 2026-2027. This is especially great news for those fans who have been frustrated when they could not get Bally in their package, or worse, when a local hockey or baseball game preempted the RSN coverage of the ACC, and the channel guide was wrong!
The CW is available nationwide and over the air and you can find it in your area by clicking here. If you have Spectrum and live in the Charlotte or Piedmont Triad, The CW is channel 3. Meanwhile, if you have Dish Network it is channel 7269 or if you have DirecTV it will be channel 20.
Hats off to Commissioner Phillips and our ESPN and Raycom partners for working proactively to deliver this big upgrade in exposure benefitting ACC and Wake Forest student-athletes, teams, alumni and fans everywhere.
Looking Back on a Spring & Summer of Championship Performances
With our student-athletes immersed in summer classes and offseason workouts and with report dates for all our fall sports teams for their preseason training camps just a few weeks away, the days are just flying by as we have gone from one successful and exciting milestone or achievement to another. In fact, it's only been 25 days since our last contest, as the Diamond Deacs battled eventual national champion LSU through 11 innings, captivating America and an ESPN audience of 2.1 million people in what many observers are calling the best Men's College World Series game of all time.
April's big hit was Michael Brennen winning Wake Forest's 23rd individual ACC men's golf championship on April 23! In May, Wake Forest became one of only seven ACC schools to win 10 or more national championships as WGCA National Coach of the Year Kim Lewellen and Lyons Family Associate Head Coach Ryan Potter led our women's golf team to its first NCAA Championship! In June, our Diamond Deacs authored an incredible run to the Men's College World Series for the first time since 1955 and Coach Tom Walter's ballclub was ranked No. 1 in the country for two months of the 2023 season. Finally so far in July, we had the most players in the ACC and the second-most in the country (10) selected in the 2023 MLB Draft, including two first-round picks for the first time in school history with two-time ACC Pitcher of the Year Rhett Lowder going No. 7 to the Cincinnati Reds and All-American third baseman Brock Wilken going No. 18 to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Meanwhile, the accolades for our student-athletes have been rolling in. Here's a quick recap of those honors:
- July 13, 2023: Our talented communications and creative staff announced our 2022-23 Black & Golden Globe winners!
- Rookie of the Year:
- Female: Emma Ferrell, Volleyball
- Male: Marek Houston, Baseball
- Arnold Palmer Award Recipient:
- Marge Crisp Award Recipient:
- Rookie of the Year:
- July 13, 2023: The Demon Deacons volleyball team received the annual Team Academic Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association, presented by the United States Marine Corps.
- July 10, 2023: Rachel Kuehn, Emilia Migliaccio, Lauren Walsh & Carolina Chacarra garnered Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-America Scholar honors.
- July 10, 2023: Vikas Deo, Jurabek Karimov, Juan Lopez de Azcona and Ernesto Requena from Wake Forest men's tennis were named Scholar Athletes by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
- June 28, 2023: Rhett Lowder became the first Wake Forest baseball player in program history to be named ACC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the Deacs placed a program-record 12 student-athletes on the 2023 All-ACC Academic Team.
- June 26, 2023: After a memorable season which saw several school records broken, 18 members of the Wake Forest men's and women's outdoor track & field teams garnered All-ACC Academic Team honors.
All of these aforementioned accomplishments and accolades are proof of Wake Forest Athletics fulfilling its mission to be A Model Intercollegiate Athletics Program.
As we continue through today's updates, we are going to start re-introduce Deacon Nation to the five goals I shared with you all back in August 2019 over the next several editions of From the Quad and how Wake Forest Athletics is striving each day to achieve these ambitions.
Goal No. 1 - A World Class Student-Athlete Experience
Wake Forest University is a combination of world-class academics, unrivaled campus experience, intimate learning environment and Power 5 athletics in a top-growing metro market. Academically, Wake Forest is ranked in the Top 30 Nationally by U.S. News and World Report for the past 27 years (and counting) and ranked 21st Nationally in Undergraduate Teaching according to the 2022-23 US News and World Report. Wake Forest's comprehensive excellence includes its highly regarded school of medicine, business school, law school and an innovative department of engineering.
A record total of 317 Wake Forest student-athletes have earned spots on the 2022-23 Atlantic Coast Conference Honor Roll, which marks the fourth-consecutive year that the Demon Deacons have landed more than 280 student-athletes on the ACC Academic Honor Roll. Overall, 317 student-athletes represent 70 percent of the all Demon Deacon student-athletes! Additionally, this is the fourth-consecutive year that over 50 percent of the student-athletes have landed on the list.
I am very proud of our student-athletes and their ability to balance academics and athletics and extremely grateful for Sr. Associate AD Jane Caldwell and her staff for their leadership and mentorship of our young men and women through this past academic year. I would also like to extend my gratitude to our professors and faculty members for their hard work in assisting our entire student body as it was another great year for our 2022-23.
The ability to maximize the incredible offerings we have to provide our young men and women on our Reynolda Campus are buoyed when incredible gifts come in from passionate supporters like Pam ('79) and Jeff Kentner ('78).
A critical element in the rise of Wake Forest Athletics to a leadership position in the ACC and nationally has been intentional philanthropic investments at important moments in time, which in turn enables us to provide a World Class Student-Athlete Experience.
Major commitments, like the recent gift from the Kentner Family or the Lyons Family provides substantial immediate support for multiple enhancements building on the capital facility investments of nearly $250 million over the past 10 years alone.
It's important to note the incredible platform our student-athletes have to showcase their skills as they compete on an annual basis. Beyond the aggregate 20 million fans that watch our football team compete on an annual basis each fall, more than six million fans watched our Diamond Deacs compete in the Men's College World Series and our men's hoops team draws high ratings each time they are on linear television. Specifically on baseball, our games against LSU in Omaha drew over 2 million viewers, which outranked ESPN's average broadcast of a Red Sox - Yankees game on Sunday Night Baseball! Additionally, all our Olympic sports have their contests on ACCN and streaming on ACCNX when they compete in Winston-Salem or on the road in the conference.
Before we move on, I encourage you to watch this clip of catcher Bennett Lee's postgame interview after we defeated the Tigers in our second game in Omaha. As ESPN's Kris Budden said, "You came to Wake Forest to play in big games and big moments!"
Wake Forest Athletics Inks Agreement with Industry Innovator Proof of the Pudding
In the continued effort to provide the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina, we announced last week Athletics selection of national catering company Proof of the Pudding as its official concessions & catering partner. This experience-enhancing partnership will enhance the experiences for the nearly 500,000 fans who attend Wake Forest Athletics events on an annual basis at all our venues, including Allegacy Stadium, LJVM Coliseum, David F. Couch Ballpark, the Wake Forest Intercollegiate Tennis Center, Spry Soccer Stadium and Kentner Stadium, the home of Wake Forest field hockey and track.
As part of the new partnership, fans can look forward to elevated food and beverage offerings, including grab-and-go concessions and a new point-of-sale system offering greater speed and more payment options. On behalf of our University leadership, I would like to thank CEO Adam Noyes and his staff for their collaboration through this process and we are extremely grateful for their partnership as this long-term agreement began on July 1.
Claim Your Spot! Season Tickets Now on Sale for Men's and Women's Basketball
Speaking of Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Wake Forest men's and women's basketball season tickets are on sale! While both squads are competing hard in summer workouts, Deacon Nation can make their plans now for an exciting season with affordable ticket packages that start at just $60 for women's basketball and $150 through our variable pricing model for men's hoops. Click the aforementioned links or call the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 today to secure your seats today!
Remember, with your purchase of a women's basketball season ticket package there are many added benefits that include a lunch opportunity with the team, access to The Blue Ridge Room for free light refreshments and snacks before and during each home game and a season ticket holder will be recognized at each game! On the men's side, which is new for this season, Athletics is offering a fan-friendly lower level season ticket option at just $325 per seat.
Stay tuned as our complete 2022-23 schedules will be announced soon, but Opening Night is just a few short months away on Monday, Nov. 6 as we will host a doubleheader! Entering his fourth season in DEACTOWN, Steve Forbes and an exciting new roster will start their season against in-state foe Elon. The second season of the Gebbia era and a top-25 recruiting class will begin against Wofford. Meanwhile, in the first ACC/SEC Challenge the Deacons will host Florida for the men and Texas A&M for the women in Joel Coliseum at the end of November, respectively.
From the Quad Big 3
Finally, here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:
- Join me in congratulating Voice of the Demon Deacons Stan Cotten as he was honored as the North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year for the sixth time! We look forward to hearing Stan and his longtime partner Lary Sorensen on the air from Allegacy Stadium on Aug. 31 for Opening Night! Click here for a complete list of football broadcast stations, plus you can always listen for free worldwide inside the Wake Forest App!
- One of the pillars of providing a World Class Student-Athlete Experience is great leadership! Wake Forest is grateful to have recently announced long-term contract extensions with Tom Walter, Kim Lewellen, Jen Averill, Megan Gebbia and Randi Smart!
- With the women's World Cup beginning this week, help me wish Aubrey Kingsbury (Bledsoe) good luck as she is the first women's soccer alumna to appear in the Women's World Cup! Kingsbury, a star goalkeeper and three-time All-American during her time at Wake Forest, is currently in her eighth year in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Additionally with Alistair Johnston competing in the men's World Cup a year ago for Canada, Wake Forest is one of two schools in the country and the only ACC institution to have an alum compete in both world competitions!
Thanks all you do to support Wake Forest student-athletes! Stay cool and…
Go Deacs!
John Currie
Director of Athletics
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Football Media Availability (9/18/25)
Thursday, September 18
Matt Barrie SportsCenter at Wake Forest with Demond Claiborne
Wednesday, September 10
Matt Barrie SportsCenter on Wake Forest Campus (Arnold Palmer Complex)
Wednesday, September 10
Football Media Availability (9/9/25)
Wednesday, September 10