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From the Quad
9/1/2023 10:45:00 AM | General
Presented by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
Good Morning Demon Deacon Nation!
Following Thursday's Opening Night football win over Elon and women soccer's big road win at Auburn, we are excited to bring you this special edition of From the Quad with historic news for Wake Forest University and the Atlantic Coast Conference! As a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference and a driver of winning with a strong brand in our now growing and vibrant league, we are delighted to welcome Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley and Southern Methodist University to our conference beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.
I am grateful for the leadership of President Susan R. Wente, Ph.D. who voted, as a member of the ACC Board of Directors, to invite these three prestigious and highly competitive institutions to join the league next fall.
This is a great day for our student-athletes, the ACC, Wake Forest, Winston-Salem, and the state of North Carolina. Wake Forest has the fastest growing brand of the college athletics Power conferences and the addition of these tremendous and highly competitive athletic and academic universities further enhances the national exposure for our student-athletes and University.
Demon Deacons student-athletes hail from 38 states and 24 countries and already compete - and win - nationally, including our 2023 women's golf NCAA title, the 10th team national championship in Wake Forest history. We will work closely with the ACC to ensure that the incorporation of conference competition trips to the West Coast and Dallas will be incorporated with care, to both minimize the impact of any net additional travel and maximize the opportunity this presents for our student-athletes, families and fans.
An important factor in Wake Forest's decision to vote in favor of expansion is the academic caliber of the institutions with whom we have aligned ourselves. Expansion strengthens our academic, research, and professional network with Silicon Valley and the Dallas Metroplex area; a tremendous value-add for our alumni, student recruiting efforts, and the growing ACC Network. Also, linking the state of North Carolina – the fastest growing state in America for business according to CNBC – with these media markets will be great for our league overall.
This expansion further cements North Carolina, with its long-term commitment to the ACC's new headquarters in Charlotte, as a national epicenter of college sports at the highest level. The addition of new schools will also provide new, meaningful revenue for ACC member institutions to support our tradition of broad-based opportunities.
As we shared in a recent edition of From the Quad, Wake Forest has the fastest growing and hottest brand in the Power 4 (and the ACC) since Aug, 1, 2019, with a 115 percent growth in our fanbase during this span. We have 2.7 million people identifying as Wake Forest fans, which ranks ninth in the league and ahead of Virginia Tech and just trailing NC State. Additionally, playing in the Dallas / Fort Worth and San Francisco markets is an opportunity to continue to grow our brand and will provide more unique trips for our alumni and fans for games and competition.
Having known and worked with Cal AD Jim Knowlton, Stanford AD Bernard Muir, and SMU AD Rick Hart for more than a decade, I look forward to further expanding our long-lasting relationships with these universities who share our commitment to academic success and student-athlete excellence.
From the Quad Big 3
Here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:
Go Deacs & ACC!
John Currie
Director of Athletics
Good Morning Demon Deacon Nation!
Following Thursday's Opening Night football win over Elon and women soccer's big road win at Auburn, we are excited to bring you this special edition of From the Quad with historic news for Wake Forest University and the Atlantic Coast Conference! As a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference and a driver of winning with a strong brand in our now growing and vibrant league, we are delighted to welcome Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley and Southern Methodist University to our conference beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.
I am grateful for the leadership of President Susan R. Wente, Ph.D. who voted, as a member of the ACC Board of Directors, to invite these three prestigious and highly competitive institutions to join the league next fall.
This is a great day for our student-athletes, the ACC, Wake Forest, Winston-Salem, and the state of North Carolina. Wake Forest has the fastest growing brand of the college athletics Power conferences and the addition of these tremendous and highly competitive athletic and academic universities further enhances the national exposure for our student-athletes and University.
Demon Deacons student-athletes hail from 38 states and 24 countries and already compete - and win - nationally, including our 2023 women's golf NCAA title, the 10th team national championship in Wake Forest history. We will work closely with the ACC to ensure that the incorporation of conference competition trips to the West Coast and Dallas will be incorporated with care, to both minimize the impact of any net additional travel and maximize the opportunity this presents for our student-athletes, families and fans.
An important factor in Wake Forest's decision to vote in favor of expansion is the academic caliber of the institutions with whom we have aligned ourselves. Expansion strengthens our academic, research, and professional network with Silicon Valley and the Dallas Metroplex area; a tremendous value-add for our alumni, student recruiting efforts, and the growing ACC Network. Also, linking the state of North Carolina – the fastest growing state in America for business according to CNBC – with these media markets will be great for our league overall.
This expansion further cements North Carolina, with its long-term commitment to the ACC's new headquarters in Charlotte, as a national epicenter of college sports at the highest level. The addition of new schools will also provide new, meaningful revenue for ACC member institutions to support our tradition of broad-based opportunities.
As we shared in a recent edition of From the Quad, Wake Forest has the fastest growing and hottest brand in the Power 4 (and the ACC) since Aug, 1, 2019, with a 115 percent growth in our fanbase during this span. We have 2.7 million people identifying as Wake Forest fans, which ranks ninth in the league and ahead of Virginia Tech and just trailing NC State. Additionally, playing in the Dallas / Fort Worth and San Francisco markets is an opportunity to continue to grow our brand and will provide more unique trips for our alumni and fans for games and competition.
Having known and worked with Cal AD Jim Knowlton, Stanford AD Bernard Muir, and SMU AD Rick Hart for more than a decade, I look forward to further expanding our long-lasting relationships with these universities who share our commitment to academic success and student-athlete excellence.
From the Quad Big 3
Here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:
- Join me in congratulating Head Football Coach Dave Clawson as last night's win was his 60th at Wake Forest and 150th in his head coaching career!
- Be inside Allegacy Stadium next Saturday morning, Sept, 9 when your football Demon Deacons clash with SEC foe Vanderbilt at 11 a.m. Less than 1,000 tickets remain so please contact the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext. 1 or tix@wfu.edu - bring a friend!
- Wake Forest University's Face to Face speaker series returns to Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on September 27. Tickets for that event and the entire series for the 2023-24 academic year can be found here.
Go Deacs & ACC!
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