From the Quad

Presented by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Happy #WFFriday Deacon Nation!

How 'bout those Deacs! Thanks to Coach Tony Bresky and our No. 9-ranked men's tennis team taking down No. 4 South Carolina on the road last night in Columbia, 5-2, we are storming into a big weekend of Wake Forest sports that includes our 50th Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony tonight in the Sutton Center.

Tonight's Hall of Fame inductees includes former Wake Forest University President Dr. Thomas Hearn, multiple-time ACC champion Jill Snyder of track and field/cross country, NCAA men's soccer's all-time leader in saves Jose Miguel Grave de Peralta Jr., Diamond Deac legend and former MLB pitcher Erik Hanson, three-time NCAA field hockey champion Maeke Boreel and Heritage committee honoree and football alum, Carlos Bradley. Additionally, Syd Kitson will be honored as our Gene Hooks Lifetime Achievement Award winner, which is just his latest honor since he was named Time Magazine 2023 Dreamer of the Year.

During their Wake Forest careers, this incredible group of Demon Deacons produced 10 All-ACC selections, eight All-American selections, three National Championships and multiple program and NCAA records.

We're grateful for Assistant AD Allison Edwards and our special events staff for their meticulous preparation in making this event happen, along with Joe Cassidy and the Wake Wellbeing Center staff who manage the Sutton Center.

With both hoops teams at home this weekend inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum and all our spring sports just about in full swing, let's get to the rest of the updates!

Joel Coliseum is the 'Place to Be" Amidst Surging Crowds & Incredible Energy!
The entire Winston-Salem and Triad community, including our passionate students, brought incredible energy last Saturday night in our men's basketball team's seismic victory over Syracuse inside LJVM Coliseum. With nearly 11,500 fans in attendance, our fan attendance last weekend marked the fourth-highest attended game in the Steve Forbes era.

The reemergence of our hoops program includes an astounding 43-5 record at home since the start of the 2021-22 season, including a perfect 12-0 mark at home this season. The Deacs overall wins in that time span ranks second in the country and leads the ACC!

Coach Forbes' squad followed that stellar victory over the Orange with a dominant 80-51 win at Georgia Tech on Tuesday night earlier this week. The Deacs have now recorded back-to-back wins by 29 or more points in consecutive conference games for the first time since the inaugural ACC season in 1953-54. Our team was buoyed by a spirited crowd of about 750 Demon Deacon fans inside McCamish Pavilion. We also had a packed pregame fan event and a great Tuesday morning Deacon Club International Leadership Circle breakfast, which included members of our 2006 & 1970 Demon Deacons ACC football champion teams, John Tereshinski & Steve Bowden!

Tomorrow afternoon, we encourage you to arrive early for our 4 p.m. Big Four clash with our rivals from Raleigh. There are limited seats available for the 258th game between the Demon Deacons and the Pack, so grab a neighbor or friend and be there for the action!

I also want to thank our campus partners, led by VP for Campus Life Dr. Shea Kidd Brown and Executive Director of Student Engagement Tim Wilkinson, and our fan experience and operations staff who have successfully created a pregame student fan zone that hosted over 400 Screamin' Demons last weekend - with nearly 2,500 total students attending the game! This innovative and fun experience would not have been possible without the generous leadership of Mit Shah ('91). I am excited to see this area come to life again tomorrow afternoon!

New & Updated Banners Revealed Inside Joel Coliseum Over Alumni Weekend
As we welcomed back dozens of men's and women's basketball alumni last weekend, Athletics unveiled 33 brand new recognition banners inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. In addition to updated logos and a crisp new style, Deacon Nation has been treated to 12 new banners honoring great accomplishments of Wake Forest women's basketball including the jerseys of nine alumnae, one former head coach, and NCAA and WNIT tournament teams.

As Coach Megan Gebbia remarked; "We continue to strive each day to build a sustainable winning program for our community, this an important step as we honor the past, live in the present and look forward to the future for our women's hoops program."

Our women's hoops team continued to show resilient fight in last Sunday's narrow loss to Georgia Tech and a tight-battle at Duke last night. We'll be back in action Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. as we host Virginia. Additionally, mark your calendars for Sunday, Feb. 18, at 6 p.m. when we host North Carolina and will honor our Senior Class, including Kaia Harrison, Alexandria Scruggs, Demeara Hinds and Aliah McWhorter.

Wake Forest Launches "In Her Wake" Initiative in Support of Women's Athletics
Speaking of women's sports, Athletics announced on Wednesday a $100 million initiative – "In Her Wake" – to further transform opportunities for female student-athletes. This news follows the tremendous leadership from our head coaches and the dedication of thousands of student-athletes over the last 50-plus years of women's athletics, and with the support of Deacon Club members, the Board of Trustees and many friends, Wake Forest University has become synonymous with excellence in women's intercollegiate athletics.

We've enjoyed celebrating the impacts of these gifts through named coaching positions, endowed scholarships, and facility naming recognition. The public launch of In Her Wake beckons the greater Wake Forest and Winston-Salem communities to consider current, multi-year, and estate commitments which can further elevate Wake Forest University as an elite destination for future generations. Those interested in learning more or in supporting the In Her Wake initiative can visit this website. Truist and other lead investors have already committed over $21 million to the In Her Wake initiative this past year, as Wake Forest Athletics aims to surpass $100 million by 2029.

Wake Forest Celebrates Black History Month
February is Black History Month and we have been sharing content across all of our platforms throughout the month, including this inspiring and thought-provoking feature by Assistant Director Isaiah Green on Feb. 1. In addition to Black History Month content in the Deacon Sports Xtra (subscribe here), women's basketball kicked off the month with their Black History Month Celebration Game at the Joel last Thursday as the program honored several historical Black icons. Check out the Wake Forest Intercultural Center's many Black History Month events!

Spring Sports News & Notes
We are just a week away from our No. 1-ranked Diamond Deacs taking the field at David F. Couch Ballpark with our five preseason All-Americans (get your tickets to Opening Day here). Let's take a look around our spring sports line up – where we've already racked up some big wins and top-tier performances!

In addition to yesterday's triumph at No. 4 South Carolina, our ninth-ranked men's tennis team has also captured ranked wins over No. 20 Florida and No. 9 Columbia. The latter came a week ago today when hundreds of fans poured into the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center and created an incredible home-court advantage for our student-athletes.

Coach Tony Bresky's squad will compete at the ITA National Indoor Championships next weekend in New York, NY. Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com for more information, and if you are in the area and able to attend, admission is free!

Meanwhile on the women's side, Coach Jeff Wyshner's squad has captured a trio of victories this spring and host South Carolina and Campbell next Saturday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively. Admission is free at the Indoor Tennis Center so come see recently-named ACC Freshman of the Week Krystal Blanch and her teammates compete!

On the track, our indoor programs have already competed at five events (see results here) and Coach John Hayes has split his squad across three meets this weekend to allow our student-athletes the best opportunity to compete. Stay tuned to @WakeTrack for updates as our student-athletes seek to improve their times ahead of the ACC Championships in two weeks!

Finally on the golf course, our men's and women's programs began their spring with a pair of events on the west coast.

Our Motto Means More: Pro Humanitate Defines Wake Forest Community
As you may have seen during recent Demon Deacons basketball games, Wake Forest has recently begun a new campaign highlighting our University Pro Humanitate motto. This recent rollout highlights how our commitment to academic excellence; embrace of a relational and inclusive campus community; and how partnerships in Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Washington, D.C. and around the world are all in service of Pro Humanitate.

Translated as "For Humanity," our motto calls upon the entire University community to engage in the fundamental question about what it means to be human. It invites us to use our ideas, knowledge, talents and compassion on behalf of humanity in all its difference and diversity — in short, to be catalysts for good.

Football 2024 Schedule Set - Seven-Home Games Coming to Allegacy Stadium
With less than 200 days away until Opening Night at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium, excitement can be felt all around DEACTOWN as the schedule for the much-anticipated 2024 Wake Forest football season was announced a few weeks ago in partnership with the Atlantic Coast Conference office and ESPN!

We are fired up to begin with a big Opening Night game against fellow Triad institution North Carolina A&T on Thursday, Aug. 29. We are also delighted to get back to a seven-game home schedule, which brings more football fun for the entire community including ACC games against longtime conference partners UVA, Clemson and Duke, and a first-ever trip to Winston-Salem for our new member, Cal-Berkeley. Additionally, we have non-conference games against Ole Miss and Louisiana for Homecoming & Family Weekend games, respectively.

I appreciate our fans purchasing season tickets and helping create the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina in Allegacy Stadium this fall as the Deacons look to build on our 23-7 record in Winston-Salem since 2019, one of the best home records in all of the Power 4. With that, remember the 'One More Rule' as you make plans for this upcoming football season! Click here to see important upcoming dates and payment plans details. And, don't forget about our new Annual Seat Rights option that gives fans the ability to lock in their same seats without a multi-year commitment.

Additionally, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced that Wake Forest's spring game will be played on Saturday, April 20 at 2 p.m. This will be a part of an exciting weekend for Wake Forest Athletics as the Deacs host the annual Wake Forest Track and Field Invitational at Kentner Stadium (Friday, April 19) and a baseball series against Florida State (Friday, April 19 - Sunday, April 21). Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com for more information!

From the Quad Big 3
Before we close, here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:

As we shared in the announcement regarding Mit Shah's recent transformational investment in our men's basketball program, our hard-working creative and communications staff have been working to tell unique stories about our recent alumni and current student-athletes on how their experience at Wake Forest changed their lives. I encourage you to read these "My Wake" stories from Efton Reid III, Andrew Carr and Kevin "Boopie" Miller. Additionally, stay tuned to our @WakeMBB social media platforms for unique video content, including this video feature from Mit himself!
While we're talking about narrative-shaping stories, read our recent cover story in the Sports Business Journal about Wake Forest's strong position in the ever-evolving intercollegiate landscape and this feature from VenuesNow on how our partnership with ASM Global is bringing tremendous Value to Wake Forest, Winston-Salem and Triad Communities through many new and exciting outside events. I am so appreciative of Bruce Schoenfeld and Don Muret for taking the time to come to Winston-Salem to detail in their well-written stories what makes us distinct!
As we head towards postseason hoops, make your plans now to be at the Ally Women's Basketball ACC Tournament in Greensboro (March 6-10) and our nation's capital for the men's basketball tournament (March 12-16). Remember, when the Deacs are on the road, even a handful of passionate fans wearing the Old Gold & Black and showing their support can make a difference! Visit this webpage for ACCT ticket information. With that, congratulations are in order to our colleagues at the conference office for the future league championships site announcement, which brings tremendous value to the fastest-growing state in the union, North Carolina!

It's winning time! We'll see you tomorrow in Joel Coliseum!

Go Deacs!

John Currie
Director of Athletics

Wake Forest Athletics

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