Wake Forest Athletics
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From The Quad
3/18/2026 4:54:00 PM | General
Presented by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
Happy Wednesday Demon Deacon Nation!
Campus is alive with activity again this week – and parking is precious – as Wake Forest students persevered through wild Sunday and Monday weather to return to Winston-Salem from spring break. For many of our teams and our operations staff, there wasn't much of a break, as we've been on a solid stretch of hosting events, including baseball and tennis, four days of the North Carolina high school basketball championships and even a near-capacity show in LJVM Sunday night featuring country music legends Alabama!
Fortunately, our crack Legends Global colleagues have already "flipped" LJVM back from the concert stage to hardwood in time for tonight's Wake Forest men's basketball National Invitation Tournament 7:00 p.m. opener against Navy and tomorrow night's 6:00 p.m. Women's NIT matchup with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. The WNIT is an excellent opportunity for our young players to gain tournament experience as we look forward to the arrival of Belmont's Oshauna Holland this summer – the 2026 North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year, MaxPreps NC Player of the Year, NC Ms. Basketball and the all-time leading scorer in NCHSAA history!
And while I'm proud of the fact that Coach Forbes led our team through adversity and injuries to win six of our last ten games and pull back above .500 to finish the season – this is certainly not the March destination anyone – coaches, players, fans, or me – want for our storied men's basketball program. But despite a tough stretch of five losses in mid-winter, our team is energized by the opportunity to keep playing together and senior point guard Nate Calmese is expected to play tonight as he continues to faithfully rehab his injured ankles, which kept him out of 10 ACC games. This is also another opportunity to cheer on sophomore All-ACC, All-District & league most improved player Juke Harris as he climbs the Wake Forest single-season scoring charts, having just passed the legendary Charlie Davis for fourth place in program history (704 points), and now chasing Len Chappell for third (745 points) and Dickie Hemric for second (746 points). Tickets are just $25 for adults and $15 for youth 18 and under, and you can tune in on ESPNU.
Meanwhile ACC strength is on full display with eight NCAA teams, two in the NIT and one in the Crown, and despite our slip back from a 13-7 league record last year to 7-11 this season, Wake still ranks fifth in total ACC wins over the last five seasons. With the assistance of new general manager Steve Weinman, Coach Forbes is already building a contending roster for next season including key returners, new high school recruits and April transfer portal targets.
Finally, I've heard many wonderful comments about the recognition of the family and legacy of Wake Forest basketball legend Rodney Rogers on Senior and Graduates Day as the Deacs delivered a memorable comeback win over California after trailing 15 points.
It's been a month since I've written to you From the Quad - let's get to the updates!
Investing in the Future of Wake Forest Athletics: The McCreary Triple Double Challenge
As Wake Forest teams continue to compete hard across every field and court, the landscape of college athletics is changing fast. The introduction of direct revenue sharing between universities and student-athletes as part of the new national framework of the House Case settlement means that since July 1, 2025, institutions across the country have had the ability to enter into direct Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) agreements with student-athletes.
Faithful From the Quad readers will recall that in the fall of 2024, with the leadership of President Wente and the Board of Trustees, Wake Forest made the commitment to sharing revenue to the $20.5 million "cap" as part of the Demon Deacon determination of competing at the highest level. In turn, leadership donors, led by the legendary Bob McCreary, fostered an effort to raise $100 million in new commitments to help provide the scholarships, additional operational and coaching support, and ensure that Wake can continue to achieve the full annual revenue sharing cap, which in FY27 will be $21.32 million.
Today I'm humbled to share since July 1, 2024, the Deacon Club has secured over $74,500,000 in new commitments toward the $100 million McCreary Triple Double Challenge!
Gifts to the McCreary Challenge also fund strategic investments into targeted opportunities that provide our programs a competitive advantage. The Deacs Day of Giving is tomorrow, March 19 (early giving is open now!), so we invite all Wake fans, alumni, family, and friends to join Bob and other leadership supporters by making a gift to the McCreary Triple Double Challenge, the Deacon Club Scholarship Fund, or directly to your favorite Deacon program.
Wake Forest's 59 ACC team championships, 11 NCAA team titles, many bowl games, big victories, thousands of graduations, and millions of special memories have been earned through the dedication of Demon Deacon student-athletes, the leadership of great coaches, the mentorship of world-class faculty and significantly, the generosity, support and cheering of generations of Wake fans. Let me again express my thanks for your gifts and investments as we move forward together.
Mr. Currie Goes to Washington - Representing Wake Forest at the White House
The challenges of sustaining a viable future for college athletics and preserving the opportunities for the more than 500,000 student-athletes competing in all NCAA divisions annually reached Washington D.C. Friday, March 6, as President Trump chaired a "Saving College Sports" roundtable in the White House. I was asked to participate by Yankees President Randy Levine, who serves as vice-chair of the initiative and I was deeply honored to be among a remarkable group of leaders in the room – including commissioners from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, Big East and Mountain West Conference, NCAA President Charlie Baker, and multiple cabinet secretaries and congressional leaders. A primary focus of the discussion centered on reintroducing the SCORE Act into the House of Representatives to advance an enforceable national framework for rules related to name, image and likeness instead of the current confusing maze of contradictory state laws, implementing common sense eligibility rules (no more "8th year seniors"!) to protect opportunities, and ensure that we can keep the "student" in "student-athlete!" Here at Wake Forest our student-athletes still go to class in-person, learn from full-time professors, post record GPAs and are sustaining a 96% graduation success rate, all while competing at the highest level. That's the model we want to preserve and we continue our commitment to delivering a World Class Student-Athlete Experience.
Leading the Deacs: Men's Tennis – Women's Golf Continues Top Ten Pace
Speaking of world class, Coach Tony Bresky and our No. 4 men's tennis team kept their streak rolling this past weekend, picking up dominant wins over No. 15 Notre Dame on Friday night (5-0) and Louisville and Davidson on Sunday afternoon at the Southern Family Courts at Leighton Stadium. Make sure to come cheer on the Deacs as they host No. 1 Virginia at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday! Coach Kim Lewellen's No. 8 women's golf team is also on the hunt after finishing third at the Old Barnwell Derby, where the Deacs defeated No. 16 Mississippi State in the final round of matchplay – the team now boasts a 21-3 match play record since their 2023 NCAA National Championship.
Diamond Deacs Hitting the Gas as Season Heats Up
Baseball season is in full swing and our No. 24 baseball team quickly bounced back from a tough series against Florida State for a midweek shutout win against Liberty last night, and will look to keep the momentum going in Charlottesville at No. 9 Virginia this weekend. The Deacons sit at 16-5 overall and 3-3 in the ACC thanks to an earlier sweep of Stanford . They'll return to The Couch next weekend to face Cal, before heading to Charlotte to take on Clemson at Truist Field on April 1 – make sure to grab your shuttle tickets, pregame rooftop party passes and game tickets to cheer on the Deacs in the Queen City!
Construction Underway to Improve Pedestrian Connectivity for Campus and The Grounds
I was fired up last week to see the traffic barrels and construction fencing go up and the announcement of The Grounds new pedestrian link. The reimagined University Parkway-North Cherry Street intersection features a pedestrian-activated crossing, enlarged sidewalks, and beautiful new walking entry to Wake Forest's Reynolda Campus, helping to link The Grounds, and all our sports and entertainment venues together. The Silas Creek restoration, greenways, and coming retail village, will benefit fans as they move between Allegacy Stadium, Couch Ballpark, the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds and campus – creating a year-round neighborhood destination that strengthens the broader Winston-Salem community.
Big Weekend Highlights Diversity of Entertainment and Activities
As the first phase of The Grounds nears its summer 2027 opening, the weekend of February 27-March 1 showcased just how much happens in Winston-Salem's sports and entertainment district – and the great collaboration of staff members and units of the City of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, state of North Carolina and of course our Wake Forest/Legends Global team. From the LJVM Coliseum to David F. Couch Ballpark and the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena, the combined venues welcomed more than 40,000 fans and 1,700 dogs (thanks to the All-Breed Dog Show at the fairgrounds)! The 18 different events included six baseball games, two tennis matches and a packed crowd of 500 in Bridger Fieldhouse for the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame celebration. The Twin City Thunderbirds hosted the Watertown Wolves for back-to-back nights of hockey at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena and the Legends Global team at LJVM Coliseum quickly converted from a sold-out Friday night 10,000-attendee Cody Johnson concert back to a basketball arena for Saturday afternoon and Sunday basketball games against Syracuse and Florida State respectively.
Transfer Portal News – Pantages Heads to Ohio State
In November 2019, we welcomed Will Pantages, then a young assistant director of communications at the University of Florida, to Winston-Salem where in the six years since he completely transformed Wake Forest Athletics' comprehensive media relations, communications, social and content creation approach into one that sets a national standard of excellence – truly epitomizing our "Model Intercollegiate Athletics Program" vision. Along the way, Will became an integral part of helping Deacon fans experience lots of big wins and understand some of our toughest moments, all the while tirelessly serving our student-athletes, coaches and the media professionals who cover our sports. Most recently serving as our senior associate athletics director and a key member of our executive leadership team, Will has been called home to serve the Ohio State Buckeyes as Senior Associate AD for Football Communications. While we are sad to say goodbye to Will, Gabby and Bennett, we are extremely proud of him for earning this incredible professional opportunity. I have no doubt he will shine as a Wake "alum" in this next chapter – again, elevating the Demon Deacons brand as he had done throughout his tenure in Winston-Salem!
Deacon Women Get Ready for The Augusta National Women's Amateur – April 1 - 4
Our outstanding women's golfers Macy Pate and Chloe Kovelesky are set to take part in the most prestigious amateur event in women's golf next month at the Augusta National Women's Amateur. So many of our Deacs from Jennifer Kupcho to Emilia Migliaccio to Carolina López-Chacarra have had success playing at the most historic course in the world, Augusta National. I am looking forward to this group performing well a week before the 90th Masters. Pate has also earned a spot on the Spring ANNIKA Award watchlist thanks in part to her first collegiate win at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup and a third place finish at the Moon Golf Invitational.
Goal Number Four - Win Championships!
Congrats to Wake Forest track and field for capturing three ACC indoor titles led by second team All-America Paul Specht who captured the men's mile title at the ACC Indoor Championships in Boston with a time of 3:58.14 – Wake Forest's first individual men's distance crown since 2018. Specht teamed with Wes Shipsey, Foster Shelbert, and Andrew Riley to claim the the men's distance medley relay, while Seren Rodgers dominated the women's pentathlon with a personal-best 3,989 points, highlighted by a first-place long jump and fourth in high jump.
And, how about Demon Deacon alum Cameron Young who on Sunday rallied from four shots back to capture his second PGA Tour title at the 2026 Players Championship, including a clutch record 375-yard drive on the 18th at TPC Sawgrass!
From the Quad Big 3
Finally, here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:
Go Deacs!
John Currie
Vice President & Director of Athletics
Wake Forest University
Happy Wednesday Demon Deacon Nation!
Campus is alive with activity again this week – and parking is precious – as Wake Forest students persevered through wild Sunday and Monday weather to return to Winston-Salem from spring break. For many of our teams and our operations staff, there wasn't much of a break, as we've been on a solid stretch of hosting events, including baseball and tennis, four days of the North Carolina high school basketball championships and even a near-capacity show in LJVM Sunday night featuring country music legends Alabama!
Fortunately, our crack Legends Global colleagues have already "flipped" LJVM back from the concert stage to hardwood in time for tonight's Wake Forest men's basketball National Invitation Tournament 7:00 p.m. opener against Navy and tomorrow night's 6:00 p.m. Women's NIT matchup with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. The WNIT is an excellent opportunity for our young players to gain tournament experience as we look forward to the arrival of Belmont's Oshauna Holland this summer – the 2026 North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year, MaxPreps NC Player of the Year, NC Ms. Basketball and the all-time leading scorer in NCHSAA history!
And while I'm proud of the fact that Coach Forbes led our team through adversity and injuries to win six of our last ten games and pull back above .500 to finish the season – this is certainly not the March destination anyone – coaches, players, fans, or me – want for our storied men's basketball program. But despite a tough stretch of five losses in mid-winter, our team is energized by the opportunity to keep playing together and senior point guard Nate Calmese is expected to play tonight as he continues to faithfully rehab his injured ankles, which kept him out of 10 ACC games. This is also another opportunity to cheer on sophomore All-ACC, All-District & league most improved player Juke Harris as he climbs the Wake Forest single-season scoring charts, having just passed the legendary Charlie Davis for fourth place in program history (704 points), and now chasing Len Chappell for third (745 points) and Dickie Hemric for second (746 points). Tickets are just $25 for adults and $15 for youth 18 and under, and you can tune in on ESPNU.
Meanwhile ACC strength is on full display with eight NCAA teams, two in the NIT and one in the Crown, and despite our slip back from a 13-7 league record last year to 7-11 this season, Wake still ranks fifth in total ACC wins over the last five seasons. With the assistance of new general manager Steve Weinman, Coach Forbes is already building a contending roster for next season including key returners, new high school recruits and April transfer portal targets.
Finally, I've heard many wonderful comments about the recognition of the family and legacy of Wake Forest basketball legend Rodney Rogers on Senior and Graduates Day as the Deacs delivered a memorable comeback win over California after trailing 15 points.
It's been a month since I've written to you From the Quad - let's get to the updates!
Investing in the Future of Wake Forest Athletics: The McCreary Triple Double Challenge
As Wake Forest teams continue to compete hard across every field and court, the landscape of college athletics is changing fast. The introduction of direct revenue sharing between universities and student-athletes as part of the new national framework of the House Case settlement means that since July 1, 2025, institutions across the country have had the ability to enter into direct Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) agreements with student-athletes.
Faithful From the Quad readers will recall that in the fall of 2024, with the leadership of President Wente and the Board of Trustees, Wake Forest made the commitment to sharing revenue to the $20.5 million "cap" as part of the Demon Deacon determination of competing at the highest level. In turn, leadership donors, led by the legendary Bob McCreary, fostered an effort to raise $100 million in new commitments to help provide the scholarships, additional operational and coaching support, and ensure that Wake can continue to achieve the full annual revenue sharing cap, which in FY27 will be $21.32 million.
Today I'm humbled to share since July 1, 2024, the Deacon Club has secured over $74,500,000 in new commitments toward the $100 million McCreary Triple Double Challenge!
Gifts to the McCreary Challenge also fund strategic investments into targeted opportunities that provide our programs a competitive advantage. The Deacs Day of Giving is tomorrow, March 19 (early giving is open now!), so we invite all Wake fans, alumni, family, and friends to join Bob and other leadership supporters by making a gift to the McCreary Triple Double Challenge, the Deacon Club Scholarship Fund, or directly to your favorite Deacon program.
Wake Forest's 59 ACC team championships, 11 NCAA team titles, many bowl games, big victories, thousands of graduations, and millions of special memories have been earned through the dedication of Demon Deacon student-athletes, the leadership of great coaches, the mentorship of world-class faculty and significantly, the generosity, support and cheering of generations of Wake fans. Let me again express my thanks for your gifts and investments as we move forward together.
Mr. Currie Goes to Washington - Representing Wake Forest at the White House
The challenges of sustaining a viable future for college athletics and preserving the opportunities for the more than 500,000 student-athletes competing in all NCAA divisions annually reached Washington D.C. Friday, March 6, as President Trump chaired a "Saving College Sports" roundtable in the White House. I was asked to participate by Yankees President Randy Levine, who serves as vice-chair of the initiative and I was deeply honored to be among a remarkable group of leaders in the room – including commissioners from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, Big East and Mountain West Conference, NCAA President Charlie Baker, and multiple cabinet secretaries and congressional leaders. A primary focus of the discussion centered on reintroducing the SCORE Act into the House of Representatives to advance an enforceable national framework for rules related to name, image and likeness instead of the current confusing maze of contradictory state laws, implementing common sense eligibility rules (no more "8th year seniors"!) to protect opportunities, and ensure that we can keep the "student" in "student-athlete!" Here at Wake Forest our student-athletes still go to class in-person, learn from full-time professors, post record GPAs and are sustaining a 96% graduation success rate, all while competing at the highest level. That's the model we want to preserve and we continue our commitment to delivering a World Class Student-Athlete Experience.
Leading the Deacs: Men's Tennis – Women's Golf Continues Top Ten Pace
Speaking of world class, Coach Tony Bresky and our No. 4 men's tennis team kept their streak rolling this past weekend, picking up dominant wins over No. 15 Notre Dame on Friday night (5-0) and Louisville and Davidson on Sunday afternoon at the Southern Family Courts at Leighton Stadium. Make sure to come cheer on the Deacs as they host No. 1 Virginia at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday! Coach Kim Lewellen's No. 8 women's golf team is also on the hunt after finishing third at the Old Barnwell Derby, where the Deacs defeated No. 16 Mississippi State in the final round of matchplay – the team now boasts a 21-3 match play record since their 2023 NCAA National Championship.
Diamond Deacs Hitting the Gas as Season Heats Up
Baseball season is in full swing and our No. 24 baseball team quickly bounced back from a tough series against Florida State for a midweek shutout win against Liberty last night, and will look to keep the momentum going in Charlottesville at No. 9 Virginia this weekend. The Deacons sit at 16-5 overall and 3-3 in the ACC thanks to an earlier sweep of Stanford . They'll return to The Couch next weekend to face Cal, before heading to Charlotte to take on Clemson at Truist Field on April 1 – make sure to grab your shuttle tickets, pregame rooftop party passes and game tickets to cheer on the Deacs in the Queen City!
Construction Underway to Improve Pedestrian Connectivity for Campus and The Grounds
I was fired up last week to see the traffic barrels and construction fencing go up and the announcement of The Grounds new pedestrian link. The reimagined University Parkway-North Cherry Street intersection features a pedestrian-activated crossing, enlarged sidewalks, and beautiful new walking entry to Wake Forest's Reynolda Campus, helping to link The Grounds, and all our sports and entertainment venues together. The Silas Creek restoration, greenways, and coming retail village, will benefit fans as they move between Allegacy Stadium, Couch Ballpark, the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds and campus – creating a year-round neighborhood destination that strengthens the broader Winston-Salem community.
Big Weekend Highlights Diversity of Entertainment and Activities
As the first phase of The Grounds nears its summer 2027 opening, the weekend of February 27-March 1 showcased just how much happens in Winston-Salem's sports and entertainment district – and the great collaboration of staff members and units of the City of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, state of North Carolina and of course our Wake Forest/Legends Global team. From the LJVM Coliseum to David F. Couch Ballpark and the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena, the combined venues welcomed more than 40,000 fans and 1,700 dogs (thanks to the All-Breed Dog Show at the fairgrounds)! The 18 different events included six baseball games, two tennis matches and a packed crowd of 500 in Bridger Fieldhouse for the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame celebration. The Twin City Thunderbirds hosted the Watertown Wolves for back-to-back nights of hockey at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena and the Legends Global team at LJVM Coliseum quickly converted from a sold-out Friday night 10,000-attendee Cody Johnson concert back to a basketball arena for Saturday afternoon and Sunday basketball games against Syracuse and Florida State respectively.
Transfer Portal News – Pantages Heads to Ohio State
In November 2019, we welcomed Will Pantages, then a young assistant director of communications at the University of Florida, to Winston-Salem where in the six years since he completely transformed Wake Forest Athletics' comprehensive media relations, communications, social and content creation approach into one that sets a national standard of excellence – truly epitomizing our "Model Intercollegiate Athletics Program" vision. Along the way, Will became an integral part of helping Deacon fans experience lots of big wins and understand some of our toughest moments, all the while tirelessly serving our student-athletes, coaches and the media professionals who cover our sports. Most recently serving as our senior associate athletics director and a key member of our executive leadership team, Will has been called home to serve the Ohio State Buckeyes as Senior Associate AD for Football Communications. While we are sad to say goodbye to Will, Gabby and Bennett, we are extremely proud of him for earning this incredible professional opportunity. I have no doubt he will shine as a Wake "alum" in this next chapter – again, elevating the Demon Deacons brand as he had done throughout his tenure in Winston-Salem!
Deacon Women Get Ready for The Augusta National Women's Amateur – April 1 - 4
Our outstanding women's golfers Macy Pate and Chloe Kovelesky are set to take part in the most prestigious amateur event in women's golf next month at the Augusta National Women's Amateur. So many of our Deacs from Jennifer Kupcho to Emilia Migliaccio to Carolina López-Chacarra have had success playing at the most historic course in the world, Augusta National. I am looking forward to this group performing well a week before the 90th Masters. Pate has also earned a spot on the Spring ANNIKA Award watchlist thanks in part to her first collegiate win at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup and a third place finish at the Moon Golf Invitational.
Goal Number Four - Win Championships!
Congrats to Wake Forest track and field for capturing three ACC indoor titles led by second team All-America Paul Specht who captured the men's mile title at the ACC Indoor Championships in Boston with a time of 3:58.14 – Wake Forest's first individual men's distance crown since 2018. Specht teamed with Wes Shipsey, Foster Shelbert, and Andrew Riley to claim the the men's distance medley relay, while Seren Rodgers dominated the women's pentathlon with a personal-best 3,989 points, highlighted by a first-place long jump and fourth in high jump.
And, how about Demon Deacon alum Cameron Young who on Sunday rallied from four shots back to capture his second PGA Tour title at the 2026 Players Championship, including a clutch record 375-yard drive on the 18th at TPC Sawgrass!
From the Quad Big 3
Finally, here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:
- Play as Wake Forest! Sony's MLB The Show 26 hit the digital shelves yesterday and Wake Forest Baseball is one of just 19 NCAA programs featured in the game! Be sure to rep the Old Gold & Black when you play and help keep Demon Deacon baseball in this select company!
- Welcome our new neighbors! Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist recently gained approval for a $33 million freestanding emergency department on University Parkway to be built on the current Flow site near Coliseum Drive. A tip of the Deacon Top Hat goes to AHWFB CEO David Zaas for driving this investment, which fills an existing medical services desert and boosts access for healthcare for the surrounding neighborhoods!
- Secure your 2026 football tickets today - Coach Dickert and your reigning Duke's Mayo Bowl champs have begun spring workouts building to Spring Fan Fest on April 18th. As the Deacs gear up for an exciting 2026 season it's time to call the ticket office at 336.758.3322 or visit GoDeacs.com/Tickets to secure your seats for the upcoming season. Don't miss the Opening Night at Allegacy Stadium against Akron on Thursday night September 3rd, or the matchup against National Championship runner-up – Miami on Friday night, September 18th! Already a season ticket holder? Renew your tickets here. Ready to join the action for the first time… season tickets start at just $149!
Go Deacs!
John Currie
Vice President & Director of Athletics
Wake Forest University
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
/ Women's Golf
Steve Forbes - Postgame Presser vs. Navy
Thursday, March 19
Jake Dickert Pre-Spring Press Conference (March 18, 2026)
Wednesday, March 18
Wake Forest Women's Golf: Kim Lewellen Women's History Month Feature
Monday, March 16
Men's Basketball Postgame Presser vs. Clemson, 2026 ACC Tournament
Thursday, March 12