The Sports Bank’s college basketball season previews undergo a face lift this season. Rather than counting down the top 111 teams in 111 days, we will go conference-by-conference. I’ve already counted down the Pac-12, Big 12, SEC, and AAC, and now turn my attention to the already new-look ACC.
After four lackluster seasons as Wake Forest Demon Deacons head coach, Jeff Bzdelik was deservedly given the boot this off-season. The program seems to have made a slam dunk hire in Danny Manning who looks to get Wake back on track.
WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS
Last Season: T-11th, 6-12 in ACC, 17-16 overall
Predicted ACC Finish: 11th
Projected Depth Chart
F/C: Devin Thomas (Jr)/Andre Washington (Jr)
PF: Darius Leonard (Sr)/Daniel Green (Sr)/Konstantinos Mitoglou (Fr)
F: Aaron Rountree (Jr)/Greg McClinton (Fr)/Cornelius Hudson (Fr)
G: Codi Miller-McIntyre (Jr)/Miles Overton (So)/Rondale Watson (Fr)
PG: Madison Jones (Jr)/Mitchell Wilbekin (Fr)
Gone: SF-Travis McKie, SG-Coron Williams, PF-Tyler Cavanaugh (transfer-George Washington), PF-Arnaud Adala Moto (transfer-Towson)
2014-2015 Outlook:
Devin Thomas continues to develop as one of the more underrated low post players in the ACC. He possesses an impressive combination of size, athleticism, and skill that allows him to be effective on the block or facing up. Seven-footer Andre Washington hasn’t made the splash that many were expecting but serves as a defensive presence off the bench behind Thomas.
Wake lost a pair of frontcourt players to transfer but added Campbell graduate transfer, Darius Leonard who should start at power forward. He adds some versatility to the frontcourt due to his inside/outside ability. Daniel Green, who tore his ACL in each of the past two seasons, hopes to finally be healthy and provide some depth at the four along with Greek freshman Konstantinos Mitoglou.
The Demon Deacons must also replace four-year starter Travis McKie at small forward. Aaron Rountree was used in a limited role at forward last season and figures to see more minutes while redshirt freshman Greg McClinton will push him for playing time.
In the backcourt, Wake returns their junior duo of Cody Miller-McIntyre and Madison Jones. Both are capable of handling the rock or playing off the ball but Miller-McIntyre is easily the more talented scorer of the two. Seldom-used Miles Overton should see spot minutes as will Mitchell Wilbekin who originally committed to Tulsa but chose to follow Manning to Wake Forest.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/17 at Tulane
11/19 at Arkansas
11/21 vs. Iona
12/2 vs. Minnesota (Big Ten/ACC Challenge)
12/20 vs. Florida
12/28 at Richmond
OTHER ACC PREVIEWS:
#14 GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS
AAC PREVIEWS:
#1 UCONN HUSKIES
#7 UCF KNIGHTS
#8 SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS
#9 HOUSTON COUGARS
#10 TULANE GREEN WAVE
#11 EAST CAROLINA PIRATES
SEC PREVIEWS:
#1 KENTUCKY WILDCATS
BIG 12 PREVIEWS:
#1 KANSAS JAYHAWKS
#2 TEXAS LONGHORNS
PAC-12 PREVIEWS:
#1 ARIZONA WILDCATS
#4 UCLA BRUINS
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.