College Sports
Email
Print
WFU to play preseason basketball game tonight
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: November 6, 2008
As good as Al-Farouq Aminu, Tony Woods and Ty Walker were the day they arrived to play basketball at Wake Forest, they're better now.
Their games will be on display for the first time at Joel Coliseum tonight when the Deacons play Mount Olive College in the only preseason game of the season.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
"I hope people see an aggressive, hard-playing group of kids," Coach Dino Gaudio said yesterday. "They've made marked improvement since they first got here in the summer."
Aminu, Woods and Walker make up one of the most highly regarded classes in school history.
Aminu, a 6-9 forward from Norcross, Ga., made first-team Parade All-America and played in the McDonald's All-American game. He'll probably start tonight.
Woods, a 6-11 center from Rome, Ga., made fourth-team Parade All-America and was ranked the No. 3 center by Rivals.com., a web site specializing in recruiting.
Walker, a 7-0 center from Wilmington, was the Associated Press' Co-Player of the Year in North Carolina and was ranked the No. 2 center by Rivals.com.
They've added talent and depth to a team that also features guard Jeff Teague and forward James Johnson, two of the ACC's best freshmen last season, and junior center Chas McFarland, junior point guard Ish Smith and junior wing L.D. Williams.
Smith is recovering from a broken foot suffered in practice. A boot that helped facilitate the healing was removed on Tuesday, but he has yet to return to practice.
Smith said yesterday that he isn't scheduled to be cleared to play until Monday, Nov. 10, four days before the opener against N.C. Central. But he said he will be X-rayed next week and that if the bone has healed, he will resume playing.
The Deacons scrimmaged South Carolina last Saturday in Columbia, with mixed results.
"We did a very good job on the offensive glass," Gaudio said. "I think we had 15 offensive rebounds. We rebounded the ball very well.
"Conversely, we didn't convert on fast-break opportunities. We had 22 fast-break opportunities when we broke the film down and we converted on 11 of those.
"We have to have a better than 50-percent conversion on the fast break. So since then we've spent a lot of time on the fast-break stuff."
Mount Olive has three starters back from a team that finished 24-7 overall and 16-4 in Division II Conference Carolinas. Coach Bill Clingan retired last May and has been replaced by Joey Higginbotham, a longtime assistant.
The Trojans, like most teams in their division, lack size. Their center is Craig Hayes, a 6-5 sophomore who last season averaged 5.8 points and 2.3 rebounds.
The Deacons will pay special attention to Kendrick Easley, a 6-1 junior guard who was named a Division II preseason All-American by Street and Smith magazine. Easley 16.9 points and 4.2 rebounds last season.
"We wanted to schedule the most difficult Division II team we could," Gaudio said.
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
See community events or add your own! Click here!
Advertisement
