Aminu struts stuff as Deacs win easily

Al-Farouq Aminu made a quite a splash last night, the ripples of which should be felt all around the ACC.

Aminu, a 6-9 freshman forward from Norcross, Ga., scored 21 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked three shots to lead Wake Forest to a 94-48 season-opening victory over admittedly overmatched N.C. Central in front of 9,573 at Joel Coliseum.

The performance was in marked contrast to Aminu's play in last week's exhibition victory against Mount Olive, when he contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds without really hitting his stride.

"I think I was just trying to do everything so perfect," Aminu said. "I sat down and thought, ‘Most people are not going to have a perfect game.' I'm just going to play basketball and bond with my teammates and try to get into the flow."

"I kind of worked on that."

The result was a dominant game against a team without the size or power to resist. Aminu, a blur on the baseline, made 9 of 12 shots from the floor and finished with five of the Deacons' 10 dunks.

James Johnson contributed 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals, Jeff Teague had 14 points and six assists and Tony Woods, another freshman forward, debuted with six field goals on seven attempts for 12 points. The Deacons, taller and more talented at every position, put the Eagles away early by holding them to one field goal on their first 23 attempts.

By the time the Eagles hit their second field goal, with 4:46 left in the first half, Wake Forest led 39-8.

"We never recovered from that," Coach Henry Dickerson of N.C. Central said.

Freshman Jamar Briscoe led the Eagles with 18 points, but at 5-10 struggled to initiate the offense against the towering Deacons. During one second-half stretch Wake Forest had a lineup of Teague at 6-2, Johnson at 6-9, Aminu, Woods at 6-11 and Chas McFarland at 7-0.

"He was taking the ball out of bounds and he said, ‘Coach I can't see anybody,' " Dickerson said. "He had all these 7-footers on him."

One of the Deacons' two 7-footers, freshman Ty Walker of Wilmington, played five minutes, ending any speculation that he may be redshirted to preserve his season of eligibility. Walker, who had 2 points and 2 rebounds, said he told Coach Dino Gaudio that he wanted to play this season.

"Yes there was talk about it -- just strength-wise, not skill-wise," Walker said. "But I decided not to do it.

"Just being out in front of all those people in the first exhibition game, where there were only 6,000 people in the crowd, was a pleasure in itself. Being out there in front of 10,000 or 15,000 is much better, and having the support of Wake Forest and the sea of gold and black."

Gaudio said he remains convinced that Walker is going to make his mark at Wake Forest.

"Like I've said a hundred times, it's not if he's going to be a good player, it's just when," Gaudio said. "He's just a little behind those guys right now because of his weight. He's 206 (pounds) and that was after he got out of the shower with a towel on his shoulder.

"He's got to work his way into the rotation now. You've got James starting for us (power forward) with Chas at (center) and then you've got David (Weaver) and Tony coming off the bench. He knows this. It's no secret. He's behind those four guys right now, that's all. And that's just a fact."

Aminu was the most highly regarded freshman, and he played like it midway through the first half when he scored six straight points, four on dunks. Four of his rebounds were on the offensive boards, and he had one turnover in 28 minutes.

"He's an All-American," Johnson said. "He's a great player. We just told him, ‘Settle down. Just take your regular shots, the same ones that got you here.'

"He let the game come to him. He was awesome."

Gaudio said the performance wasn't anything he hasn't seen many times in practice.

"I told him, `Farouq, assert yourself --on both ends assert yourself,' "Gaudio said. "He's just a freshman. He's coming along. He's going to get better and better because he works hard."

The Deacons led 46-22 at halftime, and the final score was their biggest lead. Wake Forest's next game is at home against UNC Wilmington on Nov. 19.

"I think we played like an elite team," Johnson said. "We moved the ball around. Obviously we have a lot of scoring power inside and out now.

"Defensive-wise we've got guys flying around. We've got guys who really want to lock down and we've got guys coming off the bench and playing their roles. So all in all we played good but there's always room for improvement."

■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.

N.C. CENTRAL-- Worthy 0-2 0-0 0, Worah-Ozimo 0-4 1-4 1, Branch 1-8 0-0 3, Briscoe 6-19 3-6 18, Davis 4-19 1-2 10, Glasker 1-1 0-0 3, Walters 3-4 5-7 11, Holloway 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 16-60 10-19 48.

WAKE FOREST -- Aminu 9-12 3-5 21, Johnson 7-11 3-4 18, McFarland 4-4 4-4 12, Teague 5-11 4-4 14, Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Clark 2-4 1-2 5, Hale 2-4 2-2 7, Lepore 0-1 0-0 0, Walker 1-4 0-0 2, Weaver 0-1 1-2 1, Hoekstra 0-0 0-0 0, Woods 6-7 0-1 12. Totals 37-62 18-24 94.

Halftime--Wake Forest 46-22. 3-Point Goals--N.C. Central 6-22 (Briscoe 3-6, Glasker 1-1, Davis 1-6, Branch 1-7, Worthy 0-1, Walters 0-1), Wake Forest 2-11 (Hale 1-2, Johnson 1-3, Williams 0-1, Lepore 0-1, Clark 0-1, Teague 0-1, Aminu 0-2). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--N.C. Central 34 (Worah-Ozimo 9), Wake Forest 45 (Aminu, Johnson 10). Assists--N.C. Central 3 (Briscoe, Davis, Worthy 1), Wake Forest 20 (Teague 6). Total Fouls--N.C. Central 21, Wake Forest 17. A--9,573.