Relishing the Bad-Boy Role: WFU's McFarland is often an object of opponents' ire

"The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture."

He heard them long before he was involved in the incident that resulted in Gonzaga's Elias Harris being ejected from the game.

He heard them before Wake Forest's game against No. 17 Gonzaga on Dec. 5 had even started.

As he has come to expect, senior Chas McFarland of the Deacons heard the boos cascading down from the over-revved crowd at the McCarthey Athletic Center as soon as he emerged from the locker room for warm-ups.

To McFarland, it was music to his ears. And if you know anything about the popular songwriter Cole Porter, then you might have heard the tune.

It's called, "I've Got You Under My Skin."

"They absolutely hate me," McFarland said. "Before we had ever started at Gonzaga, they were screaming and yelling at me. I just laughed at it. I think it's funny.

"I'm probably glad it is me, because it doesn't get to me anymore. Some of the other guys, it might get to them. I kind of like it now. It's been that way everywhere we go on the road.

"Even my sophomore year, before I had even played, they all hated me. I don't know why. I guess it's because I stick out a little bit."

If there's an incident, dust-up or altercation in any game played by Wake Forest, odds are pretty good that McFarland is involved. He swears he doesn't know why. Sure he's aggressive, but college basketball, particularly as played in a conference as elite as the ACC, is no place for the mild or meek.

But it just so happens that the last three players who were ejected from games against Wake Forest -- Ryan Reid of Florida State two years ago, Solomon Alabi of Florida State last year and Harris this season -- have been thrown out after tangling with McFarland.

"Every time something happens, it does seem like I'm in on it," McFarland said. "It's got me.

"It's been that way for the last three years."

To survive, let along flourish, in his role as the one Deacon that opponents most love to hate, McFarland had to learn to keep his emotions in check. It wasn't easy. By nature, he's combative and not inclined to take guff from anyone.

"When we were in, like, the third or fourth grade, I used to get mad," McFarland said. "I would throw the ball and kick the ball.

"I've come a long way with that."

The statistics back him up. Of the seven technical fouls that McFarland has accumulated in his career, five were assessed during his sophomore season (two against Air Force, one each against Miami, UNC Charlotte and Duke), two were assessed last season (one each against BYU and Virginia Tech) and none have been levied this season.

His only ejection was against Air Force on Dec. 30, 2007 in the ninth start of his career. Coach Dino Gaudio was not pleased, and McFarland did not start the next game against Presbyterian.

"Sometimes people take it as he's too aggressive, maybe he's chippy or he's cheating," senior guard Ish Smith said. "Naw. I think him doing that kind of gives him the edge on other people because they're going to retaliate. Chas never retaliates. But as you notice, a lot of people are getting ejected and different things like that.

"But I've seen him on tape at Gonzaga, and he didn't do anything in that game. That's just Chas playing hard, and that's where his edge is. I wouldn't trade him for nothing.

"And I wouldn't want him being on the other team, because I'm sure I'd probably be taking some cheap shots at him."

Gaudio also has watched the tape, and he saw Harris, a 6-8 freshman playing in just his eighth college game, ram his forearms into McFarland's throat on a box-out under the basket. The contact knocked the 7-0, 245-pound McFarland to the court.

But Gaudio also noticed another camera shot of the Wake Forest huddle just moments after McFarland had been assessed a foul with which he didn't agree.

"There's a real good clip, where something else happened, and there was a call he wasn't completely happy with," Gaudio explained. "And we huddled up, and he started looking at the referee and L.D. (Williams) reached over and turned his head back to the huddle. And (McFarland) didn't say a word.

"No question he's grown up."

And if he continues to grow, and put on a few more pounds of muscle, he might have another option after he graduates with a degree in communications. If pro basketball doesn't pan out, World Wrestling Entertainment is always looking for a few bad men.

dcollins@wsjournal.com.

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