Thursday, July 30, 2009

10 Questions with Brian Edwards

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Columbus for the Columbus Crew-Toronto FC soccer match. I sat down with former Deacs Brian Edwards, Will Hesmer and Brian Carroll and got their thoughts on their playing days at Wake, career in the MLS and some other light-hearted topics. The interview with Brian Edwards can be found here. I'll post the interviews with Carroll and Hesmer in the next couple of weeks.

Jeff Teague Video Feature

NBA.com has a great video feature on former Demon Deacon Jeff Teague. Jeff, who was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks with the 19th pick in last month's draft, touches on a number of subjects during the interview.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Deacon Birthdays - Week of July 26

We'd like to take this opportunity to say happy birthday to those Demon Deacon student-athletes, coaches and staff who are celebrating birthdays this week. We also want to wish a happy belated birthday to a pair of incoming football freshmen who celebrated birthdays last week, John Gallagher (July 19) and Brendan Cross (July 21).

Student-Athletes:
Terence Davis (Football) - July 31
Lauren Greenwald (Field Hockey) - July 31
Eli Robins (Baseball) - July 31
Suzie Clinchy (Cross Country) - Aug. 1
Cambrey Oehler (Volleyball) - Aug. 1

Coaches & Staff:
Mike Muse (Men's Basketball) - July 30
Susan Lawson (Maintenance) - Aug. 1

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Deacons Making Headlines on the DURAMED Futures Tour

Former, current and future Demon Deacons were all making noise this past week at the DURAMED Futures Tour’s USI Championship.

Current Deacon Natalie Sheary made her second start of the summer at the USI. Despite missing the cut, she managed to make the cut two weeks ago in her debut and finished tied for 31st.

Former Deac Maggie Simons has had her share of ups and downs this summer but last Saturday was certainly the highlight of the year thus far. She recorded her first-career hole-in-one on the par-3 13th, knocking an 8-iron in from 132-yards.

Finally, future Deacon Stephanie Kim, who will be a freshman this coming fall, was selected to represent Team USA in the PING Junior Solheim Cup. Kim has been a full-time member of the DURAMED Futures Tour each of the last two seasons.

Both Kim and Simons made the most recent Futures Tour Weekly Release. Kim recently talked with Lisa Mickey about the Solheim Cup and her future at Wake Forest while Simons was picked as the “Quote of the Week”.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Deacon Birthdays - Week of July 19

We'd like to take this opportunity to say happy birthday to those Demon Deacon student-athletes, coaches and staff who are celebrating birthdays this week, which includes our very own Gary Petit.

Student Athletes:
Ryan Burke (Baseball) - July 19
Laura Morse (Women's Soccer) - July 23
Cheyenne Woods (Women's Golf) - July 25

Coaches & Staff:
Dianne Dailey (Women's Golf) - July 22
Sherry Long (Student-Athlete Services) - July 23
Gary Petit (Media Relations) - July 23
Doug Bland (Administration) - July 24

Bingham To Run First Professional Race

All-American Michael Bingham will compete in his first professional event Saturday evening at the Avian London Grand Prix.

The Grand Prix will take place at the Crystal Palace in London and Bingham will run the 400-meter dash.

Bingham, who recently signed with Ultimate Performance Sport Management, will then run one more race before joining his Great Britain teammates at the 2009 World Championships on August 15-23, in Berlin, Germany.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

New Fifth Quarter Trailer Available

A new trailer for "The Fifth Quarter" movie is now available on-line. The movie chronicles the 2006 Wake Forest football season in which linebacker Jon Abbate helped lead the Deacons to the ACC Championship and the FedEx Orange Bowl while celebrating the life of his brother Luke who was killed in a car accident.

The Bleacher Report says the Baylor at Wake Forest game on Sept. 5 is one of the "must-see" games of the opening weekend while ESPN says it will be one of the Big 12's toughest non-conference games.

Jeff Teague has signed a contract with the Atlanta Hawks.

Former Deacon basketball All-America Skip Brown was recently named president of the North Carolina Bankers Association.

Friday, July 17, 2009

NBA Summer Update

James Johnson has led the Chicago Bulls in each of their first two summer league games in Orlando this week. The forward out of Wake Forest scored 21 points in the Bulls' opener against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday and then followed with 16 points against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.

The Bulls have lost each of their two summer league games thus far. Johnson has started and has played more than 34 minutes in both games, the most on Chicago's summer league roster.

Johnson and the Bulls have three more games in Vegas remaining, playing each day this weekend. For complete coverage, check out the Bulls' official summer league website.

As for Jeff Teague and the Atlanta Hawks, they are set to open their mini camp next week. The Hawks are not participating in a summer league this year. For info on the mini camp, check out the Hawks' official site.

Deacon Feature Saturday on ABC

"Football Saturdays in the South" is a TV series produced by Raycom that highlights many of the unique aspects of college football. The first episode airs on Saturday, July 18 and features Randy Burnette, the gentleman who provides the motorcycle that the Deacon rides into BB&T Field and the Joel Coliseum.

The show airs on WXLV (ABC) in the Triad at 4:00 pm on Saturday, July 18.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Deacon Birthdays - Week of July 12

We'd like to take this opportunity to say happy birthday to those Demon Deacon student-athletes, coaches and staff who are celebrating birthdays this week:

Student-Athletes:
Tristan Dorty (Football) - July 13
Andrew Parker (Football) - July 13
Mac Williamson (Baseball) - July 15
Ben Davis (Men's Basketball) - July 16
Akira Fitzgerald (Men's Soccer) - July 17
Sally Fischer (Volleyball) - July 18

Wake-Purdue on ESPN

On Wednesday the ACC announced the television broadcast assignments for this year's ACC/Big Ten Challenge games. Wake Forest received a fortunate draw, as the Deacons will play the Purdue Boilermakers on ESPN at 7 p.m.

The Wake-Purdue game is one of four matchups in the 11-game Challenge that will air on the main ESPN network. The Deacons and Boilermakers will duel in the first game of a doubleheader that also features a rematch of last year's national championship game in Michigan State and North Carolina.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Former Deacs Carroll and Hesmer Visit White House

Brian Carroll and Will Hesmer, members of the 2008 MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew, recently visited the White House and President Barack Obama. The two former Deacs helped the Crew to their first MLS Cup title in 2008, defeating the New York Red Bulls 3-1. The team presented President Obama with a personalized jersey and autographed ball. A video package, that includes an interview with Carroll, is available here.

Johnson Blogging for Bulls

Former Wake Forest forward James Johnson is providing some first-hand insight into his world on Bulls.com. Johnson is blogging for the team's official site and already has two posts online.

Chicago announced last week that it had signed Johnson and fellow first-round pick Taj Gibson. Terms of the contracts were not disclosed.

Johnson will get his first taste of NBA action when he and the Bulls open their 2009 NBA Summer League schedule tonight against the Golden State Warriors in Las Vegas.

The Bulls' summer league roster is littered with players that Johnson is familiar with from the ACC. Joining the former Demon Deacon are Duke's DeMarcus Nelson, NC State's Brandon Costner and Virginia Tech's A.D. Vassallo.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Reifers Off To a Blazzing Start

Kyle Reifers, a 2006 graduate, was 10-under in an eight-hole stretch on Thursday on his was to a blistering opening round 11-under 61 at the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic in Clarksburg, Ontario, Canada.

Reifers opened his round with three-straight pars before getting his first of eight birdies on the day at No. 4. That started his string of hot streak as he made another birdie at No. 5, an eagle at the par-5 sixth and three-straight birdies to close the front nine in 7-under 29.


He started t
he back nine with another eagle at the par-5 tenth and a birdie at No. 11 to go to 10-under par. Remarkably, Reifers made a bogey at the par-3 12th followed by three more pars at holes 13, 14 and 15. But the Columbus, Ohio, native finished strong with birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 and a solid par at No. 18.

The 61 is ties Reifers’ lowest round of his professional career. He also fired a 61 in the final round of the Chattanooga Classic, his first professional tournament, to come from behind and win his first tournament.


Ron Whittaker also opened with a bogey-free round of 5-under 67 and found himself tied for seventh after the first round.

Wadkins Brothers

Travis Wadkins, a rising senior on the men's golf team, is playing this week in the Eastern Amateur at Elizabeth Manor Golf Club in Portsmouth, Va. That may not seem like a big deal but what is, is that his younger brother Tucker is also in the field this week.

Tucker, who is just 16 years old, is one of the top junior golfers in Texas. The two are looking to follow in their father, Lanny Wadkins' footsteps by winning the Eastern Amateur. Pops pulled off the feat in 1969.

The Virginian-Pilot caught-up with the Wadkins brothers and asked them about playing in the same tournament and what it's like chasing dad.

2008 Wake Forest Men's Soccer Highlight Video Posted

The first regular season game of the 2009 men's soccer season is just 53 days away. To get you ready for the 2009 season, we've posted a highlight video from the 2008 season, courtesy of former Deac Will Clayton. In the coming days, we'll also post the top 10 goals from the 2008 season and other videos previewing the 2009 Deacs.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

CP3 Grants a Wish

Catch Chris Paul on SportsCenter tonight (July 8) about 6:35 pm as he is featured on the "My Wish" segment of the show. Chris and his family granted the wish of Cole Johanson, a 10-year-old from Portland, OR who is stricken with a rare form of cancer known as Burkitt’s Lymphoma.

Cole’s wish came true when he and his family traveled to Paul’s hometown of Winston-Salem, N.C., to spend some time with his hero. Paul took Cole to see his childhood home, played some one-on-one at Paul’s alma mater of West Forsyth High School and wrapped up the day with lunch at the Olive Garden, Cole’s favorite restaurant. Said Cole of the experience: “It’s amazing how cancer was the worst thing that ever happened to me, but the day I met Chris Paul was the best day of my life.”

Click here for more on ESPN's "My Wish" series.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Deacon Birthdays - Week of July 5

We'd like to take this opportunity to say happy birthday to those Demon Deacon student-athletes, coaches and staff who are celebrating birthdays next week, July 5-11:

Student-Athletes:
Alex Gove (Women's Track) - July 5
Ishmael Smith (Men's Basketball) - July 5
Allie Sadow (Women's Soccer) - July 8

Staff:
Elizabeth Miller (Student-Athlete Services) - July 8
Jessica Finnerty (Campus Rec) - July 11
Trevor Lambert (Football) - July 11

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

New Desktop Wallpaper Available

I just posted some new desktop wallpaper on WakeForestSports.com. The main addition was a volleyball-themed wallpaper, which includes seniors Sally Fischer, Abby Miller and Kate Rodriguez alongside the 2009 schedule.

I also posted widescreen options for the Wake Forest logo wallpapers. Enjoy!

Hip Hop Dance Class Photos

A handful of Wake Forest student-athletes were able to show off their moves by taking a hip hop dance class this summer. Football's Brandon Ghee, Basketball's L.D. Williams, Soccer's Cody Arnoux and Volleyball's Megan Thornberry were all in the class.

Hunter Willard from Student-Athlete Services was kind enough to take some photos and post a gallery online to show the dancers in action. Too bad there wasn't a video camera rolling as well...