Deacon Birthdays - Week of August 23

We weren't able to post last week's Deacon Birthdays, so you'll be getting a double-dose of them this week. As always, we'd like to take this opportunity to say happy birthday to those Demon Deacon student-athletes, coaches and staff who are celebrating birthdays last week.

Student Athletes:
Julia Young (Field Hockey) - Aug. 23
Justin Jackson (Football) - Aug. 24
Travis Wadkins (Men's Golf) - Aug.
Cate Berenato (Women's Cross Country) - Aug. 27
Ryan Britt (Football) - Aug. 27

Coaches & Staff:
Paul Kennedy (Development) - Aug. 23
Jeff Strahm (Sports Medicine) - Aug. 23
Dwight Lewis (Student-Athlete Services) - Aug. 24
Steve Adams (Operations) - Aug. 25
Matt Robinson (Football) - Aug. 29

Former Deacon Now a Hustlin' Owl

Former Wake Forest basketball walk-on Matt Smith has decided to continue his basketball career at Oregon Tech, the school announced yesterday. Smith, who lettered two seasons with the Deacons from 2006-07, now gets the rare privilege of being known as a Hustlin' Owl.

Jean Chua Wins Professional Debut

Recent graduate Jean Chua made her professional debut last week at the Thai LPGA Open. Chua fired a final round 66 to claim the win in her first professional start.

After opening with rounds of 71-76, Chua found herself seven-shots behind good friend Titiya Plucksataporn.

But in the final round, Chua got the putter working early and had closed the gap to just two shots after a front nine of 4-under par. She went on to make two more birdies on the back to post a final round 6-under 66. She won by three shots over Plucksataporn.

Chua plans to remain in Thailand to work on her game with her coach before returning to the states next year. She will try to qualify for the US Women's Open and then will enter LPGA Qualifying School.

Deacon Birthdays - Week of August 16

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:
Secily Ray (Women's Basketball) - Aug. 16
Megan Thornberry (Volleyball) - Aug. 19
Anna Mydlowska (Women's Tennis) - Aug. 21
Kelsey Jones (Volleyball) - Aug. 22
Paul Loeser (Men's Cross Country) - Aug. 22

Coaches & Staff:
Darren Bowers (Grounds & Maintenance) - Aug. 18
Matt Lamoureux (Operations) - Aug. 19
Donna Hall (Athletic Director's Office) - Aug. 22

Deacon Birthdays - Week of August 9

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:
Nick Millington (Men's Soccer) - Aug. 9
Maggie Hoey (Volleyball) - Aug. 10
Kim Vos (Women's Cross Country) - Aug. 10
Austin Chelko (Men's Soccer) - Aug. 13
Collin Granger (Football) - Aug. 13
Doug Ryan (Men's Soccer) - Aug. 14
Brandon Johnson (Baseball) - Aug. 15

Coaches & Staff:
Sandy Parks (Ticket Office) - Aug. 11
Keith Henry (Football) - Aug. 14

Talkin' Football

Here are a few recent news clips of current and former Deacons.

Kenny Moore is trying to hold onto a spot with the Carolina Panthers.

Deacons rebuild defense.

Deacons hit the ground running.

Deacons want to be all grown up.

Big things are expected from Brandon Ghee.

Chris DeGeare is back on the field.

Preseason Football Polls

'Tis the season for preseason football polls. With that mind, here is a link that summarizes a good majority of the preseason polls out there. The Deacons come in, on average, at No. 40. Wake received votes in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, which was released last week.

Aaron Curry signs with Seahawks

The Associated Press reports on Saturday night that Aaron Curry has signed with the Seahawks.

Andy Katz checks in with a mid-summer update on Deacon basketball.

Heather Dinich has a scouting report on Wake Forest football.

The ACC has a feature on Wake Forest football

Women's Soccer Begins Fall Practice

The Wake Forest women's soccer team began its preparation for the 2009 season with a pair of practices on Thursday. I had an opportunity to shoot some footage at the afternoon training session. I also spoke with Demon Deacon head coach Tony da Luz and senior goalkeeper Laura Morse. The video is available here.

The Deacs take the field for the first time in 2009 on Saturday, August 15, at 7 p.m. against Campbell in a home exhibition game. The regular season opener is Friday, August 21, at 7 p.m. against High Point at Spry Stadium.

New Deacon Podcast Available

There is a new Deacon Podcast available on WakeForestSports.com. This week's installment features an interview with head football coach Jim Grobe, as well as a chat with Director of Marketing & Promotions Mike Odom.

Check out the Deacon Podcast Center for the complete listings.

Coordinating Your NBA Schedules

The NBA schedules came out this week so we thought we would simplify your decision-making process on which games to attend during the 2009-10 season.

The Atlanta Hawks and rookie guard Jeff Teague visit the Charlotte Bobcats on Nov. 6 and April 6. You can catch the Chicago Bulls and rookie forward James Johnson in Charlotte on Jan. 7. Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs visit the Bobcats on Jan. 15 while Josh Howard and Dallas come to North Carolina on March 1.

If you're a Deacon football fan and looking to combine a road trip with an NBA game, consider going to Atlanta on November 7. The Deacons visit the Yellow Jackets in football (game time yet to be announced) while Teague and the Hawks host the Denver Nuggets that night.

Or, if you want to make it an all-alumni weekend, book a trip to the French Quarter for Dec. 18-19. You can watch CP3 and the Hornets entertain Denver on Dec. 18 and the next day, watch Chip Vaughn and the Saints host the Dallas Cowboys in the Superdome.

Deacon Birthdays - Week of August 2

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 Katy Hamlett and Rene' Ivey.

Student Athletes:
Boo Robinson (Football) - Aug. 5
Ty Walker (Basketball) - Aug. 7

Coaches & Staff:
Kathryn Hamlett (Media Relations) - Aug. 3
Rene' Ivey (Media Relations) - Aug. 3
Cook Griffin (Deacon Club) - Aug. 4
Bill Faircloth (Football) - Aug. 8

New Ticket Office Site

The Wake Forest Ticket Office site received a face lift recently. The site, which is housed on WakeForestSports.com, was re-designed to provide needed info in a "ticket-friendly" manner. Be sure to check out the new page.

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.

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

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”.

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.

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.