Wake at Georgia Tech Previews

Wake Forest and Georgia Tech should be entertaining tonight (New York Times)

Deacons to face rugged Jackets (Winston-Salem Journal)

Smith emerges as Wake Forest’s driving force (Burlington Times-News)

Game Preview from The Sports Network

Georgia Tech Previews with Golf and Football

Wake Forest-Georgia Tech game preview (CBS Sports)

Another game preview on Thursday night’s game (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Now a star, Ish recalls night he almost quit (Charlotte Observer)

Smith’s relentless pace propels Wake Forest to fast start (TheACC.com)

Ish Smith is a rock for Wake Forest (Winston-Salem Journal)

Wake takes a well-earned break (High Point Enterprise)

Former Wake Forest head coach Jim Caldwell is headed to the Super Bowl (Wilmington Star-News)

Riley Skinner was profiled recently by SouthernPigskin.com

Three Deacons made SouthernPigskin.com’s ACC All-Decade team

Former Wake teammates aren’t surprised by Bill Haas’ PGA victory (Winston-Salem Journal)

Patience the key to Haas’ victory (Palm Springs Desert Sun)

Post-Virginia Media Recap

Wake Forest defeated Virginia on Saturday (Washington Post)

Win streak ends against Deacons (Cavalier Daily)

Virginia’s foul troubles lead to loss (Daily Press)

Deacs’ grand theft (Winston-Salem Journal)

Wake Forest stifles Virginia (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Ish Smith wants victories in March (Winston-Salem Journal)

Deacs too much for Cavs (Charlottesville Daily Progress)

Coach’s foul strategy fails (Virginian-Pilot)

Wake Forest humbles Virginia with suffocating defense (Burlington Times-News)

Deacons hand Cavaliers first ACC loss (Charlotte Observer)

L.D. Williams embodies Wake Forest’s spirit (Raleigh News & Observer)

Catching up on Football and Baseball

Here’s a brief scouting report on Chris DeGeare at the East-West Shrine game.

Former Deacon Cory Sullivan has signed with the Houston Astros.

Gelo Orange has family in Haiti and WXII’s Craig Thomas caught up with Gelo earlier this week.

Wake Forest dominates No. 24 North Carolina

An early (very early) look at some of the media coverage of Wake's win over North Carolina on Jan. 20.

Wake hands No. 24 North Carolina its third straight loss (MSNBC)

Recap from ESPN with highlights

CBS Sportsline recap

SI.com recap

WRAL recap with video and photo gallery

Deacs outwork struggling Heels

Deacons stomp Tar Heels

Robbi Pickeral’s Observations

UNC coming up short

Deacons’ Stewart will shoot away (Winston-Salem Journal)

Maryland Game Prep

Getting ready for Tuesday night's 8 pm tip with the Terps at the Joel!

ACC recognizes Terps have a quick turnaround

Game preview from The Sports Network

A coach’s look at Wake Forest (Washington Post)

Terps’ Vasquez talks up a storm on the court

Scouting report on Wake Forest from the Washington Post

Wake Forest alum Herb Appenzeller was named to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame

A January Potpourri

Former Deacon center Steve Justice signs with the Panthers (Winston-Salem Journal)

Sam Swank was signed by the New York Giants (Giants.com)

Sandra Garcia is making her mark with the Deacons (Winston-Salem Journal)

A nice column on former Deacon and current New York Giant Fred Robbins (Winston-Salem Journal)

In the Raleigh News & Observer’s decade-ending article, Wake Forest swept the three categories for best high school athlete, best college athlete and best pro athlete. (Raleigh News & Observer)

Josh Howard and Chris Paul helped provide a great Christmas for some area youngsters

Andy Katz caught with Dino Gaudio over the holidays (ESPN.com)

Post Xavier Coverage

Here are a few links to media coverage of Wake Forest's thrilling 96-92 win over Xavier on Sunday night.

Xavier falls to Wake Forest (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Photo gallery of Wake Forest’s win over Xavier (Cincinnati.com)

Tribute to Prosser ‘great idea’ (Winston-Salem Journal)

Ish Smith rescues Deacs with 28 in OT thriller (Winston-Salem Journal)

Emotional win in double OT for Deacs (Greensboro News & Record)

Photo gallery from the Winston-Salem Journal

Inaugural Skip Prosser Classic a rousing success (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Smith powers emotional Wake Forest past Xavier (Burlington Times-News)

Wake Forest-Xavier recap (The Sports Network)

Xavier falls to Wake Forest in double overtime (Fox Sports Ohio) (includes Fox video highlights)

The PGA Tour has a Two-Minute interview with Jay Haas

Skip Prosser Classic

Wake Forest hosts Xavier on Sunday, Jan. 3 at 5:30 at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It is the first game of a 10-year series that will be known as the Skip Prosser Classic. Here's some of the media take on the game.

Wake Forest will meet Xavier today (Winston-Salem Journal)

Xavier battles Wake Forest on Fox Sports (Fox Sports Ohio)

Skip Prosser is gone but not forgotten (Cincinnati.com)

Photos of Skip Prosser through the years (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Skip Prosser Classic (Cincinnati Enquirer)

James Johnson is looking for more playing time with the Bulls

Look Back at NC State win

Ugly or not, Wake will take it (Fayetteville Observer)

Game story from the Greensboro News & Record

Ed Hardin’s column from the Greenboro News & Record

Luke DeCock’s column from the Raleigh News & Observer

Smith drives Wake Forest past NC State (Burlington Times-News)

More from the Raleigh News & Observer

Frosh duo stepping up for Deacons (Charlotte Observer)

New faces earn attention in ACC

The Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Trophy will be awarded tonight and Stanford running back Toby Gerhart is one of the five finalists. It's interesting to note that Gerhart rushed for at least 100 yards against every opponent save two this year. The Deacons held Gerhart to 82 yards on 17 carries. Oregon State also limited Gerhart to 96 yards.

If Gerhart should win, he would become the fourth Heisman Trophy winner to have faced the Demon Deacons during the year he won the trophy. In 2000, Florida State’s Chris Weinke completed 23 of 36 passes for 324 yards and five touchdowns in FSU’s 35-6 win at then-Groves Stadium. In 1993, the Seminoles’ Charlie Ward completed 13 of 20 passes for 125 yards. Army’s Doc Blanchard had a 52-yard interception return in a 54-0 win over Wake Forest in 1945. Blanchard would go on to win the Heisman Trophy that season.

A Little This, a Little That

Wake Forest redshirt freshman receiver Chris Givens leads the nation's freshmen in touchdown catches this season. Givens has eight TD grabs this year, the most-ever by a Wake Forest redshirt freshman. He also ranks 32nd in the nation overall in touchdown catches.

Givens' 8 is the most by a freshman in Division I. Toledo's Eric Page has seven and Alex Torres of Texas Tech and Alshon Jeffery of South Carolina have six.

Also, the Sporting News released its list of the top 50 players in the NBA. And, as expected, Chris Paul and Tim Duncan are among the top six. Kobe is No. 1 followed by Lebron, Dwayne Wade and Dwight Howard. TD is fifth and CP3 is sixth. That's a nice plug for Wake Forest!

Harvey Hale's Pro Debut

Former Demon Deacon guard Harvey Hale (2006-09) made his professional basketball debut in Finland over the weekend. Harvey played 36 minutes and finished with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

He filled up the stat sheet with six rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Harvey also went 5-for-6 at the foul line and had five fouls of his own, including a technical.

Harvey's team fell, 90-85, in his debut.

Below is a photo sent by Harvey's team of his arrival in Finland (nice to see him doing well and all, but the photo doesn't do much for the Finnish scenery).

Season Overlap

A little reading on basketball and football as November highlights both major sports.

Wake Forest’s defense is problematic for FSU

Injuries have not been able to keep Jeff Griffin off the field

Game preview of Wake Forest vs. Florida State

Deacons tire of same old results

Wake Forest has owned the Seminoles of late

Bad luck binds FSU and Wake Forest this season

Who is Jim Caldwell?

You can listen to Wednesday’s ACC football coaches teleconference.

On the basketball front:

Aminu to carry load for Deacons

Former Owen star David Weaver now a senior at Wake Forest

Deacs hope new approach prevents stumbles

Deacons look to build on 24-7 season

Ish Smith was profiled in Sporting News Today

Deacs go for soccer crown

Skinner Cleared for Georgia Tech

Wake Forest University quarterback Riley Skinner has received clearance from team physicians to play when the Deacons visit Georgia Tech Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ABC regionally and ESPN2 nationally.

Skinner suffered a concussion late in last Saturday’s game vs. Miami.

Skinner did not practice Monday, saw minimal practice time Tuesday, and gradually returned to the regular practice routine later in the week.

The fifth-year senior quarterback is expected to start his 33rd consecutive game for the Deacons on Saturday.

Tech Prep

A preview of the Wake Forest-Georgia Tech game (Sports Network)

Transcript of Paul Johnson’s Tuesday press conference (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Deacons left dazed by losing streak (Burlington Times-News)

Tech beat up but still going strong (AJC)

Wake Forest-Georgia Tech preview (CBSsports.com)

A link to the ACC’s 12 Days of Basketball with focus on Wake Forest

Listen to the ACC football coaches teleconference

Lanny Wadkins

Wake Forest grad Lanny Wadkins held a news conference on Monday regarding his induction to the World Golf Hall of Fame. The transcript of the entertaining news conference can be found here.

A Game of Inches

That's a phrase you often hear in sports, that it's a game of inches. Inches short of a first down, or a throw nips a runner at first by inches.

Games are also decided by percentage points and decimal points. Take the race for the ACC record for career completion percentage.

Entering the Georgia Tech game this week, Wake's Riley Skinner has completed 824 of 1,231 career passes. That is a completion percentage of .66937.

Virginia's Matt Schaub is the current ACC record holder for career completion percentage. He was successful on 716 of 1,069 pass attempts during his career as a Cavalier from 2000-03. That is a completion percentage of .66978.

So, with three regular season games remaining, Skinner trails Schaub by .0004. In layman's terms, that's four 10,000ths of a point.

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Riley Skinner attended Wake Forest's football practice on Monday night but did not participate. The fifth-year senior quarterback is still recovering from a concussion suffered against Miami on Saturday night. Depending on how he progresses during the week, Skinner may take part in practices later in the week.

For your reading knowledge, a look back at some stories from the Miami game, a look ahead at Georgia Tech and the upcoming basketball season.

The Hurricanes are graded on Saturday’s game (Palm Beach Post)

Randy Shannon proud of Miami comeback (Miami Herald)

Analysis of the Wake Forest-Miami game (Orlando Sentinel)

Georgia Tech will fix its special teams problems (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Riley Skinner is questionable for the Georgia Tech game (ESPN.com)

Skinner is Miami’s biggest hurdle (Miami Herald)

Concussion may keep Skinner on the bench (Winston-Salem Journal)

Wake Forest let a big one get away (Fayetteville Observer)

Wake Forest basketball season preview (Fayetteville Observer)

Wake Forest basketball is ready to move forward (Fayetteville Observer)

Missed opportunities (Winston-Salem Journal)

Wake Forest lets one slip away (Burlington Times-News)

Early Miami Previews and a Tribute to Coach Prosser

Wake Forest-Miami Preview from The Sporting News

Wake Forest looks to rediscover offense

Billy Ray Barnes is Wake Forest’s ACC Legend for 2009

Spreading the word in honor of Coach Prosser