Against Notre Dame, Deivon Smith became the first Yellow Jacket to record seven assists and not turn the ball over since Jose Alvaado in 2019. (photo by Danny Karnik)
Perhaps a little extra fate helped seal Wednesday’s win. Former Jacket Josh Okogie, who scored a game-winning layup at the buzzer as a freshman against Notre Dame in 2017, was in Atlanta that night with the Phoenix Suns. They played the Hawks at State Farm Arena on Thursday.
Okogie couldn’t make the game, but fellow Yellow Jacket and current Suns assistant coach Jarrett Jack did. Standing outside the Tech locker room afterwards, Jack grinned that he looked forward to giving some ribbing to his head coach Monty Williams, a Notre Dame alum.
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In his lone season at Wake Forest, transfer Alondes Williams nearly became the first player in ACC history to lead the conference in scoring and assists.
So how did head coach Steve Forbes replace him? By signing a transfer who leads the ACC in scoring and assists.
Six-foot-1 guard Tyree Appleby (18.7 ppg, 6.2 apg) arrived in Winston-Salem after stops at Cleveland State and Florida and is coming off a 35-point, 11-assist, 7-rebound performance against North Carolina. He’s a one-man panic attack with the ball in his hands, a live wire point guard who can come off staggers and slashes past switches. He’s also a viper going to the rim – his 180 free throw attempts rank fourth nationally. Wake Forest likes to keep him in the middle third of the floor, where they run a heavy dose of horns sets for him.
With Appleby leading the way, the Demon Deacons play with plenty of id, ranking first in the ACC in tempo and made three-pointers. Both Appleby and 6-6 guard Damari Monsanto (13.8 ppg) feed off each other well and will take some audacious pull-ups. Step-backs, side-hops, stop-on-a-dime NBA threes – expect them all Saturday. The ACC hasn’t had a player shoot threes with the volume and accuracy of Monsanto since Duke’s J.J. Redick.
| 41+% 3pt., 8.0+ attempts/game |
|
|
|
| Player |
Year |
3pt.% |
3pt. FGA/g |
| Damari Monsanto |
2022-23 |
41.10% |
8 |
| J.J. Redick |
2005-06 |
42.10% |
9.2 |
Six-foot-4 Cameron Hildreth (12.6 ppg) rounds out Wake’s backcourt, a hard-to-body guard who likes to back down defenders á la Joe Girard of Syracuse. The Demon Deacons surround those guards with plenty of functional, effective bigs led by 6-11 Chris Carr (11.7 ppg). The Jackets will have to build a wall in transition and bend the tempo to their will Saturday. They also can’t let Wake’s high-degree-of-difficulty shot-making bait them into taking undisciplined shots themselves.
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In their win over North Carolina, Appleby broke the Wake Forest and ACC records for made free throws in a game with 23. The previous record was set by former Demon Deacon Dickie Hemric in 1955.
That mark may have gone down, but another longstanding Wake Forest record remains intact. The school record for minutes played in a game is 58, set in a four-overtime loss to NC State in March of 1989.
The player who owns that record? Cal Boyd, the father of Georgia Tech guard Coleman Boyd.
