Basketball '90-91JThe Daily Tar HeelFriday, November t6, '19907
Wake stakes claim as natiomal-caMbeir squad.
. " i
By BOBBY McCROSKEY
Stan Writer
Last year Dave Odom's Demon
Deacons flirted with a return to con
ference and national prominence. This
year, they hope to turn it into a season
long love affair.
Things started well enough for Odom
in 1989, his first year as head coach at
Wake Forest. The team had been picked
high in the preseason polls and tabbed
as the No. 5 team in the ACC poll.
Excitement was high in Winston-Salem
as talk of a winning season and
postseason play gathered strength.
In the early going, Wake did nothing
to disappoint its believers. On a cold
December night in Winston-Salem, the
Deacons defeated 20th-ranked Alabama
67-65 without senior forward Sam Ivy
to go 6-1 , their best start since a 1 0-0 run
in 1983-84.
Then the Deacons took a road trip,
and reality came along with them. In the
Fiesta Bowl Tournament at the Uni
versity of Arizona, Wake lost 66-52 to
Purdue and 67-63 to Penn State, look
ing horrible in the process.
"That tournament was a test," Odom
said later, "and we failed it miserably."
At that point, the honeymoon was
over. Eleven straight conference losses
followed, and a season that began so
well started looking like all those that
came after 1 983-84, Wake's last winning
season. The Deacons finished eighth in
the conference with a 12-16 record, 3
1 1 in the ACC.
Despite the setbacks, Wake learned a
lot about itself as a team, junior forward
Chris King said.
"I had a lot of high expectations for
us, but we got into some slumps and we
had a lot of injuries," King said. "Some
of the things weren't clicking some
nights, and other nights they were. When
they did click, we played real well. Last
year at the end of the season, we did
that."
That late-season clicking led to three
big conference wins against Maryland,
Virginia and N.C. State in Wake's last
four games, once again raising expec
tations for 1990-91.
But things are different this year. For
one th ing, the players go into th is season
knowing what to expect from Odom
and what he wants from them. That is a
difference that cannot be measured.
"Last year was his first year," King
said. "It was a new coach, a new system
and everything, and I think that was sort
of hard for some of the players. A lot of
the players weren't confident last year.
This year I think coach Odom has helped
them be a lot more confident in them
selves." Odom has confidence in this team as
a whole. He knows that with just three
seniors returning, the talented junior
class will have to assume a greater
leadership role.
"We have a good nucleus of players
coming back, with an experienced indi
vidual at almost every position," Odom
said. "This is not a freshman league. As
excited as we are with our incoming
players, we can only expect them to
contribute so much. At our level, good
teams win with leadership and produc
tion from their inpperclassmen."
Leading the way for the Deacons will
be King. The 6-foot-8 junior from New
ton Grove has paced the team in scoring
and rebounds the last two seasons. He
scored 16.1 points and collected 7.4
rebounds per game in '89-90, and he
also led the team in blocked shots (31)
and field-goal percentage (54.6). He
has the muscle, size and quickness to
play with anybody.
Junior Anthony Tuckerwill join King
Wake Forest
No. Player Pos. Ht. Wt. CI.
3 D. Hedgecoe G 5-11 165 So.
4 D. McQueen G 5-11 180 Jr.
13 S.Ray G 6-0 175 Sr.
21 R.Siler G 6-3 200 Sr.
22 R. Childress G 6-2 175, Fr.
23 R.Doggett G 6-3 185 Fr,
25 M.BIucas G 6-3 190 Fr.
30 T.Wise C 6-9 240 Sr.
31 A. Tucker F 6-8 225 Jr.
34 T.Sanders F 6-6 215 Sr.
40 T.Owens, F 6-8 240 Fr.
44 C.King F 6-8 225- Jr.
45 P.Medlin C 6-9 235 Jr.
51 S.King C 7-0 245 Fr.
54 R.Rogers F 6-7 235 Fr.
55 M. Forester . F 6-6 210 So.
Head Coach: Dave Odom (Guilford.
1965). Overall Coaching Record: 50-58
in 4 years. Record at Wake Forest: 1 2-1 6
in 1 year
in the frontcourt. After transferring from
Georgetown, he was second on the team
in scoring at 13.0 ppg, and he led the
Deacons in steals with 37. At 6-8, he is
also Wake's most versatile player, see
ing action at every position except center.
The third junior starter returning is
point guard Derrick McQueen.
McQueen had such a rough 1989-90
campaign that Lloyd's of London would
think twice about issuing him insurance.
He broke his nose during the Fiesta
Bowl Tournament, suffered a severely
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sprained ankle Jan. 20 against Duke that
hampered him the remainder of the
season, and ended the season with a
concussion against Clemson in the first
round of the ACC Tournament. The
injury sidelined him with double vision
through the spring and early summer.
The team's lack of depth at point
guard didn't help matters any. McQueen
had to go solo against arguably the most
talented point guards in the nation. But
with this year's freshman class to back
him up, McQueen is sure to improve on
last year's less than impressive 6. 1 ppg,
3.1 rpg and 5.2 assists per game.
Senior Robert Siler was expected to
team with 0cQueen in the backcourt,
but Siler had to undergo a second sur
gery for ligament damage to his left
knee. He is not scheduled to return to
action until after the season starts.
Joining this cast of performers is a
group of six individuals who have col
lectively been labeled as the third-best
recruiting class in the conference, right
behind UNC and Duke. Leading them is
Durham Hillside's very own Rodney
Rogers.
Big things are expected from this
freshman. Rogers averaged 28.3 points
and 12.3 rebounds as a high school
senior and was named North Carolina's
player of the year. Odom has been im
pressed with Rogers thus far.
"He's legit," Odom said. "He has
inside and outside abilities now. He's a
good ballhandler and a good shooter.
Defensively, he has a lot of work to do.
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