Wake Forest comes into the 2014-15 season with as much excitement as you'll find for any team that went 17-16 a season ago. Out is Jeff Bzdelik and in is Danny Manning and a new hope around the Wake Forest basketball program. Manning has a couple solid pieces to build around but has to find a way to improve a team that posted a defensive efficiency of 105 a season ago.
Backcourt
One of the core pieces for Manning is point guard Codi Miller-McIntyre. Miller-McIntyre is coming off a season where he averaged 12 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds per game, although he wasn't always an efficient scorer. The junior shot just 43% from the floor and 20% from behind the arc. Further, his 63% free throw shooting is an area where improvement is needed considering his ability to get to the rim. Madison Jones likely will be the other starting guard. Jones averaged just over 3 points per game, but does give Wake the option of sliding Miller-McIntyre off the ball more.
On the wing, look for 20 year old (turns 21 in December) freshman Cornelius Hudson to get the nod. Hudson is a 6'6" small forward that can really shoot the ball from the wings. Redshirt freshman Greg McClinton will battle Hudson for minutes though. McClinton is probably the more athletic and defensive focused of the two players.
Also seeing time in the backcourt will be Miles Overton and Mitchell Wilbekin.
Frontcourt
The frontcourt will be built around the bullish, lefty Devin Thomas. Thomas averaged 11.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in his sophomore season. Our sophomore projections were right on the money for Thomas, and this year we have his numbers bumping up to 13 pts and just over 8 rebounds per game. One big question early on for Manning is who will be the second big? Freshman, Kostas Mitoglou got the nod in Wake's exhibition on Friday. Mitoglou is from Greece, if you couldn't guess from the name, and as most international big men, has a reputation of being a deadly shooter.
Two sophomores should battle Mitoglou for time in the frontcourt. The versatile Aaron Rountree III and 7 footer Andre Washington. Manning also has 6'9" Campbell graduate transfer Darius Leonard as an option.
| Projected Starters |
|---|
| Codi Miller-McIntyre |
| Madison Jones |
| Cornelius Hudson |
| Devin Thomas |
| Kostas Mitoglou |
Schedule
After a home game against UNC Asheville to start the season, Wake Forest goes to Tulane and Arkansas for two early season road tests. Although Wake Forest heads home for 4 easier opponents in late November they do get a 3 games in 6 day stretch that could test them. Wake Forest gets Minnesota in the ACC/B1G challenge followed by a early conference game against NC State in early December. On December 20th, the Demon Deacons will play at Florida in their biggest non-conference matchup of the season. The Deacs also have matchups with Richmond and Princeton before the conference schedule settles in.
Wake has two matchups with NC State, Duke, Georgia Tech, and face Virginia twice in a 11 days in February. Notable single-game matchups include hosting UNC and Louisville and traveling to Syracuse, Virginia, Notre Dame, and FSU.
Prediction
Danny Manning's first full season as Wake Forest head coach will be an interesting one to watch. Can Manning raise the level of intensity and give this Wake Forest team a sense of urgency? While Codi Miller-McIntyre and Devin Thomas have proven that they can be ACC caliber players, who will be the third scoring option? Can Manning get his players to play defensively?
It's hard to see this team finding a NCAA tourney bid in March, but a NIT bid would be a nice first step to build on.
by Jon Pence @scacchoops
Fantasy Player to Watch
Its tough to choose between Miller-McIntyre and Thomas here, but I'll go with the big guy due to his rebounding ability. Devin Thomas should approach 13 points and 8 rebounds per game this season. Thomas tends to get his points on offensive putbacks mostly, but if Manning puts a focus on getting the ball to Thomas on the block more his scoring totals could rise.
Projected Statistics (Returning Players Only)
Explanation of Statistic Projections
| Name | Pts | Asts | Rbds | Stls | Blks | TOs | % Correct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devin Thomas | 13.6 | 1.3 | 8.2 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 72 |
| Codi Miller-McIntyre | 12.9 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 81 |
| Miles Overton | 6.3 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 94 |
| Madison Jones | 6.1 | 3.7 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 2.0 | 83 |
| Aaron Rountree III | 4.6 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 89 |
| Grant O'Brien | 3.9 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 100 |
| Daniel Green | 3.8 | 0.6 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 96 |
| Andre Washington | 3.0 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 93 |
| Doug Niedrich | 1.5 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 100 |
| Duke Antonelli | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 100 |
| Greg McClinton | 1.4 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 100 |
Last Year's Player Statistics
| Wake Forest | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | GP | Mins | Pts | Asts | Rbds | Stls | Blks | TOs | FG% | 3P% | FT% | |
| Codi Miller-McIntyre | 32 | 32.2 | 12.6 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 43.3 | 20.0 | 62.8 | |
| Devin Thomas | 33 | 28.1 | 11.1 | 1.5 | 7.5 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 53.9 | 0.0 | 52.9 | |
| Travis McKie | 33 | 29.0 | 10.7 | 1.3 | 4.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 41.4 | 31.5 | 80.9 | |
| Coron Williams | 33 | 25.2 | 10.2 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 46.6 | 40.3 | 83.8 | |
| Tyler Cavanaugh | 33 | 21.2 | 8.8 | 0.7 | 3.8 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 42.2 | 31.3 | 79.0 | |
| Arnaud William Adala Moto | 33 | 19.6 | 6.9 | 0.6 | 5.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 46.8 | 14.3 | 65.3 | |
| Madison Jones | 33 | 20.9 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 43.8 | 40.0 | 49.3 | |
| Andre Washington | 29 | 7.9 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 49.0 | 0.0 | 54.5 | |
| Miles Overton | 29 | 8.9 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 34.7 | 33.3 | 58.1 | |
| Aaron Rountree III | 32 | 10.2 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 41.7 | 30.0 | 38.9 | |
| Trent VanHorn | 6 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 75.0 | |
| Doug Niedrich | 4 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Duke Antonelli | 4 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Stephen Prendergast | 3 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
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