Wake Forest gets one more tune-up Thursday night before the games start counting, and the setting is Rock Hill Sports & Events Center, where the Demon Deacons will face South Carolina at 6 p.m. in their second preseason exhibition.
The trip comes after an Oct. 4 exhibition against Georgetown that offered an early look at the new-look roster. Sophomore Kevair Kennedy led the way with 19 points, four steals, two assists and two rebounds, while freshmen twins Gavin and Gallagher Placide both made immediate impressions. Gavin scored 14, Gallagher finished with 13 points and a team-high six rebounds.
That debut was only a preview of how much different Wake Forest looks heading into the 2026-27 season. The Deacons bring back sophomore Isaac Carr, who played in 26 games last year, and surround him with a deep group that includes Kennedy, Kansas transfer Jamari McDowell, Monmouth sharpshooter Justin Ray, and frontcourt additions Ring Nyeri, Antonio Dorn, Xander Pintelon and Justin Abson. The roster also features the Placide twins and Lukas Bojovic, who helped lead Slovenia to the 2026 U18 European Championship.
Size is one of the biggest changes. Wake Forest added a 7-foot center in Dorn, plus Pintelon at 6-11, Gavin Placide at 6-11, Gallagher Placide and Abson at 6-9, and Nyeri at 6-8. That gives Steve Forbes a group that looks noticeably bigger than last season’s version.
Forbes enters year seven in Winston-Salem with a 110-82 record, and his program has turned LJVM Coliseum into a real advantage. Wake Forest has gone 74-17 at home since 2021, tied for the seventh-most home wins nationally over that stretch.
Thursday’s opponent arrives with plenty of turnover of its own. South Carolina went 13-19 overall and 4-14 in SEC play last season, and its 2026-27 roster includes 12 new faces. Grant Polk is the top returning piece after playing in 30 games a year ago, averaging 12.9 minutes and 3.8 points while shooting 32.9 percent from three-point range.
The Gamecocks have already logged some summer exhibition action in the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League. They beat Victoria (Canada) 94-81 and then topped The Bahamas National Team 86-46. Kory Mincy and Aleksas Bieliauskas scored in double figures in both games, with Mincy averaging 16.5 points and Bieliauskas averaging 13 against The Bahamas.
Although Thursday’s game won’t count in the standings, it does carry a familiar program connection. Wake Forest and South Carolina have played 71 times, and the Deacons own a 49-22 edge in the series. The schools were ACC rivals before South Carolina moved to the SEC in 1971, and their most recent meeting came on March 24, 1983, when Wake Forest beat the Gamecocks 78-61 in the NIT quarterfinals at Greensboro Coliseum.
Wake Forest’s incoming guard talent is a major part of the story this season. Kennedy, McDowell and Ray arrive with a combined 1,293 points, 343 rebounds and 248 assists already on their college résumés. Kennedy’s move to Winston-Salem follows a historic freshman season at Merrimack, where he became the first player in MAAC history to win both Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year after averaging 18.4 points and 4.2 assists per game in 2025-26.
McDowell spent three seasons at Kansas, appearing in 66 games and earning a reputation as a versatile, defensive-minded perimeter player. He also had a 10-point outing in Kansas’ win over No.
1 Arizona last season. Ray comes from Monmouth after averaging 11.3 points and knocking down a team-high 66 three-pointers, and his career three-point percentage sits at 40.8 percent.
The freshman class could be just as important. Gavin Placide was a consensus top-50 recruit and top-10 prospect in Texas, and the 6-foot-11 forward is known for his rebounding and scoring touch inside and out.
Gallagher Placide, a four-star top-100 recruit, brings a 6-foot-10 frame and the kind of defensive versatility that allows him to guard multiple spots. Bojovic rounds out the trio after his run with Slovenia at the U18 European Championship.
Once the exhibition slate is behind them, the Deacons will open the 2026-27 season at home against Maryland Eastern Shore on Nov. 2.
Wake Forest’s nonconference schedule also includes a road trip to Vanderbilt, four straight home games in Winston-Salem, Battle 4 Atlantis over Thanksgiving, LSU in the ACC/SEC Challenge, UMass in Springfield and West Virginia in Greensboro. The conference slate brings Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Florida State and Duke to LJVM Coliseum in January, along with visits from NC State on Feb. 10 and North Carolina on Feb.
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