Wake Forest’s first exhibition of the preseason gives fans an early look at a roster that looks a lot different from a year ago, and Sunday’s matchup with Georgetown should answer a few basic questions before the season tips off on November 2nd.
It’s the first of three preseason chances for the Demon Deacons to get live game action. After Georgetown, Wake will head to Rock Hill to face South Carolina on October 15th, then finish preseason work with a closed scrimmage against Elon.
The biggest change starts up front. Last season, Wake’s frontcourt was an obvious issue.
The Deacs were undersized, and some players who were supposed to carry weight there didn’t deliver. This year’s roster was built to fix that, and the size jump is impossible to miss.
Wake now has six players listed at 6'9" or taller, and all of them are expected to matter. The one to keep the closest eye on is freshman Gavin Placide, who checks in at 6'11".
He’s a freshman, but he brings plenty of talent, and Sunday will give the first real look at how that size might be used. The bigger question is how effectively Wake can turn all that length into production, and which bigs will rise to the top of the rotation.
The backcourt is a different story, because it has been rebuilt almost from scratch. Sophomore Isaac Carr is the only returning guard who logged meaningful minutes last season. Around him, the Deacs are piecing things together with transfers and former walk-on Vincent Ricchiuti, who is pushing for minutes after a strong summer.
Kevair Kennedy, coming over from Merrimack, is the likely starting point guard and looks like one of the most important players in the group. Jamari McDowell adds Power Five experience after two seasons at Kansas.
Justin Ray arrives from Monmouth with a reputation for knocking down threes. The fit with Carr is part of the puzzle, and Sunday should at least offer a glimpse of how Wake wants to put that group together.
Another major point of emphasis is defensive rebounding. It hurt Wake all last season, and it was especially costly in late-game situations. The hope is that the extra size and guards like Kennedy help clean that up.
Forbes said at Wake Media Day that it’s an area the team still has to improve, and it stood out again during the open practice. That makes it one of the clearest things to watch when the Deacs finally get back on the floor.
Basketball season may not have started yet, but Wake fans can already get an early read on this team against Big East competition. Fans in the area can be there in person, while others can watch on ESPN+.
In Other News...
Wake Forest's First Exhibition Exposed Problems Fans Can't Ignore
Wake Forests first exhibition game of the season gave the staff an early look at where things stand, and the picture was a little rough. The Demon Deacons fell to Georgetown 94-77, with Kevair Kennedy pacing Wake Forest with 19 points, but the bigger story was the way the offense bogged down when the shots from deep stopped falling. Against a Georgetown team that handled the perimeter battle better, Wake Forest never really found the kind of rhythm that can make an exhibition feel like a tune-up instead of a warning sign.
Forbes framed the night as useful in the long run, even if the result was hard to ignore in the moment. Early exhibitions are supposed to reveal problems before the games count, and Wake Forest got a clear dose of that here, especially on the outside shooting front. The next stretch will show whether the loss was simply a messy October checkpoint or a preview of issues the Demon Deacons will have to clean up quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Bearcats' First Loss Just Put Their Season Outlook In Question
ESPNs latest FPI update brought a little movement for Wake Forest after a convincing win, with the Demon Deacons among the teams to climb in the projections as the model recalibrated around the weekends results. The broader picture around college footballs metric still reflects how quickly one game can alter the outlook, with Kansas and Missouri also getting boosted while Virginia and Stanford slid after losses.
Wake Forests rise matters because these ratings are doing more than just sorting teams from top to bottom. They feed into playoff and bowl probability estimates, which means every jump or drop changes the conversation around what the rest of the season can still become. For a program trying to build momentum, the latest FPI movement is another reminder that the margin for error in the coming weeks is already shrinking. [Read more 🡒]
Wake Forests First Preseason Look Raised Some Familiar Concerns
Wake Forests first preseason test came with the usual small-sample caveat, but the October 4 scrimmage against Georgetown still offered an early glimpse at where the Demon Deacons have work to do. They were outrebounded and had trouble getting stops, especially when the Hoyas found rhythm from three-point range, which is the kind of familiar concern that tends to travel with a team into the regular season if it is not cleaned up quickly.
There were encouraging signs mixed in, though, including promising showings from the Placide twins and Jamari McDowell. It is far too early to treat one scrimmage as a forecast for what Wake Forest will become, but the outing did reinforce that the Deacons have some real upside and some obvious areas to tighten before the games start counting for real. [Read more 🡒]