2009-10 Wake Forest Basketball Predictions
Written October 28, 2009 by Rock Henderson
Arguably one of the most talented teams from top to bottom last season, Wake Forest won 24 games under the direction of third year head coach Dino Gaudio a year ago as their offense averaged 81 ppg. Projected by many to make a deep run in last year’s NCAA tournament, the Demon Deacons exited early in the first round thanks to a major upset by an upstart Cleveland State team. Gaudio has done a superb job recruiting talented players to Wake that are able to compete in the competitive ACC, but his players will need to play on much more than talent alone if they want to avoid back-to-back lackluster stretch runs. The NCAA basketball odds to win the 2009-10 Tournament list Wake at 25-1 odds.
Wake only lost three players from last year’s squad, but their top two scorers were two of the three that have moved on. G Jeff Teague decided to leave early for the NBA after averaging almost 19 ppg and being the general on the floor for the Deacs. Their most versatile player, 6-9 F James Johnson, entered the draft also and took with him 15 ppg and almost 9 rpg. These two PTPers made major contributions to the Wake Forest program and will be missed, but it won’t be a complete rebuilding year for the third team in North Carolina as they do have some young players that are extremely talented.
One of the better names in all of college basketball will lead Wake Forest this season. Al-Farouq Aminu burst onto the scene last year as a lanky true freshman with a nice array of moves down in the post. Aminu averaged almost 13 ppg and 8 boards along with swatting away 1.2 shots per game. The sophomore out of Georgia will have to grow up quickly if Wake wants to have any hope of contending for an ACC championship. Super-sub PG Ishmael Smith will run the point full time this year after coming off the bench to put up 6 ppg and dish out 3.5 assists. The man in the middle will be returning starter Chas McFarland. He averaged almost 9 ppg last season and 6 rpg, but only was on the court for a little over 20 mpg due to constant foul trouble. That is something that will need to be addressed as this Wake team is not as deep as a year ago. Rounding out the starting five will be the much anticipated arrival of true freshman Ari Stewart and a player that started all 31 games a year ago in 2 guard L.D. Williams. Throw in a nice mix of role players off the bench that includes F Ty Walker and Tony Woods and the Demon Deacons could surprise a few teams in conference play.
This team has a lot of holes. They lack an outside threat and they are not going to get 18 ppg out of the point guard position like last year. Guard play seems to be lacking and that is where the college game is dominated at. Farouq Aminu will have to carry the load on the offensive end along with C Chas McFarland. Both need to stay out of foul trouble and on the court as much as possible if Wake wants to be successful. Don’t look for this team to reach the 24 win mark again, but they should challenge for a spot in the NCAA tourney.
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