Demon Deacons Too Docile
Under Bzdelik
Wake Forest Men’s Basketball
T
he Wake Forest hoops squad got off to a 5-0 start against the likes of the Colgate
Raiders and Citadel Bulldogs, but of course were no match for the Kansas Jayhawks in
game number 6 back in November.
They then went 5-2 against more teams who many would consider “talent challenged” too.
In their first contest against an Atlantic Coast Conference counterpart they pulled off an upset of
then ranked number 19 North Carolina, 73-67 on January 5th. The Demon Deacons had not
defeated the Tar Heels since 2010, when they were under the direction of Coach Dino Gaudio
(more on him later). It was the year before that when Wake Forest last beat North Carolina on
their home floor. Perhaps with that in mind you can allow for their faithful pouring onto the court
postgame as if their heroes had won a NCAA tournament game (more about that later too).
However the celebration may have been premature, given the Tar Heels fortunes have gone
south after the game beginning with them losing their next 2 to Miami and Syracuse.
So here was Wake Forest 1-0 in the ACC and 11-3 overall nearing the season’s midpoint.
Since then however things have not gone so well. They sit squarely in the middle of the pack of
the ACC with a record that has “bubble team” at best written all over it when it comes to March
Madness.
So who is to blame for another so-so season thus far? My vote goes to Coach Jeff Bzdelik. His
track record speaks volumes as to where this year will end.
Remember the aforementioned former coach, Dino Gaudio? He was dismissed after going 6131 from 2007 through 2010 with Wake Forest AD, Ron Wellman citing his lack of success in the
tournament as the reason for his dismissal. Gaudio’s teams reached the postseason in all 3 of
his years at the school and he even won his last game on the bench for the Demon Deacons
when they beat Texas in the 2010 opening round.
In the meantime, Coach Bzdelik has avoided the tourney like the plague since he took over the
reins, ending what had been 16 postseason appearances by the school prior to his employment.
As the number 10 seed, they lost 75-62 to Maryland in last year’s ACC tournament.
Entering the 2013-14 campaign his rather un-audacious career recor