Wake Forest’s basketball team sat down for a meal hours before it played at Vanderbilt early last month and a comedy roast broke out.
Jeff Teague made a few jokes. Fellow freshman James Johnson added a few more. The yuks continued until coach Dino Gaudio jumped up and wondered whether they still would chuckle later that night.
“Sometimes they think we’re on a high school field trip,” Gaudio said yesterday at Comcast Center, where his Demon Deacons (11-4, 1-1 ACC) play Maryland (10-7, 0-2) tonight.
Permission slips and yellow buses have long since given way to crammed itineraries and chartered flights for Johnson and Teague, the leading scorers on a precocious Wake Forest team. The Demon Deacons have no seniors on a roster with just 10 scholarship players and only two juniors in a 10-man rotation.
The lineup has featured three sophomores and two freshmen for the last month, placing an onus on younger players to make a difference. And no player has done more than Johnson, a 6-foot-8 Wyoming native who has started each game and leads the Deacons in scoring (14.5) and rebounding (8.5).
“You’ve got to grow up fast,” Johnson said. “It was meant for me to grow up fast. The team needed me to, and I needed to for myself. Getting thrown into the fire right away was good.”
The same was true for Teague, a natural point guard who was shifted to the wing. After sputtering early, he’s rattled off seven straight games in double figures.
In that span, Johnson and Teague have averaged a combined 30.6 points as the Deacons built a six-game winning streak before Saturday’s 112-73 loss at Boston College.
“Early, we were really concerned,” Gaudio said. “Jeff one game had [five] turnovers and down at Georgia didn’t play well. As their games improved individually, we improved collectively. Like all freshmen, they’re going to have ups and downs. They’re going to play three good games, one bad. Two good games, one bad. That’s part of the growth process.”
The upshot of their emergence is the chance for Wake Forest to entertain hope of producing a winning season for the first time since Chris Paul weaved passes in Winston-Salem, N.C.
But it’s also a glimpse into an bright future engineered by late coach Skip Prosser.
Prosser worked with sophomore guards Ish Smith and L.D. Williams a year ago and signed both Johnson and Teague. He also constructed a class headlined by power forward Al-Farouq Aminu for next season featuring three players rivals.com ranks among the top 25 in the country.
Those pieces seemed destined to create a memorable second act for Prosser’s tenure at Wake. But Prosser died after suffering a heart attack in July, and his loss became the Deacons’ most prominent story line for this season.
He remains a noticeable part of the Deacons. They wear a patch in his honor on their uniforms, and Gaudio still received regular questions about his longtime friend. When he opened the newspaper on New Year’s Day, a large photo of Prosser dominated the front as part of a year in review.
Nevertheless, Wake’s performance riveted attention from the past to the present — and beyond.
“It’s way more encouraging,” Johnson said. “We have a chance to go to the NCAA tournament if we play hard or win eight [ACC] games. It’s a lot better than hearing ’Are you still grieving on Coach P.’ He’s an irreplaceable coach, but the coach we have now is doing a pretty good job.”
So are his freshmen. Smith noticed both Johnson and Teague delivered an infusion of aggressiveness, and both have looked for their shot at important moments.
Likewise, both quickly learned the value of preparation after Gaudio’s admonishment before facing Vanderbilt.
“Then we went out and lost the game,” Teague said. “We have quiet meals now.”
Consider it one of many lessons imparted to the young Deacons. With more help on the way, Wake soon could laugh quite a bit.
Note — Maryland coach Gary Williams said he hoped guard Eric Hayes (sprained left ankle) would return to the lineup this week.
“I would say he looked doubtful for tomorrow night,” Williams said before yesterday’s practice. “I don’t want to go past that because he is getting better.”
Today’s game
WAKE FOREST (11-4, 1-1 ACC) AT MARYLAND (10-7, 0-2)
When: 9 p.m.
Where: Comcast Center
TV/radio: Chs. 20, 54, FM-106.7, AM-1300, FM-105.7
Outlook: Maryland leads series 59-54 and won last year’s meeting in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Terrapins look to avoid their first 0-3 start in conference play since 1999-2000 and its first 10-8 start since 1992-93. The Demon Deacons lost 112-73 at Boston College on Saturday, their worst margin of defeat since 1983. Maryland forward James Gist is averaging 18.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.4 blocks in his last five games.
— Patrick Stevens
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