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jimsumner
03-23-2011, 05:14 PM
From Wake Forest press release.

"Wake Forest head basketball coach Jeff Bzdelik announced on Wednesday that sophomore forward Ari Stewart has asked for and has been granted his release from the Demon Deacon basketball program.

“Ari is a fine young man who has chosen to pursue happiness somewhere else, and I wish him well,” said Bzdelik.

Stewart played in 30 games with 16 starts for the Deacons this past season. He was fifth on the team with 8.5 points per game and second on the squad with 4.4 rebounds per game.

The Marietta, Ga. native played in 61 games during his two-year Wake Forest career, averaging 7.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game."

roywhite
03-23-2011, 05:27 PM
Talked to one of my Demon Deac buddies today; he's expecting at best 4 ACC wins for WF next year. Said Ari Stewart was somewhat of a "black hole" on offense....the ball would get thrown to him, but not passed back. Not that he was all that great, but they simply don't have much on the roster or coming in to help.

buddy
03-23-2011, 05:35 PM
4 ACC wins would be a 400% increase over this year. That sounds overly optimistic, unless they are going to play Georgia Tech four times.

jimsumner
03-23-2011, 05:53 PM
Stewart wasn't playing much at the end of the season and I'm pretty sure the NBA scouts aren't exactly drooling over him. But he's 6-8, decent athlete, decent skill set. And he would have been a junior next season. When you're relying on Ty Walker for upper-class leadership, you want some experience.

I'm not sure I see where the optimism for Wake's 2011-'12 season comes from. Chennault should be healthy all season and that's good. It also means Harris can play at the 2, which is good. And McKie is a keeper. That's good.

But they'll still be young, small and just not that good, not by ACC standards. Wake fans seem to be divided between wait-and-see on Bzdelik and what-was-Wellman-thinking? One year is way too short to make a definitive judgment on anyone but he's got to convince a lot of skeptics.

OldPhiKap
03-23-2011, 06:04 PM
Wake fans seem to be divided between wait-and-see on Bzdelik and what-was-Wellman-thinking? One year is way too short to make a definitive judgment on anyone but he's got to convince a lot of skeptics.

The pressure will really be on next year, though, if State and GT's new head coaches surpass Wake's results. Which is not fair, given what State should be bringing back at least, but the pressure will be on.

Gone are the days when you could hire a coach with a bizarre, unpronouncable constanant-train-wreck of a last name from a small school and get by with a few tough years.

ThePublisher
03-23-2011, 09:18 PM
It's really sad whats happened with their program. They were one of the second tier teams that kept the ACC strong, but then they lost their coach. Can you imagine that happening at Duke? It would be like loosing a family member.
Gaudio, a pretty nice guy in person, kept Skips momentum for a couple of years but couldn't get it done on the big stage. Now look where they are just a few years after his death.
I was born in W/S, so Wake is the home team of sorts. I've always been a Duke fan, but Wake has second place.

Greg_Newton
03-23-2011, 09:44 PM
Ouuuuch. This was one of their few remaining ACC-level players. I remember thinking he was a very promising prospect last year - similar to Rice Jr. - but he must not have improved much since then.

This is really starting to get bad.

Faison1
03-23-2011, 09:44 PM
One year is way too short to make a definitive judgment on anyone but he's got to convince a lot of skeptics.

Hi Jim...as always, your posts are much appreciated. Wasn't it you who penned a piece comparing Bzdelik to one of the worst all-time hires in the ACC....or maybe it was comparing him to the shortest tenured coaches in the ACC?

Frankly, I'll be surprised if he makes it past the summer. What are you hearing from Winston these days?

jimsumner
03-23-2011, 10:05 PM
Hi Jim...as always, your posts are much appreciated. Wasn't it you who penned a piece comparing Bzdelik to one of the worst all-time hires in the ACC....or maybe it was comparing him to the shortest tenured coaches in the ACC?


The thought has occurred to me but I don't recall putting it in print. :)

Faison1
03-23-2011, 10:14 PM
The thought has occurred to me but I don't recall putting it in print. :)

Maybe it was Al Featherston who wrote about it. I think it included a Duke coach in the '70's who didn't last a whole season.....

Good piece....made me think Bzdelik wasn't going to make it through his first season.

JasonEvans
03-23-2011, 11:08 PM
They are so loaded, they don't really need him.

I hope Wake has patience because Bzedzdzedczezlick is going to need some time to get this thing fixed... assuming he can.

-Jason "for the record, I thought this was a bad hire the moment they made it" Evans

ArkieDukie
03-23-2011, 11:21 PM
They are so loaded, they don't really need him.

I hope Wake has patience because Bzedzdzedczezlick is going to need some time to get this thing fixed... assuming he can.

-Jason "for the record, I thought this was a bad hire the moment they made it" Evans

I listened to the end of the Duke-Wake game on XM and caught a post-game interview with Bzdelik on the Wake radio network. The interview smelled of damage control to me. He said all the right things (trying to build a program with a winning tradition, viewed players of Wake as ambassadors of the school and thought they should play/behave in a manner befitting this role, would not make short-term decisions that gave victories but cost the program in the long run, etc.). He even cited Duke as a program he wants to emulate. I found myself hoping that he can actually pull it off, but I haven't yet seen anything to convince me that he can do it. Like you, Jason, I'm not sure he was the best hire for them.

jimsumner
03-24-2011, 12:10 PM
Maybe it was Al Featherston who wrote about it. I think it included a Duke coach in the '70's who didn't last a whole season.....

Good piece....made me think Bzdelik wasn't going to make it through his first season.


Right before the beginning of the 1973-'74 season, Bucky Waters asked for a contract extension. When none was forthcoming, he resigned. His assistant, Neil McGeachy, was given the job and one year to prove he was the guy. Duke went 10-16 and Bill Foster was given the job.

Flash forward to the present. McGeachy is the AD at Lenoir Rhyne University in Hickory. One of his recent hires was Fred Goldsmith, as head football coach. It's a small world after all.

McGeachy's bio is below. Interesting guy.

http://www.lrbears.com/profile.asp?playerID=357