Optimism high as Wake Forest opens basketball schedule on Monday night at home

NCAA Tournament or bust.

Thats been the goal since Coach Steve Forbes arrived at Wake Forest, but entering his fifth season it feels much different this time around.

The Demon Deacons, who have gone to two NIT tournaments under Forbes, will open their season on Monday against Coppin State at Joel Coliseum at 8 p.m.

The school has sold the most season tickets since the 2017-18 season with more than 5,000 , and its no secret that the coliseum has been good to Forbes since he was hired.

"We wanted to bring all of that excitement back to the Joel and we've done that the last few years," Forbes said.

"We'll need that support again." People are also reading...

The Demon Deacons are 48-7 at home over the last three seasons, which is the second best mark in the country, trailing only Houston.

There were also improvements made to Joel Coliseum for this season.

The ceiling has been painted black and there will be a reduced capacity for all games from 14,500 to around 13,000, according to Forbes.

Theres also an update with some of the banners.

Its going to look nice, Forbes said last month, and itll be a more intimate setting.

Hunter Sallis returned for his senior season at Wake Forest instead of going into the NBA Draft.

During the preseason, Forbes said this seasons team, which returns three starters in Efton Reid, Hunter Sallis and Cam Hildreth, is the deepest hes had.

His rotation could be as many as 10, but will likely be reduced once the heat of the ACC season gets going.

The Demon Deacons, who are trying to get to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2016-17 season, played a secret scrimmage late last month against West Virginia and had a charity exhibition at Alabama , a team that went to the Final Four last season and is ranked second in The Associated Press preseason poll.

In the 98-77 road loss to the Crimson Tide, the starting lineup was the three returning seniors along with App State transfer TreVon Spillers and bulked up sophomore Parker Fridrichsen, who played just 17 minutes and was 1 of 3 shooting.

Forbes went 10 deep in the scrimmage with freshman Juke Harris playing 16 minutes with five points, an assist, two rebounds and a steal against no turnovers.

Transfer Omaha Biliew played 25 minutes and was 5 of 6 shooting with 15 points and four rebounds.

Demon Deacons have shown they can win a home in Forbes' time in Winston-Salem The chemistry, Reid said about what is the strength of this years team.

We hang out way more off the court with everybody, including the walk-ons.

When we get together, everyone comes out and its the most chemistry Ive seen in all the teams that I have been on.

The Demon Deacons will follow Mondays opener with another home game on Thursday at 7 p.m.

against NC A&T, followed by a big neutral court matchup with Michigan on Nov.

10 at the Greensboro Coliseum , now called First Horizon Coliseum.

Forbes has promised a faster pace thanks to so many athletic wings, but its also going to take better rebounding that's consistent from game to game.

So, when you look at the depth of our team , I think we did a really good job in recruiting starting with Juke Harris a year and a half ago, Forbes said.

He committed to us.

He is a top 100 player in the country from Salisbury and a 6-foot-7 wing.

And then we went in the portal like we've done in the past.

Wake Forest guard Elise Williams, left, is the top returning scorer for Coach Megan Gebbia's women's program.

The Demon Deacons will play Queens on Monday at 5 p.m.

in their opener at Joel Coliseum.

Coach Megan Gebbias program took a step backwards in her second season as the Demon Deacons struggled and 7-25 overall and just 2-16 in the ACC.

In Gebbias first season they went 17-17 and played in the Womens NIT.

I'm hoping we are where we need to be in year three, Gebbia said during the preseason.

This team is really solid from every position.

We have depth this year, which we haven't had since I've been here.

We have depth, experience, and grit to us that we want to get out there.

The Demon Deacons will play Queens at 5 p.m.

in the first game of the doubleheader on Monday.

Senior Elise Williams returns to the backcourt for the Demon Deacons.

She has scored 1,000 points in her career and led them in scoring last season at 13.3 points per game.

Also returning will be Malaya Cowles, a 6-foot-3 forward from Wilkesboro.

She is a former star at Winton-Salem Christian who averaged 8.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game last season.

Demeara Hinds missed all of last season with an injury and is looking forward to being back on the court.

I think me sitting out that year, although it was very frustrating, it was helpful at the same time, Hinds said.

It gave me an extra opportunity to really home in on what I need to work on and what the team needs to work on as a whole and putting it out on the floor.

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