Wake Forest coach Dave Odom knew the graduation of Tim Duncan would leave an immeasurable void on this year's team.
But he couldn't have expected that his starting center would have to sit out a month because he couldn't deal with the pressure of being Duncan's successor, or that his two senior guards would fail to live up to preseason expectations or that he would be starting five freshmen for the first time in Atlantic Coast Conference history.
Despite all this adversity, the Demon Deacons, who face the men's basketball team in Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday at 4 p.m., have managed to post a 4-7 ACC record (12-10 overall) that puts them in a fifth-place tie with Georgia Tech and Clemson. Still, after consecutive losses to the Tigers and Yellow Jackets, Wake has watched its chances at an NCAA berth start to slip away.
A road win over second-ranked Duke (22-2, 11-1), however, would breathe life back into the Deacons' post-season aspirations.
Loren Woods, the 7-foot-1 sophomore who was placed on a leave of absence Jan. 16 by Odom, returned to the court against Ga. Tech on Wednesday and contributed six points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes of action. A high school teammate of the Blue Devils' Chris Carrawell, Woods was averaging 11.6 points and 8.5 boards before leaving the team after Wake's 88-52 loss to Duke on Jan. 14.
"It was good to see him back on the court," said Carrawell, who spoke with Woods Wednesday night. "He's okay, he's in good spirits, he's laughing; so that's pretty good to see.
"[Woods' problems] affected me a little bit. We're close friends-he was my best friend in high school."
But once the teams take the court, Carrawell said, the Blue Devils will likely show no mercy for the out-of-shape Woods, pushing the ball up the court whenever possible to wear out the Deacs' third-leading scorer.
Woods is one of three returnees who has not performed as many observers thought they would this season. Senior guards Tony Rutland and Jerry Braswell were starters last year and Wake's second- and third-leading scorers. Both were looked upon to provide leadership and offense in '97-98.
But Braswell, who was fifth in the ACC in three-point shooting last season, is averaging only 3.5 points per game and has not played in two of the Deacs' last three contests. Rutland, a high school teammate of Allen Iverson and a former Gatorade Player of the Year in Virginia, has had a solid year but has not raised his game as many had predicted.
He tallied 11.9 points per game as a sophomore before injuring his knee in the ACC Tournament final and underwent reconstructive surgery in the off-season. Rutland came back to put up almost identical numbers last year when the Deacs had Duncan scoring 20.8 points per contest. In 1997-98, with Duncan playing in the NBA All-Star game, he's once again averaging 11.9 points.
With Rutland and Braswell struggling, Odom went to an all-freshman starting lineup against N.C. State last week. Robert O'Kelley, Niki Arinze, Rafael Vidauretta, Josh Shoemaker and James Griffin will probably take the floor for Wake on Saturday, though Arinze, O'Kelley and Griffin came off the bench Wednesday after arriving late to a mandatory weight-lifting session. No matter who starts, five first-year players will see extended minutes in Durham.
"That's tough," said Shane Battier, one of Duke's freshmen. "I wouldn't want to play in Cameron as a senior [as] an opposing player."
With Woods still working his way back into shape, the Deacs should continue their practice of launching bombs from the perimeter. O'Kelley, Rutland and senior Steven Goolsby have all attempted more than 100 threes this season. Wake is second in the ACC to the Blue Devils in three-pointers per game, but it is easily last in the conference in field-goal percentage and assists.
"We did a good job in Winston-Salem shutting down their perimeter game," Steve Wojciechowski said. "We're going to have a lot of the same focus we had there. We're going to try to make them drivers and try to make them two-point shooters. If you don't do that... it could be a long game for us."
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