Ask the casual sports fan to name one player for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and you will almost certainly get the same answer every time-Robert O'Kelley.
This makes sense at some level. O'Kelley is about to enter his fourth year as an impact player in the conference. But while O'Kelley gets all the attention, he probably is not even the best player on his team.
That title goes to junior Darius Songaila.
Songaila, a 6-foot-9 forward from Marijampole, Lithuania, led the Demon Deacons in scoring last season with 13.7 points per game. He also averaged 5.7 rebounds.
But for all he accomplished last season, Songaila is one of the few players in college basketball who is best known for what he did over the summer.
Songaila fulfilled his lifelong dream, representing his native Lithuania in the Olympics.
"[Lithuanians] don't grow up thinking about getting to play college ball," Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said. "His dream was not to play in the NBA, because that is a world away. His dream was to play for his country's national team, and he accomplished that."
Songaila made the most of the opportunity. He logged significant minutes, and made them count, averaging 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds.
Moreover, he didn't rack up those totals in games against countries no one can locate on a map. Songaila scored 16 points against Dream Team in round-robin play, and added 12 against the U.S. in a semifinal game that was within a three-pointer of being perhaps the biggest upset in basketball history.
Needless to say, Songaila's play earned him a lot of attention back in the United States.
"The day after he scored 16 points against the United States, you know at least five agents called," Odom said.
As he returned home with the bronze medal, Songaila was not talking about meeting agents, but rather the value of the experience.
"Every time you play a game you can learn something," he said. "But when you play against the best in the world, you definitely learn something."
Songaila has returned for ACC play with a much improved outside range that should make him a more imposing offensive threat from beyond eight feet.
"I think his game has stepped up a level," Odom said. "He's able to step out on the perimeter and shoot shots. Maybe his first couple of years, we would have cringed a little bit at that. He is making shots, and he is handling the ball a little more."
The addition of a jumpshot should be a frightening prospect for ACC teams that were battered and bruised by the forward last season.
Songaila is among the most physical players in the conference. Unfortunately, the referees did not always look so highly upon Songaila's use of his body. He totaled 116 personal fouls last season. That is an average of better than one foul every seven minutes.
Songaila also fouled out of eight contests. But when he was able to avoid the fouls, he put up some dominating performances.
Songaila scored 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds in the ACC tournament semifinals last year against Virginia. During the regular season, he scored 25 points against Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
His efforts last season earned him third-team All-ACC honors.
A strong regular season established him as one of the conference's better forwards, but perhaps the most important thing Songaila demonstrated was his ability to step up his play when Wake Forest needed it.
Songaila had a double-double against New Mexico in the second round of the NIT, and 18 points against Notre Dame to lead the Demon Deacons to the tournament championship.
This season, he hopes to finally lead them to the Big Dance.
"We're ready to start the season," Songaila said. "Everybody is real excited about what we can do this year. I think the conference is stronger than it was last year.... But I expect that we can prove that we are an NCAA-caliber team."
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