In the Wake Forest locker room, late head coach Skip Prosser's presence is everywhere.
Prosser, who passed away in July, motivated his team in life. Now, his favorite sayings are pinned to the walls and lockers of the players he left behind so he can continue to support them.
Although the tragic loss of their coach has weighed heavily on their hearts, the Demon Deacons are using his words and his memory to push forward-they know that's what Prosser would have wanted.
"We're definitely focused on the season, but its hard to say we're going to move past this," junior Cameron Stanley said. "Coach impacted our lives so much. We're trying to turn a negative into a positive the best way we can. Guys are still hurting, and it's still on everybody's mind. It's tough to just move on, but we're making progress."
New head coach Dino Gaudio, who served as an assistant coach for Wake Forest over the past five seasons, now looks to build on Prosser's legacy in Winston-Salem.
Gaudio, though, has not hesitated to make changes to improve upon last season's 10th-place conference finish. He cut the Demon Deacons' practices down from three hours to two, citing the importance of avoiding injuries as a result of overworking his team.
"A big factor in our success is how healthy we are," Gaudio said. "If we're healthy, we're going to surprise a lot of people."
After finishing last in the conference in field-goal-percentage defense and 10th in 3-point field-goal-percentage defense, Wake Forest spent the majority of its reduced offseason practice time on defense. With the increased focus and extra practice, the Demon Deacons look to eliminate the mistakes that plagued them last season,.
On the offensive side, Wake Forest needs strong showings from post players David Weaver and Chas McFarland to make up for the loss of leading scorer and rebounder Kyle Visser. Point guard Ishmael Smith's development is also key to the Demon Deacons' success this year, as the sophomore led the conference in assists last season. Smith's inexperience showed, though, as he also led the team in turnovers.
Coming off a disappointing season and a heartbreaking loss, the Demon Deacons certainly have plenty of motivation.
"We've got to try to make this the greatest success story in college basketball this year," Gaudio said. "From this tragedy is going to be this great story."
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