Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes has earned praise for being a turn-around artist.
The Demon Deacons went 6-16 overall and 3-15 last year in Forbes’ first season after a stellar stint at East Tennessee State. He inherited a bare-bones roster from former coach Danny Manning.
Forbes went to work in the spring of 2021, and landed transfers Alondes Williams (Oklahoma), Jake LaRavia (Indiana State), Dallas Walton (Colorado), Khadim Sy (Virginia Tech and Ole Miss) and eventually got ETSU transfer Damari Monsanto eligible this mid-season. Forbes had previously brought former East Tennessee State guard Daivien Williamson with him during the spring of 2020.
Power forward Isaiah Mucius is the lone holdover from the Manning era.
Wake Forest plays at NC State at 7 p.m. Wednesday on ACC Network.
Overview
Wake Forest ripped off six straight wins to begin the season and 11 of the first 12 contests. Winning 77-73 in overtime vs. Northwestern in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Nov. 30, followed by 80-61 at Virginia Tech on Dec. 4 gave them confidence that the turn-around was coming.
WFU is currently 19-5 overall and 9-4 in the ACC, with a season sweep over Florida State, and wins against Syracuse, Virginia and UNC among others in the league. Syracuse did get revenge in the rematch Jan. 29, thumping Wake Forest 94-72 at the dome.
Wake Forest will host NC State in the rematch March 2 in Winston-Salem.
Rankings
Wake Forest is No. 38 in the NET rankings this season, and NC State is No. 122.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Demon Deacons currently ranked No. 37 overall, and NC State is No. 108.
KenPom.com has Wake Forest at No. 40, and NCSU checks in at No. 118.
RealtimeRPI.com has NC State ranked No. 187 in the country, and Wake Forest is No. 66.
Shooting
The Demon Deacons are averaging 79.3 points per game and shooting 48.7 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from beyond the arc. Guard Daivien Williamson paces the squad by going 90.2 percent from the free-throw line.
Six players have made at least 13 three-point field goals this season, with Williamson shooting a team-high 41.1 percent.
Rebounding
Wake Forest is out-rebound opponents 37.0-34.4, and have 211 offensive rebounds.
The 6-5 Williams leads the way with 7.0 boards a contest, and LaRavia is right behind with 6.5 rebounds a contest. LaRavia has grabbed a team-best 54 offensive rebounds.
Defense
Opponents are averaging 69.0 points per game and shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from three-point land.
The 7-foot Walton had a team-high 37 blocks and LaRavia has added 22. The latter also leads WFU with 34 steals.
Depth
Wake Forest is playing four players off the bench, but two in particular.
Sy and Monsanto lead the way for the Demon Deacons. The well-traveled 6-10 Sy averages 6.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game off the bench. The big man is on his fourth college.
Monsanto averaged 11.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game at ETSU last year, and the 6-6, 225-pound sophomore made the move to Wake Forest. He became eligible Jan. 19, and is chipping in 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in 15.7 minutes a contest.
Freshmen guards Carter Whitt of Raleigh, a point guard, and wing Cameron Hildreth of England round out the bench.
Star Watch
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Williams attended Milwaukee (Wis.) Riverside High and then made his way 90 minutes south to Triton College in River Grove, Ill., near Chicago. He averaged 17.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game his sophomore year, and helped Triton win the 2018 NJCAA Division II title his freshman season.
Williams made the move to Oklahoma for two years, where he started 24 games out of 55 appearances under coach Lon Kruger.He averaged 6.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per game last year.
The extra year due to COVID has changed Williams’ career forever. He’s exploded this season for 19.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He wasn’t much of an outside shooter in the past, but has improved to go 30 of 95 from three-point land for 31.6 percent.
Williams served notice right away that he was one of the most improved players in the country. He had 32 points in the second game against Western Carolina. He had a triple-double against South Carolina-Upstate on Dec. 11, and followed up with 36 points against Virginia Military Institute three days later. Williams then came back for 34 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a 82-79 win over Charlotte on Dec. 17.
Williams has proven to be just as productive in the ACC, with a pair of games with 25 points, including vs. Duke on Jan. 12. He’s fresh off of getting 23 points and eight rebounds in the 68-60 win at Florida State last Saturday. He has struggled with his three-point shot, going 1 of 12 from beyond the arc over the last three contests.
Likely Starters
NC State
PG — 1 Dereon Seabron (6-7, 180, R-Soph., 18.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.5 spg)
SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 160, Fr., 15.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.5 spg)
G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, Jr., 7.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.8 apg)
PF — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 200, Sr., 13.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.2 spg)
C — 21 Ebenezer Dowuona (6-11, 225, Soph., 4.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.1 apg) or 11 Jaylon Gibson (6-10, 220, Soph., 2.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 0.2 apg)
Wake Forest
PG — 4 Daivien Williamson (6-1, 180, Sr., 12.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.1 apg, 1.0 spg)
SG — 31 Alondes Williams (6-5, 210, Sr., 19.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 5.2 apg, 1.2 spg)
SF — 1 Isaiah Mucius (6-8, 205, Sr., 9.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.8 apg)
PF — 0 Jake LaRavia (6-8, 235, Jr., 15.1 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.0 bpg)
C — 13 Dallas Walton (7-0, 230, Sr., 7.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.5 bpg)
Numbers Of Note
1: Wake Forest senior forward Alondes Williams is only player in the country averaging at least 19 points, six rebounds and five assists.
8.0 Points per game for the high school players recruited by coach Steve Forbes the last two years.
48.7: Field-goal percentage, which is tied for first in the ACC. WFU is third in the country in two-point percentage (59.2).
Game Within The Game: Wake Forest’s Jake LaRavia vs. NC State’s Jericole Hellems
Indiana State transfer Jake LaRavia has proven to be a revelation this season for Wake Forest.
The 6-8, 235-pounder from Indianapolis, Ind., was a solid role player for Indiana State last year. He averaged 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds a contest last year, and shot 47.3 percent from, solid numbers in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Despite the increase in competition of the ACC, he has improved across the board — 15.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists a contest. He has shot an impressive 59.1 percent from the field and 38.8 percent on three-pointers.
LaRavia went off for 31 points and 10 rebounds in the 98-76 win over North Carolina on Jan. 22. He has had three games with double-doubles for points and rebounds, and even blocked six shots against Boston College on Jan. 24.
The 6-7, 200-pound Hellems has proven to be streaky this season for NC State. He’ll give up size against LaRavia. He will need to avoid foul trouble, and he’s also coming off injuring his finger against Notre Dame.
Hellems is averaging 13.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game this season, and is shooting 41.6 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three-point land.
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