As I noted in my article yesterday on the Wake Forest Diamond Deacs, the experts online (the guys that eat, breathe and sleep college baseball) questioned the decision to leave out Wake Forest, especially at the expense of some of the other teams that made the tournament.

I compared Wake Forest specifically to Michigan State because I believed the Spartans to be one of the weakest teams in the field. Other question marks that made it over the Deacs were East Carolina, Sam Houston State, Indiana State and the College of Charleston. Wake does not match up favorably with all of these teams (some of them have surprisingly good numbers for mid-major teams), but if you are picking five out of the six listed teams above, Wake Forest without a doubt deserves to be in the field of 64.

This article details what two of the more prominent experts on college baseball (Kendall Rogers of Perfect Game, and Aaron Fitt of Baseball America) had to say about the exclusion of Wake Forest from the field.

Click through the jump to see what the experts had to say about Wake Forest being left out.

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Let's get one thing straight: I rarely, if ever, complain about the way things turn out that are outside of my (or a team that I love and pull for's) control. This time though, I am furious about the way that the Wake Forest Demon Deacons got snubbed by the NCAA Baseball Tournament committee.

Usually when this happens I look up the stats and find out that I am insanely incorrect and my emotions have gotten the best of me. This time, however, the stats not only back up my anger, but actually took it to a completely higher level.

As the (not so) great Skip Bayless would say ... IT IS ASININE-TEN-ELEVEN that Wake Forest did not make the field of 64 for the 2012 NCAA Baseball Tournament.

Please click through the jump to see the numbers for yourself, as well as how they compare against the "last team in" in the Michigan State Spartans.

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via www.astroturfusa.com

Despite a fairly strong outing by Tim Cooney and a hopeful start to the first game of the ACC Baseball Tournament last night, the Diamond Deacs shot themselves in the foot too many times to keep up with one of the nations best, and hottest teams in North Carolina. The result was a 6-0 defeat in a game that, if won, could have notched a hole in a belt big enough for an NCAA Tournament bid for the Deacs.

Wake Forest starter Tim Cooney struck out 10 UNC batters in just over 7 innings, but a four-run third inning was all the Heels needed to defeat the at times anemic Deacon offense.

The Deacs will face off against N.C. State tonight at 7 (barring any bad weather). The Wolfpack defeated Miami yesterday in a thrilling 3-2 manner that concluded with an N.C. State walkoff walk in the bottom of the 9th. The Deacs obviously now must win tonight and tomorrow night against Miami if they want to have any chance to make the ACC Tournament Championship Game on Sunday at 12.

UNC squares off against Miami today at 3, and if the Heels win that game then Wake will already have been eliminated by the time they take the field tonight at 7. That is really secondary right now for the Deacs though. A win or two over the next two days would go a long way in helping Wake Forest attempt to qualify for the NCAA Baseball Tournament. An 0-3 record this week could prove to be lethal to their hopes.

Click through the jump for a rundown and brief analysis of the game last night.

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via www.digitalforsyth.org

The Wake Forest Diamond Demon Deacons swept the Clemson Tigers at Wake Forest Baseball Park to secure the 7 seed in the upcoming 2012 ACC Baseball Tournament (to be held in Greensboro this coming Wednesday-Sunday).

The Deacs secured the berth with a fantastically exciting game on Wednesday that ended with Mac Williamson catching a DEEP fly ball from Clemson's Jon McGibbon with the bases loaded, and then firing it to Pat Blair at second, who made a diving tag on the tagging runner at first to win it 2-1.

Wake also took care of business on Friday and Sunday, where they defeated the Tigers 5-2, and 7-0 respectively, to complete a sweep over Clemson for the first time since 1999. In doing so, the Deacs improve to 32-22 overall, and a respectable 13-17 in conference play considering the difficulty of the conference (10 teams ranked in the top 40 of the RPI--see chart below).. The team also finishes with an astonishing 25-5 record at home over the course of the year.

Click through for what this means about the Deacs NCAA Tournament chances, as well as the ACC Tournament information that was unveiled last night.

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UPDATE: Alihodzic commits to UAB after a visit today.

According to Fahro Alihodzic's Twitter account, the 22 year-old 6'10, 240-pound big man has visited/is visiting the Wake Forest campus Wednesday/Thursday. Alihodzic has taken a rather nontraditional path to playing college basketball in the United States. Originally from Bosnia, Alihodzic played his high school basketball in Ohio before he committed to Fordham where he played for a year. He then transferred to Southeastern Community College where he played 16 games. He was also committed to Nebraska after the year at SCC but left after Doc Stadler was fired following this past year.

Click through the jump to see more about Alihodzic's time at his previous stops.

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Photo courtesy of Bob Hebert

Randolph Childress, former All-American for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, will move from a job as an assistant to Ron Wellman last year to the Director of Player Development next year.

In other moves, Mike Lepore will move from Team Videographer to the Director of Scouting/Recruiting, and Dan Ficke will move from Assistant Coordinator of Operations to the Special Assistant to the Head Coach/Director of Player Operations.

Head coach Jeff Bzdelik released the following statement in regards to Childress and the move:

"We are looking forward to Randolph playing a more prominent role in our program," said Bzdelik. "He exemplifies our vision of winning championships without compromising our values. I, along with all Demon Deacon fans, am excited to have him on board."

Click through the link to see what exactly Childress, Lepore and Ficke can do in their new roles and how it will affect the team next year.

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via a.espncdn.com

We here at Blogger So Dear are excited to find out that Madison Jones, the top unsigned point guard left in the class of 2012, has decided to play his college basketball at Wake Forest.

His signing will bring much needed depth to a depleted backcourt and Madison will likely see plenty of time behind Codi Miller-McIntyre and C.J Harris at the 1 and 2 spot.

The news was made obvious on Twitter after C.J Paul and Aaron Rountree sent him "congrats" tweets:

Jones made his official visit to Wake Forest on Thursday and that was enough to commit this morning.

He was also being pursued heavily by Maryland and Richmond after having early offers from Seton Hall, American and Georgia Southern.

Information about Jones can be found here in an article we wrote last week when we first heard about our renewed interest, along with his ESPN profile

Welcome to Wake Forest Madison! These will be the best four years of your life and we here at BSD commend you on your college choice!

The recent transfers from Anthony Fields, Tony Chennault and Carson Desrosiers have sent head coach Jeff Bzdelik and his staff scrambling once again to look for remaining 2012 talent that is still out there who could possibly fill gaps left by the departures.

A player that has emerged as perhaps a frontrunner to come in and backup Codi Miller-McIntyre right away is 2012 point guard Madison Jones. Jones plays for Ravenscroft (the same high school as Anton Gill), and has had an extremely successful season leading the Ravens at the point. He is averaging 16.5 PPG, 6.5 APG and 3.4 SPG to lead a high-powered offense.

Jones is listed at 6'1 and 165 pounds by ESPN and brings a toughness factor on the court that is hard to teach to a player. He was seen on campus on Wednesday, and although his offer sheet currently isn't overly impressive (Seton Hall, American, ECU, Georgia Southern, and NCCU), he said in a recent interview that he planned on visiting Maryland. Coach Mark Turgeon has been down to NC recently to see him play.

Click through the jump to get a more in-depth breakdown on Madison and his game!

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Blogger So Dear Interview with 2013 SF Greg McClinton (via deacsfan27)

One of the players that we were most interested in catching up with this past weekend at Dave Telep's Carolina Challenge was 2013 wing forward Greg McClinton. We did an interview with him about a year ago where he expressed his great interest in Wake Forest.

"UConn, Miami, Wake Forest, Louisville, Xavier and Virginia Tech are all showing me a lot of interest," McClinton said. "Wake, Xavier, Virginia Tech, and Miami have all offered me. Right now Wake Forest is at the top of my list."

Fortunately for the Deacs he has his top three of "Louisville, Xavier and Wake Forest". Although they are not the only schools vying for his talents, it sounded like those three were the ones that have been after him the longest and he likes the most. From the previous article he indicated that he wanted to make his decision by the start of his senior year and that is coming up after the AAU season. Hopefully he will make it the school he "grew up rooting for and become a Wake Forest Demon Deacon

Note: It is a bit difficult to hear at times because of the background noise so if a transcript is needed I can get that do that for the readers!

Click through for an analysis of McClinton's game and our thoughts on him at BSD.

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One of the most exciting things about the Carolina Challenge is getting the chance to talk to guys that have played well on the day and boosted their stock in the eyes of the scouts in attendance. This was the case with 2013 wing forward Christian Hairston out of Greensboro Day School. He has a great overall skill package, but has at times been inconsistent throughout his high school career.

Christian lit up the Challenge with his prowess on the wing and a couple of huge slams. We figured we needed to go ahead and talk to this young man because, while he probably projects at the high mid-major level now, if he becomes more consistent in his mid-range game then he could be a great get for a high D1 school.

Click through the link for more analysis on Hairston and Saturday at the CC.

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We got the chance to speak with several promising basketball players today at the 2012 Carolina Challenge, and we will be uploading them to the site over the next week along with a brief write-up of what we noticed.

Shelton Mitchell is a 2014 point guard who plays for Cuthbertson High School, where he led the team to a 2A state championship game appearance. He is well known for his work ethic and his composure on and off the court (which is evident in the interview as well). The Deacs have been recruiting this kid for a while, and he is developing quite the reputation among college coaches.

If there is any problem hearing this interview (or any of those that may follow), please let me know. There was a fair amount of background noise going on during a couple of them due to the sheer volume of people at Ravenscroft High School.

Click through for a brief recap and write-up of what we saw at the Challenge today from Mitchell.

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According to multiple sources that we here at Blogger So Dear have talked to, rising junior Carson Desrosiers is planning to transfer from Wake Forest University. His destination is unknown at this time, and we wish him best of luck in his future endeavors.

Desrosiers averaged 4.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 21.6 minutes per game this year. He figured to play a prominent role in a young Wake Forest rotation next year at the center position, so his leaving at this time is extremely befuddling and questionable. The sophomore played extremely well in the last few games and showed the ability to stretch defenses with his outside shooting.

There has also been speculation about Anthony Fields potentially transferring as well, but Blogger So Dear has not heard anything to substantiate those rumors at this juncture. If anything comes up with regards to Fields, we will keep you as informed as possible.

According to John Dell at JournalNow.com, point guard Tony Chennault will transfer from Wake Forest, citing "personal reasons."

"This was a tough decision to leave my teammates at this point in my career, but at the end of the day, I have to do what's best for me and my family," Chennault said in a statement released Tuesday by Wake Forest athletics officials. "This was a personal choice that has nothing to do with basketball."

It is worth being said that Tony leaves the University in "good academic standing," which brings to question why exactly Chennault is transferring.

Chennault was third on the team in scoring at nine points per game and averaged 2.8 assists.

We wish Tony nothing but the best here at Blogger So Dear and hope that he lands somewhere he will be happy and experience success on the court.

We will breakdown what this means for Wake Forest next year in the near future, but in the meanwhile, let's keep this clean and devoid of personal attacks.

via www2.journalnow.com

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons took the first step last night in proving the NCAA Tournament Committee wrong for excluding the Deacs from the NCAA Tournament this year, as they posted a 72-61 victory over the Charlotte 49ers.

The Deacs were dominant at times while playing on the road in Charlotte in the first round game, but allowed the 49ers to cut the lead to 54-53 with six minutes left. From there, Wake used timely three-pointers from sophomore Chelsea Douglas to end the game on an 18-8 run to hold on to the win.

Senior Secily Ray lead Wake Forest in scoring and rebounding with 21 and nine, respectively. Charlotte was lead by Amanda Dowe with 15 points and an astonishing 19 rebounds to give the 49ers an overall 47-39 victory on the glass.

The rebounding differential was negated by the 27 turnovers the 49ers suffered. Wake scored 27 points off of those turnovers and constantly flustered Charlotte throughout the night.

Click through for a longer recap and who the Deacs take on next!

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via research.yahoo.com

Since it is Selection Sunday and nearly everybody has rolled out their own Bracketology I decided to go ahead and do BSD's first ever Selection Sunday Bracketology.

This obviously has been posted before the games today have taken place and the biggest game is Xavier-St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic 10 final. Xavier has most likely punched their ticket to the Dance by making it to the final, but if Andrew Nicholson can lead the Bonnies to a win today then the bubble will shrink by one. Whether that team is N.C. State, Seton Hall, Drexel, or Mississippi State will be seen after the jump (or at least in BSD's opinion of who would be bumped).

As I type this Joe Lunardi has the Last Four in as South Florida, N.C. State, Seton Hall and either Drexel/Saint Bonaventure. His Last Four out are Washington, Mississippi State, Iona and Miami.

The other games today may have some potential bearing on the seeds and I will update it as it sees fit. For the first post I am assuming that UNC, Kentucky, Xavier will win. The Michigan State/Ohio State game is a toss-up and I will mark it that way on the bracket. (of course as I type this Vandy, FSU and Saint Bonaventure are all leading haha).

Regardless of whether UNC or UK wins I expect them to both get #1 seeds. Syracuse should get another #1 seed, and then there is a healthy debate as to whether it will go to the Ohio State/Michigan State winner, or perhaps Kansas. I'm going with the winner of the Ohio State/Michigan State as the last #1 seed.

3:30 Update: UK keeps their #1 overall seed despite a loss to Vanderbilt. UNC drops to the #3 overall 1-seed and Syracuse moves into the #2 overall seed after a Tar Heel loss to Florida State.

Saint Bonaventure knocks off Xavier to pop a bubble and enters as a No. 13 seed. This knocks Drexel off of my bubble (changed it from Washington after doing some research). Procedural changes are below from the three championship games

Procedural Changes

• FSU moves to the #1 4-seed from the #4 4-seed (I could see them getting a weak 3-seed though).
• Vandy moves to a 5-seed from a 4-seed, bumping Indiana from a 4-seed to a 5-seed.
• Belmont moves to a 14-seed to a 13-seed and still avoids the first four.
• First Four matchups become (12's) California v. South Florida (13's) N.C. State v. Seton Hall (Final Four In according to my bracket).
• Michigan State grabs the #4 1-seed and Ohio State grabs the #3 2-seed. Moved Mizzou to #1 2-seed.

For all the automatic bids, at-large predictions, and what seed they fall (I'm not going to match them up in bracket format because that's just too much guess-work).

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Despite the trying year that Wake Forest basketball has endured, the been the play of C.J. Harris and Travis McKie has been nothing short of exciting and consistent to watch. The fruit of C.J Harris' labors has come to fruition with a spot on the All-ACC Third Team, which was announced earlier this afternoon by the ACC.

Travis McKie, who arguably should have made at least the third team, was no doubt snubbed due to the win-loss column, rather than his actual play on the court.

C.J Harris averaged 16.8 PPG (4th best in the conference), along with 3.1 RPG and 2.5 APG. He shot 47.9 percent from the field, including an impressive 43.2 percent from behind the arc and 85.6 percent from the free throw line. Made more impressive was the minutes he was asked to play by head coach Jeff Bzdelik at just over 35 MPG.

Travis McKie had very similar numbers in the scoring column with 15.9 PPG and 6.9 RPG. While he hit a mini-slump in the ACC season, his numbers were still pretty impressive, all things considered.

A look at all of the ACC-Teams, as well as more discussion on the McKie snub after the jump.

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Two of the biggest upsets in Women's ACC Tournament history occurred yesterday within five hours of each other. Today, No. 7 Wake Forest and No. 9 N.C. State will see if they can keep their dream alive and make it to Sunday, where they would have the chance to do the unthinkable and win the ACC Championship.

The N.C. State Wolfpack will take on the No. 4 seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at 11:00 a.m. in the first semifinal. Following that game, the Deacs will take on the No. 3 seed Maryland Terrapins at 1:30 p.m. (or thirty minutes after the conclusion of the first game).

While it is improbable that either team will continue their run, after yesterday, anything is on the table, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a Wake Forest-N.C. State final tomorrow (and I'm sure Greensboro wouldn't mind that either). The Deacs and the Wolfpack have played inspired, physical basketball the last two days and have refused to back down against the nation's elite. Their reward is a trip to the weekend in Greensboro and perhaps a memory that will last a lifetime tomorrow afternoon if the dominoes fall in the right way.

Click through the jump for more of a preview for each game.

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In a game that the Deacs absolutely had to have to make a case for the NCAA Tournament, Wake Forest did exactly what they needed to do and upset the heavily favored Miami Hurricanes 81-74 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.

A mere hours after No. 9 N.C. State made the semi-finals after shocking No.1 Duke 75-73, the Deacs provided more fireworks in the Greensboro Coliseum as they jumped out a 38-23 lead at the half over the No. 2 seed Miami.

Wake Forest then held off several furious Miami rallies over the final 20 minutes to send the Deacs bench into jubilation with a seven point victory.

Coach Petersen was seemingly shocked when he heard how long it had been since Wake Forest had achieved some of the things the team did tonight.

"Well we beat a great team today. I think credit has got to go to Miami. That is a great basketball team. They have great players...I can't sit here and tell you that we just had this wonderful game plan. We took a really good basketball team out there...and beat a really good basketball team (in Miami)."

The Deacs will face off against the winner of the No. 3 Maryland/No. 6 UVA match-up tomorrow in the second semifinal at 1:30. Maryland leads 40-20 at the half.

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