Jeff Teague News

After a less-than-rousing start to his senior season, guard Ish Smith of Wake Forest got it together last night in time to take Winston-Salem State apart in the final game of the Twin City Shootout.

Almost all the eyes in Joel Coliseum followed the ball. Late in the first half of Wake Forest's 83-60 win over High Point on Wednesday night, the Deacons' Ari Stewart fired a jumper from the left corner.

OUTLOOK: With plenty of size, the Deacons will present problems for opponents, especially if they can find players to replace the scoring lost with the departure of guard Jeff Teague and forward James Johnson.

Al-Farouq Aminu and Tony Woods are used to teaming up and racking up big numbers.

East Carolina isn't jumping from frying pan to fire as much as it is going from hair dryer to welding torch.

They are teams on opposite ends of the college basketball spectrum, but similar in at least one respect.

There should be no mistaking the identity that Wake Forest wants to develop during the 2009-10 basketball season, which will start with tonight's home game against Oral Roberts.

Dino Gaudio gets a little defensive when he talks about last season's Wake Forest basketball team.

Seven and a half months later, senior L.D. Williams can't get the aftertaste of the Deacons' 84-69 NCAA Tournament loss to 13th-seeded Cleveland State out of his mouth.

Entering his third season at the helm of the Wake Forest basketball program, Dino Gaudio has posted a 41-20 record... after a 17-13 mark in 2007-08, Gaudio's Deacons burst onto the national scene in 2008-09, finishing 24-7 overall and 11-5 in the ACC... Wake Forest spent the entire season ranked in the top 25, including a No.

There's no other team Jeff Teague wanted to start his NBA career against. The only thing better would have been to face his hometown team in his hometown, at Conseco Fieldhouse, with his close friends cheering him on.

Duke and North Carolina were picked in a dead heat to win this season's ACC regular-season basketball championship in media voting yesterday at the conference's annual Operation Basketball.

SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS: DeShawn Painter and Richard Howell, freshman forwards who stand 6-9 and 6-8, respectively, will get the chance to contribute right away.

Wake Forest announced Wednesday that coach Dino Gaudio received a contract extension through the 2013-14 season.

Coach: Dino Gaudio . Last season's record: 24-7 overall, 11-5 in ACC . Postseason: Lost in first round of NCAA tournament to Cleveland State.

In 2000, John Calipari wanted Dajuan Wagner to attend the University of Memphis so badly that he made Milt Wagner, Dajuan's father, his coordinator of basketball operations.

About to head home to Wilmington, N.C., after playing just 11 games in his freshman season, Wake Forest's Ty Walker was finishing up the spring semester when a message appeared on his Facebook page to add a friend.

First impressions amongst your peers in the NBA can go a long way. For Hawks rookie point guard Jeff Teague , the buzz traveled from an impressive mini-camp in late July all the way through Labor Day and until now.

The University of Kansas' past two national championship teams had staff members who were the fathers of players Danny Manning and Mario Chalmers.

Wake Forest sophomore forward Al-Farouq Aminu has been named a preseason candidate for the 2009-10 John R. Wooden Award, which goes annually to college basketball's top player.