Tyree Appleby is Wake Forest’s 2nd straight ACC AP Player of the Year

Associated PressMar 7, 2023, 12:49 PM EST

William Howard-USA TODAY Sports

Wake Forest guard Tyree Appleby is The Associated Press men’s player of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the second straight season a Demon Deacons player took the honor after Alondes Williams earned it a year ago.

Pitt coach Jeff Capel was named coach of the year and Duke freshman Kyle Filipowski was named newcomer of the year.

Appleby, a 6-foot grad transfer guard from Florida, led the ACC with in scoring at 18.8 points a game and assists at 6.2 per contest. He was second in ACC steals.

Appleby received seven votes for player of the year from the 15 journalists who cover the ACC. Appleby finished ahead of Miami’s Isaiah Wong (four), North Carolina’s Armando Bacot (two), and Filipowski and Clemson’s Hunter Tyson, who each received a vote.

Appleby came to Wake Forest this past offseason and helped the team go 18-13 and win 10 games in ACC play.

Capel’s future at Pitt was clearly in doubt when the season began after four straight losing seasons. But the Panthers turned things around this season, going 21-10 and 14-6 against league opponents. Pitt will be the fifth seed in this week’s ACC Tournament.

Capel received 11 votes from panel while Miami coach Jim Larranaga picked up the other three. One voter abstained.

Filipowski, the Blue Devils’ 7-foot freshman, averaged 15 points and 9.2 rebounds this season. He received nine votes from the panel with Appleby getting four and North Carolina State’s Jarkel Joiner the other two.

The rest of the AP’s first team included Wake Forest’s Appleby, North Carolina’s Bacot and Duke’s Filipowski.

FIRST TEAM

Isaiah Wong, Miami, 6-4, 185, Jr., Piscataway, New Jersey.

Tyree Appleby, Wake Forest, 6-0, 175, Gr., Jacksonville, Arkansas.

Terquavion Smith, North Carolina State, 6-4, 165, So., Greenville, North Carolina.

Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 6-10, 240, Sr.., Richmond, Virginia.

Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 7-0, 230, Fr., Westtown, New York.

SECOND TEAM

Norchad Omier, Miami, 6-7, 248, So., Bluefields, Nicaragua.

Jarkel Joiner, North Carolina State, 6-1, 180, Gr., Oxford, Mississippi.

Hunter Tyson, Clemson, 6-8, 217, Gr., Monroe, North Carolina.

Jamaruius Burton, Pitt, 6-4, 200, Gr., Charlotte, North Carolina.

Kihei Clark, Virginia, 5-10, 167, Gr., Woodland Hills, California.

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Coach of the year – Jeff Capel, Pitt

Player of the year – Tyree Appleby, Wake Forest

Newcomer of the year – Kyle Filipowski, Duke

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AP All-ACC voting panel: Mike Barber, The Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch; Mark Berman, The Roanoke (Virginia) Times; Rick Bozich, WDRB-TV, Louisville, Kentucky; C.L. Brown, The (Raleigh) News & Observer, North Carolina; Jordan Crammer, WNCN CBS 17, Raleigh, North Carolina; Donna Ditota, The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York; Jerry DiPaola, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Chapel Fowler, The State of Columbia, South Carolina; Ehsan Kassim, Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee, Florida; Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald; Kevin McNamara, WPRO, Providence, Rhode Island; Tom Noie, South Bend (Indiana) Tribune; Ken Sugiura, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Lauren Walsh, WXII-TV, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Steve Wiseman, The Herald-Sun of Durham, North Carolina.

Appleby scores 35 as Wake Forest holds off Tar Heels 92-85

Associated PressFeb 7, 2023, 11:20 PM EST

William Howard-USA TODAY Sports

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Tyree Appleby scored a season-high 35 points, 23 coming at the free-throw line, and Wake Forest built a big lead early then held on for a 92-85 victory over North Carolina on Tuesday night.

Appleby was just two points short of his career high while tying his best of 11 assists and sharing the team lead with seven rebounds. Though only 6 of 20 from the floor, he made a career-best 23 of 28 free throws including 13 straight in the final two minutes when the Tar Heels got as close as seven after trailing by 26 early in the second half.

Damari Monsanto had three 3-pointers and 16 points with seven rebounds and Matthew Marsh came off the bench to score 10 points for the Demon Deacons (16-9, 8-6 ACC), who won their second straight after losing four in a row.

Caleb Love made all four of North Carolina’s 3-pointers, including three in the final minute, and finished with 24 points for the Tar Heels (15-9, 7-6), who have lost three straight. Armando Bacot, who played only eight minutes of the second half before fouling out, had 17 points and 11 rebounds. RJ Davis added 16 points and Pete Nance had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

When these teams met on Jan. 4, an 88-79 win for North Carolina, there were 20 lead changes. Tuesday night, there was a lone lead change two minutes into the game as Wake Forest quickly took control and led 47-25 at halftime.

The Tar Heels trailed by 10 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the game not long after Bacot fouled out. They got as close as seven in the final minute thanks to Love but no closer because of Appleby.

Still, it took two from the line by Daivien Williamson with 12 seconds left for a 10-point lead that finally ensured the win before Love hit his final 3-pointer.

In their Jan. 4 game, North Carolina scored 32 points off 15 turnovers. Tuesday, the Deacons committed just five. They finished 33 of 42 at the line to 21 of 26 for the Heels.

North Carolina is home against Clemson and Wake Forest is host to Georgia Tech, both games on Saturday.

Charlene Curtis, coaching trailblazer in ACC, dies at 67

Associated PressAug 19, 2022, 4:03 PM EDT

William Howard/Getty Images

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Charlene Curtis, the first Black women’s head basketball coach in the ACC, died Thursday after a battle with cancer, the conference said. She was 67.

Curtis was the head coach at Wake Forest from 1997-2004, after head coaching stops at Radford and Temple, where she also was the first African-American head women’s basketball coach.

Curtis played basketball at Radford shortly after the passage of Title IX in 1972 and become the school’s first 1,000-point scorer, male or female, and a member of its Hall of Fame. She majored in music and joined a Radford women’s basketball team that didn’t offer scholarships at the time.

Curtis worked in the ACC league office as the supervisor of officials for women’s basketball for 11 years, retiring in 2019. Along with her ACC job, Curtis spent that time as the coordinator of women’s basketball officials for the Southern Conference, the Big South and the Colonial Athletic Association.

“Charlene was a pioneer in the sport of women’s basketball, but more importantly, she was an amazing individual,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips. “Her kindness and class resonated throughout her life, and she will be missed by all who were fortunate to know her and her inspiring spirit.”

A native of Roanoke, Virginia, her early coaching jobs included an assistant at Radford and graduate assistant coach at Virginia in 1981. She worked with Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan and then-assistant Geno Auriemma. Curtis became Radford’s head coach in 1984 at age 29, finishing with a 121-53 record in six seasons.

She also worked two years as an assistant at UConn before being hired at Wake Forest.

Curtis is survived by her partner of 24 years, Sharolyn Grant, and her sister and brother-in-law Millicent and Byrl Wright.

Wake Forest hires Gebbia as women’s basketball coach

Associated PressMay 26, 2022, 9:38 PM EDT

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Wake Forest has hired American’s Megan Gebbia as its new women’s basketball coach.

The Demon Deacons announced Gebbia’s hiring Thursday evening, a little more than two weeks after the firing of former Demon Deacons all-conference performer Jen Hoover.

The 49-year-old Gebbia had spent the past nine seasons at American, leading the Eagles to three NCAA Tournament bids while twice being named the Patriot League coach of the year. Last year’s team won 23 games and reached the NCAAs.

Wake Forest has scheduled an introductory news conference for Gebbia on Friday.

The challenge facing Gebbia is to help the Demon Deacons build to becoming a regular NCAA Tournament team. The program has only reached two tournaments in its history, the first in 1988 and then in 2021.

The Demon Deacons followed that tournament trip with a 16-17 season that included only four Atlantic Coast Conference wins.

Wake Forest fires Jen Hoover as women’s basketball coach

Associated PressMay 11, 2022, 10:06 PM EDT

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Wake Forest has fired women’s basketball coach Jen Hoover, parting ways with the former Demon Deacons player after 10 seasons.

The school announced the move Wednesday evening, with athletics director John Currie pointing to the program’s overall trajectory as well as turnover on the coaching staff. Wake Forest has made the NCAA Tournament just twice, though Hoover guided the Demon Deacons there in 2021.

“Wins and losses matter, we do keep score,” Currie said in an online news conference with reporters. “At the same time, I believe that Wake Forest over the last 10 years has steadily increased its investment in women’s basketball, and we have a very, very significant in women’s basketball.

“I would never point to a specific record or a specific loss. It’s more of an aggregate body of work, so to speak.”

Hoover was an all-Atlantic Coast Conference performer as a Wake Forest player from 1987-91.

“I am disappointed and deeply saddened to receive the news that I was terminated today without cause,” Hoover said. “I am so proud of our many accomplishments over the past 10 years including the return for the program to the NCAA in 2021.”

Yet the follow-up to that NCAA bid offered an example of Currie’s concerns on whether the program was making “forward progression.” This year’s team went 16-17 and just 4-14 in league play. After the season, all three assistants departed, with associate head coach Erin Dickerson Davis becoming head coach at William & Mary.

The decision came nearly two months after the Demon Deacons concluded the season with a WNIT second-round loss to Middle Tennessee. Currie said the move followed a comprehensive program review, but timing proved awkward considering Currie and Hoover were both in Florida attending the ACC’s spring meetings this week.

Currie said he met with Hoover after she concluded her portion of the meetings there.

“The reality is there’s never a good time,” Currie said. “And once a decision has been made, the right thing to do for all the people involved is to go ahead and move forward with that decision.”

After Coach K’s exit, No. 9 Duke edges Wake Forest 76-74

Associated PressFeb 15, 2022, 10:50 PM EST

Icon Sportswire / Contributor

DURHAM, N.C. — Mark Williams dunked in Paolo Banchero’s missed drive with 0.4 seconds left to help ninth-ranked Duke beat Wake Forest 76-74 on Tuesday night, capping a wild game that saw Blue Devils Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski not coach after halftime because the team said he was “not feeling well.”

The drama carried to the final possession as Wake Forest had only a desperate chance. Domari Monsanto took the inbounds pass and heaved a one-handed throw to the far end that appeared to be a bit late with the ball hitting the glass then bouncing off the rim before falling away.

That ended an eventful night in famously rowdy Cameron Indoor Stadium, which started when Krzyzewski – who is retiring after this season – wasn’t with the team as it returned to the court from the locker room after halftime. The team’s official Twitter account later posted that Krzyzewski wouldn’t return, and no other details were immediately available.

Associate head coach Jon Scheyer, who has been designated as the 75-year-old Krzyzewski’s successor for next season, took over as the teams began second-half play. Scheyer had also coached the team in Duke’s win at Wake Forest last month with Krzyzewski out due to an illness.

The game also included Duke (22-4, 12-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) rolling to a 19-point lead after halftime, only to watch Wake Forest (20-7, 10-6) claw back in it and tie the game at 74 on free throws by Alondes Williams with 17.5 seconds left.

Duke’s Paolo Banchero drove the paint on the ensuing possession but missed the drive, only to see the 7-foot-1 Williams crash the glass and dunk the ball through the net to roars from the Cameron crowd.

Officials immediately signaled for a replay review to see if Williams had touched the ball on the rim. That led to a prolonged stoppage with officials at the monitor, with Duke’s players near the sideline motioning to count the basket and Wake Forest’s side waving off the basket.

Officials finally signaled that the basket counted, sending a frenzied crowd erupting in a tension-releasing roar – only to nearly see Monsanto hit a shot that would have surely led to yet another review had it gone in.

Williams had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Duke, while Wendell Moore Jr. had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Jake LaRavia had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Demon Deacons, who lost for the 23rd straight time at Cameron. Williams, the ACC scoring and assists leader, finished with 18 points after being limited to fewer than 8 minutes due to three first-half fouls.

Krzyzewski’s absence overshadowed much of the second half. After turning 75 on Sunday, he was dealing with an apparent issue roughly midway through the first half, holding his forehead while Scheyer and fellow associate head coach Chris Carrawell seemed to be checking on him from either side on the bench.

During a later timeout, trainer Jose Fonseca checked on Krzyzewski both at the beginning and the end of the stoppage. But by the end of the first half, Krzyzewski appeared to be fine, standing up to applaud or shout instructions to his players – only to not return after the halftime horn.

BIG PICTURE

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons had already secured the program’s first 20-win season since 2010 and are looking for even more in a remarkably fast turnaround under second-year coach Steve Forbes. They put the pressure on Duke with their second-half run, but ultimately their long streak at Cameron grew a little longer – with the last win coming in January 1997 during program great Tim Duncan’s final season.

Duke: The Blue Devils entered the night tied with Notre Dame for the ACC lead after wins at Clemson and Boston College. They held on in this one with five players in double figures, including Banchero (13 points) and fellow freshman A.J. Griffin (12).

UP NEXT

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons host Notre Dame on Saturday in a matchup of teams near the top of the league standings.

Duke: The Blue Devils host Florida State on Saturday.