There's going to be a lot of new things about Wake's football program moving forward. That much is obvious with a coaching change but probably worth reiterating every now and then before the season starts.

Here's a story on Wake's spring game (showcase) being open to the public but not televised.

As something of a programming note ... I met with Dickert last week and was encouraged to see how open he wants to make media access. That was always a burning question for me, post-Dave Clawson, was whether we'd get the same access to practices. There aren't a whole lot of programs left in the country that will let media see as much as Wake Forest allows.

So, we will. Which is great for coverage moving forward.

Obviously, it's going to be hard to get to spring practices (they start March 18) before basketball season ends. But I'll do my best once my schedule allows.

Something new this season.

Because it's inevitable this comes up, I'll post and pin this thread to track how Wake's transfers are playing this season. It's going to be heavily focused on guys who were on Wake's roster last season because, well, do you really think of Carter Whitt as a former WF player? (before you ask, yes, he's still playing college basketball)

So, here's the list of the transfers out of WF from last season's roster and where they're playing this season:

Andrew Carr - Kentucky
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Kevin Miller - SMU
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Zach Keller - Utah
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Damari Monsanto - UTSA
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Matthew Marsh - Oregon State
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Abramo Canka - Stetson
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Aaron Clark - Pepperdine

Not exactly "one thread to rule them all" type of stuff here but this is where I'll attempt to track what Wake's roster looks like next season.

Here's the update on the eve of the regular-season finale:

Guaranteed departures
Cameron Hildreth (eligibility)
Hunter Sallis (eligibility)
Kevin Dunn (walk-on, eligibility)
RJ Kennah (walk-on, eligibility)

Exiting via transfer portal
Efton Reid III (senior, no eligibility without winning lawsuit against NCAA)
Ty-Laur Johnson (junior, announced 3/19)
Parker Friedrichsen (junior, announced 3/19 | committed to Davidson)
Davin Cosby Jr. (junior, announced 3/21 | committed to Kennesaw State)
Mason Hagedorn (r-freshman, announced 3/28)
Churchill Abass (junior, announced 3/31)

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Any news on when we might see Duncan Marsten? Will Ethan Conrad be 100% for Clemson?

Starting this off with a commitment in the same week as signing day for the previous class.

Wake's first commit for 2026 is Rhett Morris, an offensive lineman from New Jersey. Good size, he's an interior OL. Assume Rivals will get a ranking on him over the next few months as we transition from class of '25 to '26.

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It's easier to just pour some thoughts into a thread than lay this out in a story/column. And I've seen enough Twitter/message board/etc. posts on the matter to not address it.

So, about Steve Forbes/WVU:

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Headline says it all -- here's the story on Wake Forest declining an NIT bid.

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Firing up another week of baseball coverage.

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Preview for tomorrow's game can be found here.

Programming note: I'll have remote coverage of this game.

Predictions:

- Hunter Sallis scores at least 25 points.

- Baye Ndongo has at least 15 points, 12 rebounds.

- GT makes eight 3-pointers.

Wake's first game in the ACC tournament will be Thursday at 2:30 and it could be against one of three teams -- Notre Dame, Pittsburgh or UNC.

Notre Dame and Pitt play in the first game of the tournament, which is tomorrow at 2 p.m. The winner will play UNC on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. -- and then the winner of that game will play WF on Thursday at the same time.

Wake Forest went 3-0 against ND/Pitt/UNC this season and all of them were tiiiiiight wins at home. As a refresher: Here are the stories on each of those three games:

Wake Forest notches 74-71 win over ND.

Wake Forest hangs on for 76-74 win against Pitt.

Wake Forest edges UNC for 67-66 win.

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I can't see Pitt winning twice, as their season has crashed without Damian Dunn and without much interior scoring. Notre Dame should win that game and then depending on how much Markus Burton has in the tank, he could power them past UNC.

But I think it'll most likely be a Wake Forest-UNC game on Thursday that has an elimination-game feel, as far as NCAA tournament hopes. The winner will probably still need to beat Duke in Friday night's first semifinal, but the loser between that potential WF-UNC game would have an understanding that it won't be dancing.

UNC has improved ... somewhere between significantly and minimal since it lost at WF. The Tar Heels won 6 straight before Saturday night's loss to Duke, but those 6 were against some of the worst the ACC has to offer (which is saying something these days). The most important thing you'll need to know ahead of that potential matchup is how much bigger UNC has been playing; when they came to Winston-Salem, they were guard HEAVY. They're still guard heavy, but they're getting better play from the frontcourt, meaning a little more balance.

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I'm not headed down to Charlotte until Thursday, so I'll remote track Tuesday and Wednesday's games and then have a preview up sometime later Wednesday for Wake's first game. I'll have some other coverage before then, though -- like the All-ACC awards coming out shortly.

Quick recap of Wake's 14-6 win over App State found here.

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Preview for Monday night's game can be found here.

Programming: I'll be there with full coverage.

Predictions:

- Hunter Sallis scores at least 20 points.

- Wake Forest makes five 3s.

- Duke makes 10 3s.

Rounding up several things here ...

First, a recap of Tuesday's comeback win over Elon.

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Preview for tomorrow's game can be found here.

Programming: I'll have remote coverage from this one (struck out on finding a stringer).

Predictions:

- Hunter Sallis scores at least 25 points.

- Markus Burton scores at least 25, too.

- Juke Harris scores at least 10 points.

Preview will be up later today.

Programming note: I'll be at this game with full coverage.

In the meantime ... My Take on where this program is headed.

Covered my first baseball game of the season today -- and I'm not sure when the next time I'll be back is (just because of unpredictable schedule).

Story on Wake's win over St. John's.

I'll have a weekend recap up in the next couple of days.

Thread up a few days early because I've got one story ahead of time.

Cameron Hildreth should be back for this game.

Programming note out of the way now: I'll be in Raleigh with full coverage of this one.

Preview for Saturday night's game can be found here.

Programming: I'll have remote coverage of this one.

Predictions:

- Boopie has at least 18 points but takes at least 15 shots to get them.

- Wake Forest makes at least seven 3-pointers.

- Hunter Sallis scores over 20 points.

I'd say this season has snuck up on me but it hasn't -- I've just probably immersed myself too much into basketball season to get what I wanted to have done on baseball, done.

Here is an overarching season preview for Wake Forest.

Programming for this weekend: I'll be remote monitoring today's doubleheader and will have a story on it. And then for Saturday's doubleheader (or if moved to Sunday), it'll also be remote coverage.

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I'm not sure I can promise much content here until January or February, but here is at least Wake's fall baseball schedule, per news release:

Scrimmages:
Saturday, Oct. 19 - at St. John's
Sunday, Oct. 27 - vs. West Virginia

Intersquad scrimmages:
Friday, Sept. 27 - First pitch 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 29 - First pitch 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 5 - First pitch 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 6 - First pitch 1:30 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 11 - First pitch 4 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 13 - First pitch 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 26 - First pitch 3:30 p.m.
First pitch times are subject to change.

Firing up this thread about a day before the preview is ready.

Separate story: On Wake's travel logistics getting back from California.

Programming note for Wednesday: I'll be there with full coverage.

Preview for Saturday evening's game can be found here.

Programming: I'll have a remote story from this game.

Predictions:

- Hunter Sallis scores at least 20 points.

- One of Cal's guards -- Stojakovic or Wilkinson -- is held to 8 points or less.

- Cal makes 6 3-pointers or fewer.

Preview for Wednesday night's (late) game can be found here.

Programming note: It'll be remote coverage for me. And despite getting so many channels through my Spectrum package, somehow I don't get ESPNU -- so it'll be Stan and Dinger only for me.

Predictions:

- Hunter Sallis scores over 20 points.

- Maxime Raynaud has a 20-10 game.

- WF makes at least 7 3-pointers.

Preview for Saturday's game can be found here.

Programming note: I'll have a stringer (Bob Sutton) at this game for coverage.

Predictions:

- Hunter Sallis scores at least 20 points.

- Wake Forest makes six 3-pointers.

- Wake Forest scores above 1.0 points per possession.

- Zack Austin has a great game for Pitt.

Preview for this game can be found here.

Programming: I'll have a remote story on this game.

Predictions:

- Wake Forest holds Louisville under 70 points.

- Reyne Smith makes three 3s.

- Hunter Sallis scores 20-plus points.