Kicking off this week's game thread with the depth chart tweet:

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Firing up this week's game thread for Wake's trip to ODU.

I'll get this programming note out of the way now: I'm not going up/over to Norfolk. I'll track the game best I can, have one story on Saturday, and then have a film review in the following day (or days).

Here's the depth chart:

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Kicking off a thread for this week with the tweet including Wake's depth chart.

As a programming note: I'm not at WF today for Clawson's presser, will still have a story later tonight.

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Going to do my best to track some movement as Wake Forest comes off of its Omaha trip.

Here's what we've got so far:

Outgoing players
Danny Corona
Adam Cecere
Lucas Costello
Gio Cueto
Derek Crum

Incoming players
Seaver King - 3B, Wingate
Cameron Gill - C, Wofford
Mitchell Salvino - OF, Washington & Lee
Will Schomberg - RHP, Davidson
Tate Ballestero - C/OF, St. John's
Austin Hawke - 2B/3B, UNC
Chase Burns - RHP, Tennessee
David Falco Jr. - RHP, Maryland

I've linked up all of the incoming players' bios so you can check out their stats. They like Schomberg as a reliever even though he was a starter for Davidson this season; they like King as Brock Wilken's replacement at third base, though there's some flexibility there between Jack Winnay possibly being at 3rd and Justin Johnson possibly returning at 2nd.

The initial 2026 Rivals100 was just revealed. Take a look at the coverage:

Top 10 Countdown for 2026 class
Meet the initial five-stars in 2026
Tuesdays with Gorney: Thoughts on the 2026 rankings
Who's the top player at each position in 2026 class?
2026 Rivals100

Kicking off (puntentional) this week's game thread with the depth chart:

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Not going to write a story here, just posting screenshots from Wake's email.

Additionally, Wake's news release says: “Well wishes can be sent to wfsports@wfu.edu and all notes will be shared with the Forbes family.”

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Going to maintain this thread for fall camp news, notes, reports, etc.

And start it on a bit of a downer with today's news:

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Summer is gone ... at least, that's the feeling when you hit publish on the first football preview story.

Here's a list of 5 breakout candidates for WF.

This is the first of several listicles like this I'll have in the coming days/weeks. You might remember some of them from last year; I'll try to mix things up and find some new topics/info to mix in.

You'll notice that (again), there isn't a film review of last weekend's football game.

Let me get this out here now: It's on me that I just don't have the time to get these things knocked out. I have a tendency to overload my plate with more than I can handle and it's just reached the point of being too much right now.

It's a factor that Wake Forest has lost these last three games, I'll make no secret of that. Feedback and website stats reflect that film reviews after wins are much popular reads than after losses (I mean, go figure). But that's not the main reason here. As I've said before, hopefully you're here because it's an objective look at Wake Forest sports instead of a fan's perspective. I'll never be the one to blow sunshine in your face when things are headed south.

The lack of film reviews is just a matter of timing. With basketball firing up, I've just grossly underestimated how much time I'd have in the last couple of weeks.

Fair warning: There won't be a film review of the Syracuse game next week, either. In addition to time commitments, I've got family coming to town for Thanksgiving.

My plan at this point is to get through the Wake Forest-Duke game, take a day off, and then knock out the film reviews throughout December -- hopefully before Wake's bowl game. Bowl coverage is always weird, you think you're going to have time to get interviews and stories but with exams and Christmas, there's not much availability for that stuff.

(apologies for the novel, here)

There’s a programming note to slide in here: I think this is the last season of these types of film reviews. Nothing is final (and won’t be for a while) but the grind of basketball and football seasons has broken me down this year.

I’d like to transition into some version of “Film review: Breaking down the X plays that won/lost Wake’s game against [whoever].” I’d still be re-watching entire games, but I’m just picking out however many pivotal plays there were. Some weeks it might be five plays, some weeks could be double digit, just depends.

Let me know what you think. Comment here, hit me up on Zombie Twitter, come chat at a basketball game about it (section 114). I’ve always said I do these film reviews in part because they’re cathartic in addition to being great resources for you, but they just become burdens at the end of seasons and I’m trying to avoid some burnout.

So, I saw on the OG Boards that some college football players are getting up to 50,000 dollars to play. I have to ask if this is good for college sports? On another site I read that many teachers are leaving the profession. Many are leaving due to low salaries. Though I love college sports this is very wrong and I will no longer purchase season tickets until the NIL is past history.

Starting the Omaha thread with the first of a few My Takes this week.

Kind of an ultimate programming note.

and he tells us a final decision is expected relatively soon.

All right, let's fire up a thread for this week's super regional against Alabama. Hopefully everybody followed along last weekend's thread -- although I guess my reliance on Twitter as the main avenue of spreading info makes that the place to get info, at least from me.

Saturday start for the super regional. That's surprising to me; could've sworn the NCAA site rep told me Sunday evening that as long as Wake and Alabama won that night, they'd get a Fri-Sun series. But they're apparently working backwards from the CWS, and Wake Forest will be playing on the second day in Omaha, so those teams are the ones with series that could be played until Monday.

While it threw me for a loop, it's a best-case scenario for Wake's pitching staff. The concern with a Fri-Sun series would've been Rhett Lowder and Josh Hartle starting with one fewer day of rest than usual (Friday and Saturday), or having them remain on their normal rest with Seth Keener and/or Sean Sullivan getting the ball in Game 1 (both fantastic options, have you heard how deep Wake's pitching staff goes?).

Now I'm thinking this will be Wake's pitching plan:

Sat. - Lowder/Massey/Minacci
Sun. - Hartle/Sullivan -- Massey/Minacci in a pinch
Mon. - Keener/Roland/Massey/Minacci -- maybe Crum and/or Ariola for a left-on-left matchup.

Saturday's game is a noon start on ESPN; the other times and networks are TBD.

And to throw in my two cents: I think it sucks that Deacon Club members were the only people able to purchase tickets before they were sold out. I get that if you really want tickets, they're available on the secondary market. And I get that people who generously give to the school should be given some advantages, when applicable. If there was a way -- there isn't -- to figure out who was in the ballpark for the Saturday night/Sunday morning extravaganza against Maryland, those are the people who should've been given priority. That was the most-decisive home crowd/field advantage I've seen covering Wake Forest for about 6 years. Because of it, I thought there were two different strike zones to Wake's benefit. That's the type of advantage that should be sought.

But hey, seems like the Deacon Club is due for a membership boost.

Going to thread together every story this weekend here, starting with what's already been done:

Initial announcement of Wake Forest as No. 1 seed.

Breakdown of the other 3 teams (Maryland, Northeastern, George Mason).

Feature on Wake's chemistry and the role it's played.

As a programming note, I'll be at the Couch tonight. If my math is correct, it'll be the largest crowd to ever see a Wake Forest baseball game. I'll have a story on the game later tonight, along with a brief recap of the earlier game between Maryland and Northeastern.

Fire away on any questions, comments or concerns!

Another thread to catch things up on Wake's (historic) baseball season.

Here's a story from last week about the Deacons getting to No. 1.

Here's a recap of the first two games at FSU, which wrapped up the ACC regular season title.

Pitching rotation for this weekend's final ACC series (which starts tomorrow night and ends Saturday) will be Rhett Lowder on Thursday, Josh Hartle on Friday and TBD on Saturday. The TBD is likely to be Seth Keener, though that could change if he's used in the first two games. Keener started and threw 5 hitless innings at FSU on Sunday before the Deacons lost in the late innings.

Keener is taking the spot of Sean Sullivan, who hasn't pitched since 5/6 against BC. Sullivan won't pitch this weekend and the plan is to use him out of the bullpen in the ACC tournament, and then he'll start a game in the regional in the following weekend.

Chase Walter suffered a season-ending injury last week. That obviously sucks; he's the third pitcher to be lost for the season (joining Teddy McGraw and Crawford Wade) and I know Tom Walter really enjoyed having his son pitching for the Deacons.

Pierce Bennett will be back in the lineup tomorrow night (he's only played once in the last five games).

This week's series against Virginia Tech will mostly be about two things: Seeing if Wake Forest can go unbeaten in ACC series this season and getting in rhythm (staying there, really) for the postseason.

As a programming note: I'll be there Thursday and Friday nights. As much as I'd like to cover Saturday's game, there's an all-star basketball event in Greensboro that I'll be able to get several stories out of (including hopefully on Juke Harris).

Updating things after the first two waves of the offseason.

Here's the 3/15/23 outlook:

Out of eligibility/not returning
Tyree Appleby
Daivien Williamson
Grant van Beveren (walk-on)

Pretty straightforward here. WF will miss both guards.

Transfer portal (years of eligibility remaining)
Robert McCray (3)
Lucas Taylor (2)
Davion Bradford (1)

NBA draft/departed
Bobi Klintman -- story on his decision from 5/15

Expected to return (years of eligibility left)
Damari Monsanto (2)
Cameron Hildreth (2)
Andrew Carr (2)
Matthew Marsh (2)
Jao Ituka (3)
Zach Keller (3)

Incoming freshmen
Aaron Clark (6-6 wing)
Parker Friedrichsen (6-4 guard)
Marqus Mitrovic Marion (6-8 wing)

Incoming transfer(s)
Kevin Miller (6-0 point guard)
Hunter Sallis (6-5 guard) -- story on him
Efton Reid -- story on him

Much more here:

Hello, there!

(yes, that's an Obi-Wan Kenobi reference)

I wanted to set this thread up for any general questions about Wake Forest you have for me. Want to know why something is or isn't being covered? Ask! Want to ask for my thoughts on coaching or recruiting decisions? Ask! Want to know the meaning behind some of the weird hashtags and phrases I use? Ask! (though I promise, on that last one, you're likely to be disappointed)

The thread name is simple: Growing up, my parents always designated the corner of a room to be "Conor's Corner," where all of my random junk would wind up. As long as the space didn't blossom and take over the room, I'd have a little gathering space for baseball cards, basketball shoes, books, etc.

So this will be the random gathering place for all of your questions and (hopefully) all of my answers.

For questions specific to stories, post those on the threads for the stories. But we'll call this a general assembly of questions, random or otherwise, and I'll answer as quickly as I can.

Let's get it rolling. Don't be shy to fire away -- for now, at least, we'll say that no question is "out of bounds."

Heard from an NFL source on why A.T. Perry fell in the draft, two main things:

- Teams didn't like his lack of physicality for a 6-3/6-4, 200-pound guy.

- One team that took a WR before he came off of the board didn't like his interview. Said there was a weird vibe.

I've got little to add. I do know the first couple of interviews I had with A.T. were strange; he's a different type of dude, not necessarily in a bad way. He also became much more comfortable and for the last season and a half, I've loved taking to him. Now, it's not all that coincidental a player's interviews get better with better performance. But I can understand if he rubbed some NFL personnel the wrong way in draft process.

I'm pulling for the guy; just got info that was worth sharing.

After a visit for the spring game, the Demon Deacons land a talented playmaker out of Tennessee. Barrett breaks down his decision in the link above

Figure I'll bunch up some baseball stories from the past month here.

As a programming alert: I'll be out at The Couch tomorrow night and will have more coverage in the next couple of months, now that spring football has ended.

The strength of Wake's pitching was display in a doubleheader sweep of N.C. State.

Last week marked the returns of Nick Kurtz and Adam to the Deacons' lineup.

Brock Wilken became the program's all-time HR king on Tuesday night.

Today's My Take on the role the 2020 MLB draft has played in making WF a powerhouse.

There have been weekend recaps spread in there too, but those are the actual stories I've done in the last few weeks. More to come!

Looks like Sam will start at ND, as Buchner enters the portal.

Going to thread all of the spring practice reports here -- chime in if you have any questions!

Here's the first one from today's practice.

Not to sound soft, but it was freaking cold out there. So that's what I talked to Ke'Shawn Williams and Donavon Greene about (among other topics, too).

In an update interview with Rivals, Knight shares he'd like to visit Wake Forest soon.