I went to Wake Forest in 1969 and graduated in 1973 and have missed very few home basketball games over the past 43 years. My Deacon Club rank is fairly high and I have consistently supported our athletic programs over these many years. I rarely post on the "Boards", but read them on occasion to get the pulse of the Wake Forest community
In my opinion, the last two years of the Jeff [Redacted] era have been a pitiful, painful disaster. Ron Wellman's unilateral decision to hire [Redacted], in my opinion, is the worst and most damaging athletic hire in the past 43 years and probably longer. There is no way for me to estimate the millions of dollars that have been lost from combined revenues and donations. Many of my friends, who have been lifelong Deacon fans agree that this is the first time in their lives that their support of Wake basketball has been replaced by apathy and bitterness. How can Ron Wellman continue to have any credibility when he continues to say he is excited about our basketball future, and that Jeff [Redacted] has done all the right things? I know Wellman must be embarrassed by the woefulness of his choice and continuing to try to put a happy face on it, insults the intelligence of most fans.
When Dino was fired, Wellman said the primary reason was Gaudio's lack of success in February/March. Clearly Gaudio's record in those two months is stellar compared to [Redacted], so the story postured toward a culture change. I find this to be a joke as well. I could have come in and gotten rid of a few of the dissidents or so called trouble makers. And I would have done it for a lot less money. Plus, if [Redacted] is all about culture change, his profane outburst and dropping an "F" bomb on a Miami fan, does not speak well of his culture. My observation is that the main culture change over the past two years has been to show many of us that there is life other than Wake Forest basketball during the winter months. The Joel wreaks of culture change insomuch as the empty seats outnumber the filled seats. For the first time in 43 years I found myself not willing to drive 2 1/2 hours back and forth to games. Even though I have floor seats, I was relieved to have not taken five hours out of many of my days and nights to watch the sad debacle on display at the Joel. I hate I feel this way, but I do, and I think many others do as well.
We have a coach with no winning tradition, no charisma, no fan appeal, no student appeal, and no media appeal. In two years our conference record is 5-29 with no wins of note. Our best win RPI- wise this year was our first game of the year against Loyola. Anyone can dig into statistics to see horribly inept [Redacted] has been at Wake and at Colorado. The lack of improvement by the majority of our players this year is abominable. I take absolutely nothing positive from a better record this year. This was his second year and without a doubt, our conference was the worst in the lower tier than I can ever remember.
The times I have heard [Redacted] speak makes me want to throw up. He is willing to throw players under the bus, and as late as today, he makes the case he never looks ahead, yet in many interviews all he has talked about was the recruiting class coming in next year. I know we have some decent players coming in. We are very fortunate to have Coaches Battle and LaRue on our staff. I can guarantee you that the recruiting class that seems to get [Redacted] some props is primarily due to the effort of Battle and LaRue. I have found it humorous in a sad kind of way to think that anyone would believe Battle or LaRue would have a recruit on the fence and think " if we get Jeff [Redacted] in front of this recruit, I bet he could close the deal". What a joke. [Redacted] got involved in the recruiting of Tyler Lewis, and completely botched that one.
I have watched a lot of basketball this year, paying particular attention to the head coaches, many of them at much lower levels than the ACC. It is a treat to watch the enthusiasm and success many of these coaches have with players we would never consider offering a scholarship to. Many coaches just have "it". But [Redacted] does not have what it takes to be a successful head college coach. Never has and never will.
As ESPN said on their website earlier this week about Wake, "sometimes you just have to admit you made a mistake, and move on". The mistake is clear, but Ron Wellman apparently is willing to run our once-proud program further into the ground, in hopes that his friend might have some type of miraculous divine intervention,that would allow him to save face and for [Redacted] to achieve some level of success in spite of himself.
In my opinion, the last two years of the Jeff [Redacted] era have been a pitiful, painful disaster. Ron Wellman's unilateral decision to hire [Redacted], in my opinion, is the worst and most damaging athletic hire in the past 43 years and probably longer. There is no way for me to estimate the millions of dollars that have been lost from combined revenues and donations. Many of my friends, who have been lifelong Deacon fans agree that this is the first time in their lives that their support of Wake basketball has been replaced by apathy and bitterness. How can Ron Wellman continue to have any credibility when he continues to say he is excited about our basketball future, and that Jeff [Redacted] has done all the right things? I know Wellman must be embarrassed by the woefulness of his choice and continuing to try to put a happy face on it, insults the intelligence of most fans.
When Dino was fired, Wellman said the primary reason was Gaudio's lack of success in February/March. Clearly Gaudio's record in those two months is stellar compared to [Redacted], so the story postured toward a culture change. I find this to be a joke as well. I could have come in and gotten rid of a few of the dissidents or so called trouble makers. And I would have done it for a lot less money. Plus, if [Redacted] is all about culture change, his profane outburst and dropping an "F" bomb on a Miami fan, does not speak well of his culture. My observation is that the main culture change over the past two years has been to show many of us that there is life other than Wake Forest basketball during the winter months. The Joel wreaks of culture change insomuch as the empty seats outnumber the filled seats. For the first time in 43 years I found myself not willing to drive 2 1/2 hours back and forth to games. Even though I have floor seats, I was relieved to have not taken five hours out of many of my days and nights to watch the sad debacle on display at the Joel. I hate I feel this way, but I do, and I think many others do as well.
We have a coach with no winning tradition, no charisma, no fan appeal, no student appeal, and no media appeal. In two years our conference record is 5-29 with no wins of note. Our best win RPI- wise this year was our first game of the year against Loyola. Anyone can dig into statistics to see horribly inept [Redacted] has been at Wake and at Colorado. The lack of improvement by the majority of our players this year is abominable. I take absolutely nothing positive from a better record this year. This was his second year and without a doubt, our conference was the worst in the lower tier than I can ever remember.
The times I have heard [Redacted] speak makes me want to throw up. He is willing to throw players under the bus, and as late as today, he makes the case he never looks ahead, yet in many interviews all he has talked about was the recruiting class coming in next year. I know we have some decent players coming in. We are very fortunate to have Coaches Battle and LaRue on our staff. I can guarantee you that the recruiting class that seems to get [Redacted] some props is primarily due to the effort of Battle and LaRue. I have found it humorous in a sad kind of way to think that anyone would believe Battle or LaRue would have a recruit on the fence and think " if we get Jeff [Redacted] in front of this recruit, I bet he could close the deal". What a joke. [Redacted] got involved in the recruiting of Tyler Lewis, and completely botched that one.
I have watched a lot of basketball this year, paying particular attention to the head coaches, many of them at much lower levels than the ACC. It is a treat to watch the enthusiasm and success many of these coaches have with players we would never consider offering a scholarship to. Many coaches just have "it". But [Redacted] does not have what it takes to be a successful head college coach. Never has and never will.
As ESPN said on their website earlier this week about Wake, "sometimes you just have to admit you made a mistake, and move on". The mistake is clear, but Ron Wellman apparently is willing to run our once-proud program further into the ground, in hopes that his friend might have some type of miraculous divine intervention,that would allow him to save face and for [Redacted] to achieve some level of success in spite of himself.
