• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

1981 Deacon Basketball Team

LilburnDeac

LilburnDeac

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 24, 2011
Messages
4,961
Reaction score
1,529
In a thread on Packpride, one of their posters mentioned that he thought the 1981 WF bball team could have won the NCAA Championship. Another poster pretty much laughed at the idea.

It was the first WFU basketball team that I remember getting really excited about. I was too young to really remember Brown, Shellenberg, Griffin. And it was a complete team. Johnson and Helms at guard, Rogers and Morgan at forward, Johnstone at center.

I think that the '81 team was one of WF's best ever. It was definitely a Final Four quality team. We split 4 games with UNC and 2 games with UVa, both of who made the Final 4 that year.
 
I was a sophomore at Wake that season and that was one hell of a basketball team. Johnstone was the one center physical enough to bother Sampson. But I have to say I didn't think they had a shot at a NC.
 
It's possible. That team is ranked 6th in SRS (out of 273 teams) on basketball reference. Looks like it was a top 10 team for sure. What happened in that Memphis game? Was Memphis any good? Wake only took 40 shots in the entire game and scored 17 points in the second after going into the half up four. Did Memphis just hold the ball a little?

Also interesting is the fact that the shot clock was 45 seconds until the 93-94 season. I had NO idea that it was that recent that the clock went to 35 seconds. Just goes to show you how non-entrenched a lot of things everyone says are "tradition" really are.

I'm sure BKF can shed some light.
 
4 of the 5 starters played in the NBA. Frank Johnson had a long NBA career. Danny Young who was a frosh on that team also played in the NBA. That team was really good; lost to UNC on an awful call in the ACC semis. IIRC, WF was upset in the NCAAs by BC coached by Dr. Tom Davis. John Bagley, who also played in the NBA, killed us in that game.
 
Memphis (22nd in SRS) lost to Villanova (29th) in the next round, who then lost to eventual National Champion UNC (2nd in SRS).

We would have needed to beat UNC again to make the Final Four.

Wait which team are we talking about? The 80-81 team that lost to BC in the NCAAs or the 81-82 team that lost to Memphis? The 81-82 team was slightly better it looks like. Both were good though.
 
Pretty sure that WF lost to Memphis in 1982.
 
It was john Bagley and BC that did us in. Who was Johnstones back up? He transfered in from Oral Roberts, and the crowd would chant his name at the end of blowouts.
 
Well theoretically Wake should have cruised to the regional final in 1980-81. BC and St. Josephs appear to have been pretty bad, but then Wake would have gotten eventual national champion Indiana in the Elite Eight and Wake wasn't going to beat IU.
 
Pilchard said:
4 of the 5 starters played in the NBA. Frank Johnson had a long NBA career. Danny Young who was a frosh on that team also played in the NBA. That team was really good; lost to UNC on an awful call in the ACC semis. IIRC, WF was upset in the NCAAs by BC coached by Dr. Tom Davis. John Bagley, who also played in the NBA, killed us in that game.
Click to expand...

Clearly whoever coached that team was horrible. 4 NBA Players and they lost in the first round?!? Hopefully whoever it was got fired shortly thereafter. And that Frank Johnson kid had a brother named "Fast Eddie." Sounds like a thug.
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
It's possible. That team is ranked 6th in SRS (out of 273 teams) on basketball reference. Looks like it was a top 10 team for sure. What happened in that Memphis game? Was Memphis any good? Wake only took 40 shots in the entire game and scored 17 points in the second after going into the half up four. Did Memphis just hold the ball a little?

Also interesting is the fact that the shot clock was 45 seconds until the 93-94 season. I had NO idea that it was that recent that the clock went to 35 seconds. Just goes to show you how non-entrenched a lot of things everyone says are "tradition" really are.

I'm sure BKF can shed some light.
Click to expand...

There was no shot clock at all until the mid '80s. The ACC experimented with it in '83, along with a really short 3 point line.
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
Memphis (22nd in SRS) lost to Villanova (29th) in the next round, who then lost to eventual National Champion UNC (2nd in SRS).

We would have needed to beat UNC again to make the Final Four.

Wait which team are we talking about? The 80-81 team that lost to BC in the NCAAs or the 81-82 team that lost to Memphis? The 81-82 team was slightly better it looks like. Both were good though.
Click to expand...

The '81 team had one thing that was missing in '82- Frank Johnson back for his Sr year after missing the previous season with an injury. He made that team much better than the '82 team.
 
I can still remember John Toms attempting free throws. It was funny and painful at the same time...
 
RChildress107 said:
Clearly whoever coached that team was horrible. 4 NBA Players and they lost in the first round?!? Hopefully whoever it was got fired shortly thereafter. And that Frank Johnson kid had a brother named "Fast Eddie." Sounds like a thug.
Click to expand...

LOL

That was a really good team. that BC loss was crushing as our path to the final four had been cleared by Dapaul getting upset. We should have at least made the regional finals, but would have probably lost to Bobby Knight's rent-a-player Isiah Thomas.
 
Last edited:
Wake was up about 7 against Memphis and tacy slowed it down. Lost all momentum and lost
 
Pilchard said:
4 of the 5 starters played in the NBA. Frank Johnson had a long NBA career. Danny Young who was a frosh on that team also played in the NBA. That team was really good; lost to UNC on an awful call in the ACC semis. IIRC, WF was upset in the NCAAs by BC coached by Dr. Tom Davis. John Bagley, who also played in the NBA, killed us in that game.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure BC was then coached by none other than Gary Williams at that time.
 
WFU1977 said:
Wake was up about 7 against Memphis and tacy slowed it down. Lost all momentum and lost
Click to expand...

I was at that game in Charlotte. It was not a happy experience. We lost it by missing free throws down at the end that we never should have missed. We had a good free throw shooting team. The Memphis State dance team on the other hand was a beautiful sight to behold.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top