Wake Forest University

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Athletics

Originally the Wake Forest team was known as the Deacons, due to its association with the Baptist Convention (from which it later separated itself). However, in 1941, after a particularly good win against the Duke Blue Devils, a newspaper reporter wrote that the Deacons "fought like Demons," giving rise to the current team name, the "Demon Deacons."

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The Demon Deacons participate in the NCAA's Division I (I-A for football) and in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Of all schools that play Division I-A football, only Rice and Tulsa have smaller undergraduate enrollments. Recent athletic honors include three back-to-back-to-back NCAA Field Hockey championships under the direction of Head Coach Jennifer Averill.

Related Topics:
NCAA - Atlantic Coast Conference - Rice - Tulsa

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Wake Forest is generally regarded as a competitive basketball team, one that often qualifies for the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship (20 times in the school's history). They reached the Final Four once, in 1962. The school's famous basketball alumni include Billy Packer, a guard on the 1962 Final Four team who became far more famous as a basketball broadcaster, and current NBA superstar, two-time league MVP and three-time Finals MVP Tim Duncan.

Related Topics:
Basketball - NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship - Final Four - 1962 - Billy Packer - NBA - Tim Duncan

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Wake Forest has had several successful golf teams, winning national championships in 1972, 1973 and 1986. Several well-known players include Arnold Palmer, Lanny Wadkins, Jay Haas, Curtis Strange and Scott Hoch.

Related Topics:
Arnold Palmer - Lanny Wadkins - Jay Haas - Curtis Strange - Scott Hoch

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Both the current head basketball coach, Skip Prosser, formerly of Xavier, and football coach, Jim Grobe, were signed to ten-year contracts in 2003. The Athletics Director is Ron Wellman.

Related Topics:
Skip Prosser - Xavier - Jim Grobe - Athletics Director

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Wake Forest is sometimes referred to as being a part of "Tobacco Road" or the Big Four, terms that refer to the four North Carolina schools that compete heatedly against each other within the ACC; these include Duke, North Carolina, and North Carolina State, as well as Wake Forest.

Related Topics:
Tobacco Road - Duke - North Carolina - North Carolina State

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