1995–96 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team

1995–96 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball
1995–96 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball
ACC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, regional final
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 9
AP	No. 9
Record	26–6 (12–4 ACC)
Head coach	Dave Odom (7th season);
Assistant coaches	Ricky Stokes; Russell Turner;
Home arena	LJVM Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1994–95 1996–97 →

The 1995–96 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team represented Wake Forest University as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference during the 1995–96 men's college basketball season. The team was led by 7th year head coach Dave Odom, and played their home games at LJVM Coliseum.

1995–96 ACC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 13 Georgia Tech	13	–	3	.813	24	–	12	.667
No. 9 Wake Forest †	12	–	4	.750	26	–	6	.813
No. 25 North Carolina	10	–	6	.625	21	–	11	.656
Duke	8	–	8	.500	18	–	13	.581
Maryland	8	–	8	.500	17	–	13	.567
Clemson	7	–	9	.438	18	–	11	.621
Virginia	6	–	10	.375	12	–	15	.444
Florida State	5	–	11	.313	13	–	14	.481
NC State	3	–	13	.188	15	–	16	.484

† 1996 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll^[1]

Entering league play as the defending regular season champions, the Deacons finished second in the ACC regular season standings. The team then defeated Virginia, Clemson, and Georgia Tech to capture the ACC tournament crown for the second straight season. Wake Forest was assigned the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region of the NCAA tournament. After defeating No. 15 seed Louisiana–Monroe, No. 10 seed Texas, and No. 6 seed Louisville to reach the Elite Eight, the team was blown out by No. 1 seed and eventual National champion Kentucky in the regional final. Wake Forest finished the season with a 26–6 and a No. 9 ranking in both major polls.

Junior forward/center Tim Duncan was named ACC Player of the Year and a Consensus First-team All-American.

Previous season

Wake Forest finished in a four-way tie for the ACC regular season title with a 12–4 conference record. The team defeated Duke, Virginia, and North Carolina (in OT) to win the ACC tournament and receive the No. 1 seed in the East region of the NCAA tournament. After defeating No. 16 seed North Carolina A&T and No. 9 seed Saint Louis to reach the Sweet Sixteen, Wake Forest was knocked off by No. 4 seed and eventual Final Four participant Oklahoma State, 71–66,^[2] to finish the season with a 26–6 record. The Demon Deacons were No. 3 in the final AP poll and No. 9 in the final Coaches poll.

Senior guard Randolph Childress was named a consensus second-team All-American and ACC Athlete of the Year. Coach Odom was named ACC Coach of the Year for the second season in a row and third time overall.

Roster

1995–96 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	5	Steve Goolsby	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	So	Marietta HS	Marietta, GA
G	10	Rusty LaRue	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	Northwest Guilford	Oak Ridge, NC
G/F	11	Joseph Amonett	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Pickett County	Byrdstown, TN
G	15	Armond Wilson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Fr	Northeast Jones	Laurel, MS
G	20	Marc Scott	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	—	Chapel Hill, NC
F/C	21	Tim Duncan	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Jr	St. Dunstan's Episcopal	Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
F	23	Antonio Jackson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Aliceville HS	Aliceville, AL
G	25	Jerry Braswell	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Randolph-Clay	Cuthbert, GA
G	30	Tony Rutland	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	So	Bethel	Hampton, VA
F	44	Ricky Peral	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jr	—	Valladolid, Spain
C	52	William Stringfellow	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Alief Hastings	Austin, TX
F	53	Ken Herbst	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Jr	—	Winston-Salem, NC

Head coach

Dave Odom

Assistant coach(es)

Ricky Stokes

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: March 24, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 25, 1995*	No. 11	Mount St. Mary's	W 75–62	1–0	LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Nov 29, 1995*	No. 10	vs. Oklahoma State Great 8	W 69–53	2–0	Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, Michigan
Dec 2, 1995*	No. 10	Lehigh	W 68–53	3–0	LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Dec 6, 1995*	No. 10	at No. 3 UMass	L 46–60	3–1	Mullins Center (9,493) Amherst, Massachusetts
Dec 9, 1995*	No. 10	at Florida	W 77–53	4–1	Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Dec 18, 1995*	No. 12	Appalachian State	W 91–50	5–1	LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Dec 21, 1995*	No. 12	No. 13 Utah	W 60–56	6–1	LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Jan 2, 1996*	No. 12	Furman	W 81–49	7–1	LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Jan 6, 1996	No. 12	at Florida State	W 75–73 ^OT	8–1 (1–0)	Donald L. Tucker Center Tallahassee, Florida
Jan 10, 1996*	No. 8	at Duke	W 57–54	9–1 (2–0)	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina
Jan 13, 1996*	No. 8	Maryland	W 77–64	10–1 (3–0)	LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Jan 15, 1996*	No. 6	Richmond	W 71–60	11–1	LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Jan 17, 1996*	No. 6	Georgia Tech	W 66–63	12–1 (4–0)	LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Jan 21, 1996*	No. 6	at No. 19 Clemson	L 41–55	12–2 (4–1)	Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, South Carolina
Mar 2, 1996*	No. 13	at NC State	W 72–70	20–5 (12–4)	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina
ACC Tournament
Mar 8, 1996*	No. 12	Virginia ACC Tournament Quarterfinal	W 70–60	21–5	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina
Mar 9, 1996*	No. 12	vs. Clemson ACC Tournament Semifinal	W 68–60	22–5	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina
Mar 10, 1996*	No. 12	No. 18 Georgia Tech ACC tournament championship	W 75–74^[3]	23–5	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina
NCAA Tournament
Mar 15, 1996*	(2 MW) No. 9	vs. (15 MW) Northeast Louisiana First round	W 62–50	24–5	Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mar 17, 1996*	(2 MW) No. 9	vs. (10 MW) Texas Second round	W 65–62^[4]	25–5	Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mar 21, 1996*	(2 MW) No. 9	vs. (6 MW) No. 24 Louisville Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 60–59^[5]	26–5	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, Minnesota
Mar 23, 1996*	(2 MW) No. 9	vs. (1 MW) No. 2 Kentucky Regional final – Elite Eight	L 63–83^[6]	26–6	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, Minnesota
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern.

^[7]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	11	11	10	10	11	12	14	12	8	6	9	12	9	8	10	13	12	9	Not released
Coaches	8	8	7	8	11	12	13	11	8	6	8	10	9	9	10	12	10	9	9

^[8]

Awards and honors

Tim Duncan – ACC Player of the Year, Consensus First-team All-American

References

^ sports-reference.com 1995-96 Atlantic Coast Conference Season Summary
^ "Cowboys' Victory Is Childress Play". The Los Angeles Times. March 25, 1995. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
^ "Duncan, Braswell Wrap Up ACC Title for Wake Forest". Los Angeles Times. March 11, 1996. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
^ "Duncan Lighter Than Usual but Heavy on Texas". The Los Angeles Times. March 18, 1996. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
^ "Duncan's 3-point play lifts Wake". The Baltimore Sun. March 22, 1996. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
^ "Kentucky's Wave Leaves Another Foe in Its Wake". The Los Angeles Times. March 24, 1996. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
^ 2019-20 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball media guide. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1042–1043. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1] sports-reference.com 1995-96 Atlantic Coast Conference Season Summary

[2] "Cowboys' Victory Is Childress Play". The Los Angeles Times. March 25, 1995. Retrieved July 4, 2023.

[3] "Duncan, Braswell Wrap Up ACC Title for Wake Forest". Los Angeles Times. March 11, 1996. Retrieved March 21, 2020.

[4] "Duncan Lighter Than Usual but Heavy on Texas". The Los Angeles Times. March 18, 1996. Retrieved July 9, 2022.

[5] "Duncan's 3-point play lifts Wake". The Baltimore Sun. March 22, 1996. Retrieved March 21, 2020.

[6] "Kentucky's Wave Leaves Another Foe in Its Wake". The Los Angeles Times. March 24, 1996. Retrieved March 21, 2020.

[7] 2019-20 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball media guide. Retrieved March 21, 2020.

[ESPN-8] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1042–1043. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

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