Skip Prosser's Wake Forest Recruits Shine for Old and New Coach

Fast on the heels (no pun intended) of the week’s burning question, “What’s wrong with UNC?” is the next biggie: “How good is Wake Forest?”

Short answer: damn good.

The long answer has to start with the late Skip Prosser. With all due props to Dino Gaudio, who’s doing a great job according to everyone, Prosser was the architect of this squad, so let’s give him his due up front. He recruited these guys, and to their credit, when the Wake coach died suddenly, all of them honored their commitment.

If Coach Prosser died with a smile on his face, we know why. These kids are good. He knew that then, and somewhere he knows that now. To make it all the better, his long-time and great friend Gaudio has them playing very good basketball for such a young team.

There is nothing in the UNC-Wake post mortem that is meant to detract from the Deacons' effort. Had UNC survived Boston College and remained No. 1, it still would not have been a great shock had they subsequently lost to No. 4 Wake on the Deacs' home court. It’s the ACC, remember—it’s tough to win on the road.

Having said that, there is no doubt that Wake Forest is a contender for an ACC Championship and a coveted No. 1 seed in the Big Dance. Point guard Jeff Teague, fresh off torching the Tar Heels, certainly looks like a legit candidate for postseason honors.

Wake Forest (14-0) remains one of three undefeated teams, along with Pitt and fellow ACC rival Clemson. They started the season in the top 20 and have steadily worked their way up the polls with a series of impressive wins.

They took down a good UTEP (11-5) team early on and followed that up by beating a Big 12 contender in Baylor (14-2). Their best win prior to Sunday night was when they went out to Utah and ended BYU’s 53-game home winning streak in front of a ravenous Cougar crowd.

They followed that up with their impressive win over North Carolina on Sunday night that featured Teague doing pretty much whatever he wanted. Even Ty Lawson conceded that Teague was tough to stop because he is so “crafty with the ball.” We’ll call that one an “understatement.”

North Carolina coach Roy Williams said he told Teague after the game, "'That was about as good a performance as I've seen in a long time against a team that I've coached.' I thought he was sensational."

Add to the mix of good wing players solid big man Chas McFarland and highly touted freshmen Tony Woods and Al-Farouq Aminu (who may be one of the best young players in the country), and Wake looks ready to make a big run.

So with Carolina in their rear-view mirror, the Deacs are headed up to Chestnut Hill on Wednesday to face the Boston College squad that knocked off the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill and then promptly dropped their next two games. Easy win, right?

Not so fast. Last season, Wake beat Duke at home and then lost four in a row, five of six to end the season, and ultimately didn't play past the ACC tournament.

Immediately following the big win over UNC, Gaudio reminded his team that the Deacons have never beaten the Eagles—not at home, not anywhere, posting a dismal 0-7 record.

After the Eagles, the Demon Deacons head down to Clemson for a Saturday matchup of potential unbeatens. If you were worried about the ACC being weak or the season not being interesting because Carolina and Duke were the only two good teams, you can stop worrying.

(AP Photo by Chuck Burton and Getty Images)