ACC Player Haterz Ball: Wake Forest

Player we couldn't help but like:

Todd: Lord, it's me starting this off again! What is the world coming to? I'll let the other writers go with Tim Duncan or Chris Paul and say, on the women's side, Dearica Hamby. She will be at Wake Forest for another year and is a do it all player who is fun to watch. On the men's side, I'll have to pick Devin Thomas because for giving us "Alyssa's better!"

FlaTerp: Well, I'll go way out on a limb and say Tim Duncan then. There's nothing to say that hasn't been said a million times: he's an all-time great player and an all-time great guy. Nothing but respect. To me the interesting thing about Duncan is trying to draw a parallel between him and Joe Smith, who entered the ACC in the same season. Smith was the much better player for their two years together, then left early to be the No. 1 overall pick. Can't blame him for that. By contrast, Duncan stayed in school four years, got better every step of the way, and then became a No. 1 pick too. Duncan has a HoF career that is ongoing; Smith had a workmanlike run that ultimately probably fell short of the hype he came into the league with. I have to wonder, what if Joe Smith had stayed at Maryland for four years? Would he have continued to get better and remained a step ahead of Duncan? What would Joe Smith have become?

Pete: I'll go with Riley Skinner. He was, I think, the most ACC quarterback imaginable, and that Wake Forest ACC Championship is one of the funniest things to happen in recent college football history.

Dave: I have to say Duncan too. He was just so good and he was also a super classy guy. He was also one of those guys who just went about his business and got it done.

Chris Paul is the other answer for me here. He was just so fun to watch.

Grant: I'm gonna join the crew and side with Timmy Backboard here too. Although I wasn't around to see him play in college, I love anyone who can beat the Heat in the Finals. I'm also convinced he looked older when he was at Wake then he does now. #BenjaminButton

Player we loved to hate:

Todd: There's just nobody.

FlaTerp: Yeah it's hard. Their football program isn't hate-worthy, and most of their basketball stars were pretty likeable. I was thinking about putting Rodney Rogers or Randolph Childress in here -- they were both Maryland killers -- but the truth is I kinda liked both of them.

Pete: Nikita Whitlock? That's a lie -- he easily could have been my answer for the first question, but he destroyed Maryland, so he fits here too.

Dave: I actually was never a fan of  Riley Skinner. He always came across as a punk to me. And didn't he accidentally post some um, unfortunate pictures of himself?

Grant: I agree with exactly what Pete said. He seemed to be six inches shorter than everyone on the field, yet he racked up almost every tackle for Wake last year.

Game to remember:

Todd: I don't know this either. Wasn't there a football game a few years ago where the Terps scored 60 some points? I'll take that one.

FlaTerp: Me too. It was 2010, the Fridge's final campaign, and Danny O'Brien threw four TD passes in a 62-14 thrashing. Kenny Tate was still Kenny Tate back then and had a pick-6, while old friends Torrey Smith and LaQuan Williams caught TD passes. I know that 2010 handed the Terps a pretty fluffy schedule that ended with a pretty soft bowl opponent, but it was still a fun year and there were a lot of really cool players to get behind.

Pete: That's my pick as well -- one of a few absolute blowouts from that year.

Dave: The snow game against Wake in basketball in 2003. Only students attended and it was awesome

Game to forget:

Todd: Definitely nothing here. The Deacs haven't beaten Maryland in about 10 years in women's basketball, since 2006 or 2007 in field hockey, don't have WLAX, and frankly I've just come to volleyball and soccer in the last few years so nothing there breaks my heart. How about the 85-83 overtime loss in Greivis' senior season? If the Terps win that one, they win the ACC regular season title outright instead of finishing in a tie with some team from Durham.

FlaTerp: My memory is shot so I'll cop out and take last season's football game, which really, really sucked. It came two weeks after getting pounded to oblivion by FSU, which we could kind of justify dismissing based on how good FSU was, and then one week after the Terps tried and failed to give away a very shaky win over Virginia. Maryland was still 5-1 and we still had hope -- until that 34-10 loss to Wake, that is.  The Terps turned it over three times and Wake found massive holes all over the field and completed 28 of  38 passes. It was that day that I realized that Maryland still had a long, long way to go in football.

Pete: Nikita Whitlock is still sacking Maryland quarterbacks -- and let's not even talk about the injuries from that game.

Dave: Ugh...just thinking back to last year's game and seeing Diggs AND Long go down with broken legs is something I hope I never see again

Parting Shots:

Todd: I've gotta say that I'll miss you guys for being the real ACC team the Terps beat regularly in just about every sport.

FlaTerp: I went to Winston-Salem once. The downtown looks like the set of a post-apocalyptic zombie movie, a bunch of quiet streets and empty buildings. Then you take a right, head up toward campus and see the athletic facilities, which look like a really nice Div. 3 complex. Also, your mascot is really perplexing. A crusty old minister trying to pick a fight? Who wants to fight an old minister? And why is he so angry?

Dave: I always kinda liked Wake.And I've always been amazed that they got so many good players (Duncan & Paul) to such a small school.

Pete: Everyone from Wake Forest I've interacted with has seemed pretty dang pleasant. Thanks, Wake Forest!

Grant: Me not putting memories for "game to remember" or "game to forget" shows how irrelevant Wake was to Maryland (or maybe just me).