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

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 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 →

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]	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
Jan 24, 1996	No. 9	Virginia	W 81–64	13–2 (5–1)	LJVM Coliseum  Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Jan 27, 1996	No. 9	at No. 11 North Carolina	L 59–65	13–3 (5–2)	Dean Smith Center  Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Jan 31, 1996	No. 12	NC State	W 66–62	14–3 (6–2)	LJVM Coliseum  Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Feb 7, 1996	No. 9	Florida State	W 81–67	15–3 (7–2)	LJVM Coliseum  Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Feb 11, 1996	No. 9	Duke	W 79–65	16–3 (8–2)	LJVM Coliseum  Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Feb 15, 1996	No. 8	at Maryland	W 85–78	17–3 (9–2)	Cole Fieldhouse  College Park, Maryland
Feb 17, 1996	No. 8	at Georgia Tech	L 63–64	17–4 (9–3)	Alexander Memorial Coliseum  Atlanta, Georgia
Feb 21, 1996	No. 10	Clemson	W 64–48	18–4 (10–3)	LJVM Coliseum  Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Feb 24, 1996	No. 10	at Virginia	L 49–67	18–5 (10–4)	University Hall  Charlottesville, Virginia
Feb 27, 1996	No. 13	No. 19 North Carolina	W 84–60	19–5 (11–4)	LJVM Coliseum  Winston-Salem, North 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[4]	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[5]	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[6]	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[7]	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.

^[8]

Rankings

Main article: 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball 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

^[9]

Awards and honors

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