This didn’t happen when Tim Duncan played at Wake Forest. It didn’t happen when Muggsy Bogues played there. It hasn’t happened in 99 years.
For the first time in history, the Demon Deacons are the No. 1-ranked college basketball team in the nation.
At some other Atlantic Coast Conference schools, such as North Carolina or Duke, the No. 1 ranking would be a ho-hum affair. But this is Wake Forest, the small private school in Winston-Salem with an enrollment of about 4,000 and an athletic department best known for its women’s field hockey team.
No. 1, even if it is November, is heady stuff.
“It’s good for Wake Forest,” said Demon Deacon coach Skip Prosser. “It’s good for the university, good for this group of players and good the students. It’s noteworthy in that it hasn’t happened before and we’re cognizant of that fact.
“But this year, I think a lot of teams will spend time at that position,” added Prosser. “There are so many strong teams in the country and in our conference.”
Wake, which played Providence last night in a semifinal round game of the Preseason NIT at the Garden, already is the second team to hold the No. 1 ranking in the media poll. Kansas started the season first but dropped after a close victory over Vermont.
The Jayhawks are ranked second by The Post. Wake is ranked third.
Unranked Michigan played 12th-ranked Arizona in the second game. The winners play tomorrow for the championship.
“They have every reason to be proud, they should be,” Providence coach Tim Welsh said of Wake’s ranking. “You look at the conference they play in, the level of competition, it’s not easy to be No.1.”
“I think there are a lot of programs in the country, we’re probably one of them, that are in conferences with schools that have bigger athletic budgets and more facilities who can appreciate what Wake has accomplished,” continued Welsh. “Of course, I’m sure Skip would rather be No. 1 in April than in November.”
That’s exactly what Prosser wants. He had chances to leave Wake, first when the Pittsburgh job came open after the 2002-03 season and last year when the St. John’s job opened. Prosser attended the Merchant Marine Academy on Long Island and made his mark as an assistant and then the head coach at Xavier.
Xavier was perfect preparation for Wake. The Musketeers usually play second fiddle to Cincinnati in the Queen City. Like North Carolina-Duke, Xavier-Cincinnati is one of the nation’s top rivalries.
“I remember when I was at Xavier and we played Cincinnati, when they were No. 1,” said Prosser. “I’ll never forget, it was Nov. 26, 1996. They didn’t make it [as No. 1] through the weekend.”
Prosser has never had the kind of talent at Xavier that he has at Wake. In sophomore Chris Paul, junior Justin Gray and senior Taron Downey, Prosser has the best three-guard lineup in the nation. Eric Williams gives the Deacons a force down low.
Considering the strength of the ACC – seven teams made The Post’s Preseason Top 25 – Wake will be hard-pressed to retain the No. 1 ranking all season. But in just his fourth season, Prosser has taken the Demon Deacons where they’ve never been before.
“Since we’ve been here, we’ve tried to compete within our conference every night,” he said. “There’s no five-year plan. We’re much more limited in our scope. We’re just trying to win the next game, and that’s worked out pretty well.”