Next Up - Wake Forest And Senior Night

Next up, and last at home for Duke, are the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, who make the trip over from friendly Winston-Salem for Senior Day.

Player wise for Duke, that means Quinn Cook.

Actually, though Cook is always listed as the only senior, it would be more accurate to say he's the only fourth-year scholarship senior.

Sean Kelly, Ryan's younger brother, is also a senior, but is a walk-on and was a team manager for three seasons. So he is a senior, but only played one year and obviously not very often or much.

So basically it's Cook, and what a senior year he's had. He's been Duke's rock.

A lot of the younger players get more press, but Cook is the heart and backbone of the team. He's been durable, productive and critical this year.

As for the Deacs, they are finishing their first year under Danny Manning, who it is safe to say has already overhauled the culture at Wake Forest, if not the wins column.

Wake has an experienced team, although the only meaningful senior is Darius Leonard, a grad student transfer from Campbell.

The heart of the team is the junior class: Aaron Rountree, Andre Washington, Devin Thomas, Madison Jones, Codi Miller-McMcIntyre - but the freshman class is good and getting better.

Greg McClinton, Konstantinos Mitoglu, Cornelius Hudson, Rondale Watson and Mitchell Wilbekin have all been contributed.

There's only one significant sophomore: Greg McClinton

The juniors are well-known at this point. Devin Thomas is one of the league's better big men although he tends to be emotionally volatile still, something which has made it hard for Manning to rely on him. He's been benched a few times this season.

Rountree missed some time but is a solid defender. The Deacs were 3-3 without him; 4-6 since his return.

Washington plays sparingly. Jones has started off and on but isn't currently. In three years, he's hit two three pointers (and taken 17).

Miller-McIntyre is a bigger riddle.

Capable of brilliance, Miller-McIntyre - he's #0 and Jones is #1, given Wake a binary backcourt at times - is also capable of erratic play and, occasionally, the devastating mistake.

Take the first Virginia game this year.

Like Jones, Miller isn't really known as a shooter, and with the game in the balance, decided to try to drive past Malcolm Brogdon.

Brogdon ended up with the ball and Virginia lost out on a glorious upset.

Shooting is no bout part of the reason why Mitchell Wilbekin is starting.

For much of his first ACC tour, Wilbekin struggled with bigger and stronger defenses as he made the adjustment to college ball.

He seems to have figure it out lately and has regained his confidence. And when it comes to Duke, Wake Forest may be more confident than most.

In the first game, at Wake, Duke trailed Wake in the second half when guess who, that's right, Cook - took control.

Down 57-55 with 5:00 to go, Cook made a three p0int play, got a steal which led to another basket, got a rebound, hit a jumper and made four free throws.

That's an outstanding five minutes of basketball.

Since then, Duke has gotten a lot better, but the Devils also have to deal with a short bench, injuries and possible fatigue.

In short, it won't be easy. Wake is playing well and will be confident. Manning is doing a solid job even though the record won't reflect it this season.

It'll be an interesting Cameron finale to say the least.

• Duke closes home schedule against Wake Forest
• DeCock: Manning’s first season a step forward for Wake Forest
• Wake Forest will try to knock off No. 3 Duke
• The Lone Senior
• Game Notes: vs. Wake Forest (March 4, 2015)
• Duke AD defends actions after allegations against Rasheed Sulaimon
• White: Duke handled allegations properly
• Duke Defends Actions in Player's Dismissal