Deacons hoping for comforts of home

GREENSBORO -- There’s no such thing as a host team for the ACC tournament, but if there’s a team with home-court advantage, it’s Wake Forest.

Not only are the Demon Deacons staying on campus this week, a mere 40 minutes away, but they scheduled two games at the Greensboro Coliseum earlier this season, against East Carolina and UNC-Greensboro.

“When we came over and played those games earlier in the season, we really got a feel for how the atmosphere is going to be,” Wake Forest guard L.D. Williams said. “Coach (Dino) Gaudio did a great job scheduling those games. We know how the rims are, how the surroundings are here. That’s going to help us.”

By staying in the dorms, the Deacons lose out on the festival atmosphere of the ACC tournament, with all the teams and fans and league officials and media mixing and mingling in the headquarters hotels.

Then again, given Wake’s 1-3 record in the tournament over the past three years, in Tampa, Charlotte and Atlanta, perhaps treating the tournament like a home game isn’t such a bad idea -- particularly in Greensboro, where the Deacons won ACC titles in 1995 and 1996 and made it to the semifinals in 2006.

“I like it,” Williams said. “We don’t have to worry about finding a gym for our walk-through. It’s right in our backyard. I would have it any way else.”