Stan Cotten, the Voice of the Deacons on the ISP Radio network, writes a column for http://www.wakeforestsports.com and had these thoughts after Saturday's win over Maryland, including praise for Vytas, Jamaal & Chris Paul:

Quote:100% Cotten - Remember The Turtle
by Stan Cotten


Feb. 29, 2004

Wake Forest fans won't likely soon forget the Deacons' first-ever win in Maryland's Comcast Center. It marked the first time since 1998 that the Deacs had won on the Terrapins' home court. It gave Wake Forest a rare series sweep over Maryland and gave Skip Prosser's surging team its sixth consecutive victory.

But what is even more memorable about the win is not the win itself but, rather, how the Deacons got it. The Deacs got three performances from three different individuals that, at the time, were those players' best ever with respect to certain facets of the game.

The first high five must go to junior forward Vytas Danelius. He caught us all by surprise by dropping in a career high 23 points - more than half of them coming from beyond the three point arc - an area of the floor generally reserved for Deacons Justin Gray, Taron Downey and Chris Paul, not the 6'9" Lithuanian who had made just seven three pointers all season prior to the Maryland game.


"He's a good shooter," said teammate Jamaal Levy after the game. "I told him to just shoot it. And he did."

I'll say. Prior to the Maryland game the most three point shots Danelius had ever taken in a game was five against N.C. State a season ago. And the most long range shots he had ever made in a game was two. He made four of seven bombs against the Terps, three in the first half, helping the Deacs set a pace Maryland could not match.

High five number two goes to the Praying Mantis (Dingerism) - called simply "Lev" by his coaches and teammates. I've said on-air that Jamaal Levy has "cartoon arms" because he can seemingly extend them as far as he wants to snare a rebound from an unsuspecting opponent. He's 6'9" but plays so much longer than that and did so to the tune of a career-best 15 rebounds against Maryland - a stat that kept the Terrapins flat-footed and out-rebounded by the Deacons by a whopping 44-27.

Levy is on quite an attack of the boards. From the Maryland game and back he was Wake Forest's leading rebounder in eight of ten games and pulled down double-digit caroms six times. Not bad for a slightly built forward who might weigh 185 pounds with a brick in each pocket in the rough and rugged ACC.

And then there's Chris Paul, the freshman who handles the Deacs' throttle with poise well beyond his years. He had a career (it's almost criminal to use the word when referring to a freshman) high eight turnovers in the battle with the Terps. Most first year point guards would have wilted, but how did Paul respond? With a career high in assists - ten. Ten trumps eight. High five number three.

Paul's ten assists marked only the second time a Wake Forest freshman had ever dished out that many in a single game. Derrick McQueen did it against New Mexico in December of 1988. By the time you read this Paul will have probably set a new single season record for assists by a Deacon freshman. His 144 after the Maryland game left him only four away from McQueen's 147 at the end of the '88-'89 season - a number that led all ACC freshmen that year. It appears that Paul will shatter that mark as he has already the Wake Forest freshman steals standard. Paul was ahead of second place Rodney Rogers by an incredible 21 steals heading to Virginia.

The numbers put up by Danelius, Levy and Paul helped Wake Forest play with enough confidence to snatch a win on the road in the ACC. It takes confidence to win in March. Let's hope the Deacs have a good memory. Remember the turtle!