2002–03 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team

The 2002–03 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team represented Wake Forest University as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference during the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by head coach Skip Prosser, the team played their home games at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Demon Deacons won the ACC regular season title by two games over Maryland, but would lose in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. Wake Forest received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East region. After a 3-point win over East Tennessee State in the opening round,[1] the Deacons were upset by No. 10 seed Auburn in the second round[2] to end the season with a record of 25–6 (13–3 ACC).

2002–03 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball
ACC Regular season champions
NCAA tournament, second round
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 12
APNo. 8
Record25–6 (13–3 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coachDino Gaudio (2nd season)
Home arenaLJVM Coliseum
Seasons
2002–03 ACC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 8 Wake Forest 13 3   .813 25 6   .806
No. 17 Maryland 11 5   .688 21 10   .677
No. 7 Duke 11 5   .688 26 7   .788
NC State 9 7   .563 18 13   .581
Georgia Tech 7 9   .438 16 15   .516
Virginia 6 10   .375 16 16   .500
North Carolina 6 10   .375 19 16   .543
Clemson 5 11   .313 15 13   .536
Florida State 4 12   .250 14 15   .483
2003 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

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2002–03 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Justin Gray 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Oak Hill Academy Raleigh, North Carolina
F 5 Josh Howard (C) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Hargrave Military Academy Winston-Salem, North Carolina
C 31 Eric Williams 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 270 lb (122 kg) Fr Wake Forest-Rolesville HS Wake Forest, North Carolina
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular season
Nov 27, 2002*
Yale W 73–61  1–0
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Dec 1, 2002*
Temple W 83–76  2–0
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Dec 4, 2002*
at No. 23 Wisconsin
ACC–Big Ten Challenge
W 90–80  3–0
Kohl Center 
Madison, Wisconsin
Dec 15, 2002*
SMU W 73–49  4–0
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Dec 18, 2002*
South Carolina State W 100–57  5–0
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Dec 21, 2002*
St. John's W 84–72  6–0
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Dec 28, 2002*
No. 25 North Carolina A&T W 104–64  7–0
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Dec 30, 2002*
No. 23 Bethune-Cookman W 96–54  8–0
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Jan 4, 2003*
No. 23 at Richmond W 68–62  9–0
Robins Center 
Richmond, Virginia
Jan 7, 2003*
No. 17 Elon W 98–56  10–0
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Jan 12, 2003
No. 17 at No. 1 Duke L 55–74  10–1
(0–1)
Cameron Indoor Stadium 
Durham, North Carolina
Jan 15, 2003
No. 19 No. 17 Maryland W 81–72  11–1
(1–1)
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Jan 19, 2003
No. 19 Georgia Tech W 73–66  12–1
(2–1)
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Jan 23, 2003
No. 17 at Virginia L 75–85  12–2
(2–2)
University Hall 
Charlottesville, Virginia
Jan 26, 2003
No. 17 Florida State W 71–60  13–2
(3–2)
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Jan 28, 2003
No. 17 at Clemson W 81–60  14–2
(4–2)
Littlejohn Coliseum 
Clemson, South Carolina
Feb 2, 2003
No. 17 at North Carolina W 79–75  15–2
(5–2)
Dean Smith Center 
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Feb 6, 2003
No. 14 NC State W 73–58  16–2
(6–2)
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Feb 9, 2003*
No. 14 at No. 15 Marquette L 61–68  16–3
Bradley Center 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Feb 13, 2003
No. 14 No. 8 Duke W 94–80 2OT 17–3
(7–2)
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Feb 17, 2003
No. 10 at No. 13 Maryland L 67–90  17–4
(7–3)
Comcast Center 
College Park, Maryland
Feb 20, 2003
No. 10 at Georgia Tech W 75–67  18–4
(8–3)
Alexander Memorial Coliseum 
Atlanta, Georgia
Feb 23, 2003
No. 10 Virginia W 75–71  19–4
(9–3)
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Feb 26, 2003
No. 12 at Florida State W 60–56  20–4
(10–3)
Donald L. Tucker Center 
Tallahassee, Florida
Mar 1, 2003
No. 12 Clemson W 80–68  21–4
(11–3)
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Mar 5, 2003
No. 9 North Carolina W 75–60  22–4
(12–3)
Lawrence Joel Coliseum 
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Mar 8, 2003
No. 9 at NC State W 78–72  23–4
(13–3)
RBC Center 
Raleigh, North Carolina
ACC Tournament
Mar 14, 2003*
No. 9 Florida State
Quarterfinals
W 69–61  24–4
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, North Carolina
Mar 15, 2003*
No. 9 vs. NC State
Semifinals
L 83–87  24–5
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, North Carolina
NCAA Tournament
Mar 21, 2003*
(2 E) No. 8 vs. (15 E) East Tennessee State
First Round
W 76–73  25–5
St. Pete Times Forum 
St. Petersburg, Florida
Mar 23, 2003*
(2 E) No. 8 vs. (10 E) Auburn
Second Round
L 62–68  25–6
St. Pete Times Forum 
St. Petersburg, Florida
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
E=East.
All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

[3]

Rankings

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[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Wake Forest staves off E. Tenn. St., 76-73". The Baltimore Sun. March 21, 2003. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  2. ^ "Auburn revels in underdog status, ousts ACC champs". ESPN. March 23, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2022.[dead link]
  3. ^ "2002-03 Men's Basketball Schedule". Wake Forest University Athletics. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  4. ^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1064–1065. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.