Sadly different because of the absence of coach Skip Prosser, who died this past summer at age 56.

Still gripped with grief, the Deacons will strive to honor their former coach by rising above a predicted 11th-place ACC finish.

Wake Forest, which won an ACC regular-season title in 2004 and gained a brief No. 1 ranking under Prosser, is young again. The roster consists of no seniors, five juniors, five sophomores and three freshmen.

Still, the Demon Deacons will play fast with speedy sophomore Ishmael Smith pushing the pace, sometimes along with another blazer -- freshman Jeff Teague. Those guards will be looking to dish to starters L.D. Williams, Harvey Hale, David Weaver and Jamie Skeen.

But to improve on the 5-11 ACC finish of a year ago, Wake Forest must fill the hole left by center Kyle Visser, who averaged 17 points and 7.4 rebounds. The Deacons also have to get a lot more demon-like on defense, where they posted the ACC's worst field-goal percentage defense (46.8 percent) a year ago.

New head coach Dino Gaudio is confident Skeen can become a post presence.

"Jamie is doing a terrific job," Gaudio said. "When Eric [Williams] left and Visser moved inside, everybody could see what he could do. [He] was such a good 3-point shooter, he could stretch the defense. Now, we're putting Jamie inside and he's done a good job in all of our practices with his back to the basket."

In addition to refining Wake's four-around-one offense (four perimeter players, one post player), Gaudio has tweaked the Deacons' defensive scheme.

"We've changed a little in terms of philosophy and how far we're extending out on the floor," he said. "We've spent a lot of time on it, and they're buying into it."

Hale, a sharp long-range shooter who made 44 of 120 3-point attempts last season, says achieving consistency is the biggest issue defensively.

The Deacons are confident they can hold their own on the backboards, and run and score.

"We have 10 scholarship players ... all good players," Gaudio said. "If we're healthy, we'll surprise some people."