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Newspaper ad highlights frustrations of Wake Forest fan base

Jeff Bzdelik

Wake Forest head coach Jeff Bzdelik directs his team against Miami during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Winston-Salem, N.C., Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. Wake Forest won 80-65. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

AP

To say the least the last three seasons have been frustrating for Wake Forest, as the move from Dino Gaudio to Jeff Bzdelik has been anything but successful. Bzdelik’s record in Winston-Salem is 33-58, and this season’s team (12-17 overall, 5-12 ACC) has lost nine of its last 11 games heading into Sunday’s regular season finale against Virginia Tech.

Obviously the fans are frustrated, and they should be. Some even went the extra mile in voicing their displeasure, taking out an ad in the school’s student newspaper earlier this week urging athletic director Ron Wellman to fire Bzdelik.

A win over the Hokies would keep the Demon Deacons out of the ACC cellar heading into next week’s conference tournament, and based on the countdown within the ad it’s obvious that the fans behind the move don’t expect their team to hang around Greensboro for very long.

This ad is simply the latest “low” for a program that’s been home to some of the greatest players in ACC history, from Len Chappell in the 1960s, Rodney Rogers in the ‘80s, Randolph Childress and Tim Duncan in the ‘90s and Chris Paul in the new millenium.

Those legends may not be “walking through that door” to rescue the Wake Forest program from its current run of futility, but it’s obvious that the fans are tired of all the losses. But how much of an impact will the ad have on Wellman, who likely isn’t a fan favorite either since he hired Bzdelik?

Leading scorer C.J. Harris is the lone player slated to depart at the end of the season, so maybe there’s room for optimism in that regard. But given how much Wake Forest has struggled during Bzdelik’s reign, a portion of the fan base looks to have no desire to see whether or not he can turn things around in year four.

h/t The Dagger

Raphielle also writes for the NBE Basketball Report and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.