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Y! MyWebBASKETBALL
Network has blessed WSU-Wake game
Wake Forest had to run its game with the Raiders by FSN
Sunday, July 20, 2008
FAIRBORN — The Wake Forest University basketball team's need for a good game played a part in pairing the Demon Deacons with Wright State on Dec. 14 in Winston-Salem, N.C., but another big part of the equation was Fox Sports Net, which had to approve the matchup.
"This is a big game for us, and a recruiting tool," said WSU coach Brad Brownell, who pursued the game the moment he found out it was available.
"It's a pretty big deal for us, too," said Dino Gaudio, who took over Wake's program after the untimely death of coach Skip Prosser last July. "(Wright State) won 21 games last year. We think it's a very high-caliber team with a chance to win its conference. We're going to treat it like an (Atlantic Coast Conference) game."
Wake Forest was 17-13 last season and did not receive a postseason tournament bid, in part because of a weak nonconference schedule. Wright State's final RPI was 86. Wake's was 100.
Still, it took FSN to finalize the deal.
"I hate to say Wake Forest had to get our approval," said Jeremy Langer, Fox Sports Net vice president of collegiate sports and acquisitions, who has 19 ACC games his network telecasts. "They certainly had to run it by us. We work with the institutions to get quality schedules for all the schools.
"We had a date to fill, and that's a tough date. A lot of schools have exams then, or are on vacation."
Had Wake Forest not found a suitable opponent, Fox might have passed on that Sunday and scheduled a game on another date, maybe with another school.
But Brownell persisted, and Gaudio was intrigued. He called Langer and pitched WSU.
"We wanted a quality opponent," Gaudio said. "We didn't want to play ABC U. We contacted a lot of teams. Some didn't want to play here. Some wanted to be the home team."
Langer said he researched WSU.
"I knew Wright State wasn't in the tournament this past year, but they were two years ago," Langer said. "Coach Brownell has a great reputation. I like the mid-major against a major story. I thought Wright State had a lot of potential.
"The other good thing about Wright State is you're in Dayton, and that's a good market for us. We have FSN Ohio as one of our regional sports networks. Providing some product that resonates in that market is also a pretty important component.
"The coach makes a big difference, and the geography, where they're located. We could have had a team from the middle of Illinois, which really doesn't move the needle for me. I don't have a robust business in the middle of Illinois. It's not a good market for us."
Dayton is, and the deal was made.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.
