Courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest and Winston-Salem State University men’s and women’s basketball programs will compete in exhibition games inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the second installment of the Winston-Salem Tip-Off Classic.
“I have great respect for Coach Cleo Hill, Jr. and what he has done at Winston-Salem State,” head men’s basketball coach Steve Forbes said. “He has built a championship program with a lot of success in recent years. We are all looking forward to the community coming together at the Joel to tip off the season with this great exhibition matchup.”
“I am excited to welcome Coach L’Tona Lamonte and her Winston-Salem State team to the Joel,” head women’s basketball coach Megan Gebbia said. “There is no better way to tip off our season than playing a school that helps represent our great Winston-Salem community. This will be an exciting matchup not only for the two teams, but the entire city and surrounding area. We can’t wait to get the season started on October 30th and see our Deacon Nation at the Joel all season for our two great Wake Forest basketball programs.”
“We are proud of our partnership with Winston-Salem State University as we look for ways to bring our community together,” director of athletics John Currie said. “With historic basketball heritage at both institutions, this will be a great two days for all those in the Triad. I look forward to seeing the Deacs and Rams hit the hardwood in front of our passionate fans!”
“I’m excited for our men’s and women’s basketball program to be able to go across town and meet our good friends the Demon Deacons at center court this fall,” said Director of Athletics Etienne Thomas. “You know we went through a couple years of COVID and we were able to get a couple of competitions in with Wake Forest in the last two years, so it’s always great when we can go across town and share in this great history we have as a city of Winston-Salem.
“John Currie and I have been very intentional with trying to bring our teams together across all sport programs as much as we can so this is just another example of bridging the dynamics of Winston-Salem and continuing to move both programs forward but also to move forward as one city that we share,” Thomas continued. “I tell John all the time that we bear the cities name so that success is inherited in everything that we do but we also understand and appreciate that we share the city with Wake Forest University and the Demon Deacons and appreciate and look forward to those opportunities to meet on the field of play just like we do in the community. So I am looking forward to the two games within 24 hours of each other and looking forward to all the Rams coming out to LJVM Coliseum decked out in red and white.”