Hits keep coming
Wake Forest’s basketball program loses one player for the year, while another is ‘out indefinitely.’
Wake Forest’s men’s basketball program finally resumed practices this past weekend.
When it resumes playing games, it won’t have Tariq Ingraham or Ian DuBose.
Ingraham, the redshirt freshman forward, is out for the season as he recovers from COVID-19, the program announced Tuesday. DuBose is out indefinitely “for medical reasons.”
“As hard as this is for Tariq, Ian and their families to hear this news, our coaches and their teammates will help throughout this difficult time,” coach Steve Forbes said through a news release. “Both Tariq and Ian will continue to be a part of the Demon Deacons (sic) basketball family during their recovery process and will continue their coursework this spring.”
Ingraham missed all of last season because of a torn Achilles suffered roughly a week before the opener. After an extensive rehab process, he made his debut in the Deacons’ opener this season with a sterling 19-point effort, going 7-for-7 from the field.
Now his focus will shift to the 2021-22 season after playing two games in his first two seasons of college basketball.
“This is just another challenge that I will overcome in my journey,” Ingraham said through a release. “Thanks to an outstanding support system with my family, Coach Forbes and my teammates, I know that I will get through this and will be stronger for it in the future.
“I want to thank the medical professionals at Wake Forest and I can’t wait until I get back on the court in front of Deacon Nation.”
DuBose is a graduate transfer from Houston Baptist who started each of the first two games and emerged as a go-to scorer when the Deacons trailed Longwood in the second half. The 6-4, 225-pound guard had 14 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals against the Lancers.
“First of all, I want to thank God for keeping me in His care. Additionally, I want to say thank you to the Wake Forest medical professionals for all of the care I have received,” DuBose said. “I will continue to be supportive of my Wake Forest family throughout the season and I am looking forward to getting back on the court.”
Wake Forest’s next scheduled game is Dec. 30 against Syracuse — though that seems to carry a questionable designation (at best) because the Orange announced Monday that its program was going on pause.
Edit: Less than an hour after this posted, the ACC announced that the game against Syracuse has been postponed.
The next scheduled game is a Jan. 3 game at Georgia Tech, which would run the counter to 37 days between games. The Deacons’ last game was a 71-60 win over Longwood on Nov. 27.
Like only for the good reporting, because the actual news stinks