RALEIGH, NC – As the temperature starts to drop and the leaves are starting to change, that can only mean one thing: basketball is back at Wake Tech.
Adam Wainwright is entering his seventh season at the helm of Wake Tech Men's Basketball. He is eager to see his team back on the court as they look to bounce back from a frustrating season. The Eagles went 9-21 a year ago, but Wainwright and his staff are confident that they have a competitive squad heading into the season.
"We are going to bring an exciting brand of basketball this year," head coach Adam Wainwright said. "My assistant coaches and I made it a goal last year to recruit athletic players that could defend and we feel like we have the talent to make a deep run."
New Challenges
Wake Tech Men's Basketball is transitioning from NJCAA Division II to Division I this season, and with that comes new conference opponents and new goals for Wainwright and his team to set.
"We're excited to be moving into the Division I level," Wainwright said. "We know it will be a challenge to come in and compete with some of the well-established teams in the region, but we felt like it was a natural move to take the biggest and fastest growing community college in North Carolina to the highest level of junior college basketball. There is so much talent in the Triangle area and this only improves our ability to recruit more talented student-athletes and showcase Wake Tech on a national level."
The Region 10 DI conference is comprised of Wake Tech, Richard Bland, Denmark Tech, USC Salkehatchie, Spartanburg Methodist, Gaston, Caldwell Tech, Brunswick, and Cape Fear. The top eight teams in the nine-team league will reach the conference tournament. The winner of that tournament will be the Region 10 champion and the NJCAA Atlantic District champion, receiving an automatic bid to the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. The tournament's locale is commonly known as "Hutch" amongst junior college basketball fans.
"That will be our goal every year," Wainwright said, "to get to Hutch."
The Eagles bring back leading scorer Ceejay Jordan, who averaged 18.4 points per game in his freshman season. The sophomore forward shot nearly 50% from the field his freshman season, and only failed to reach double digits in scoring in just one of his 25 games.
"Ceejay is still on the mend right now after surgery on his hip in September," Wainwright said, "but we hope to have him back by Thanksgiving. He has gotten better with his shooting and finishing through contact. He understands that this year he will likely not have to shoulder such a big load on offense as he did last year and he knows that a championship is our goal."
Jordan is joined by Tharius Suggs and Gio Prete as returners from last season.
A Valiant Return
While Jordan was the leading scorer on last year's team, this year's roster also features the leading scorer from the 2017-18 season, with Eddie Volkerts returning for his sophomore season after serving in the United States Army.
"I stayed in touch with Eddie over the years and he mentioned that he would like to come back to Wake Tech after his service was completed," Wainwright said.
Volkerts was stationed in Colorado for most of his time in the Army and was honorably discharged on July 1, 2023.
During his freshman season, Volkerts appeared in 28 games, making 25 starts, and led the team with 23.2 points per game. He shot 43.7% from the field, and 33.1% from beyond the arc. His best statistical performance that season came on February 3, 2018 in a 80-77 loss against Pitt. He finished with 38 points and a school-record 10 three-pointers.
"He makes all of his teammates better and he has a tremendous feel for the game," Wainwright said. "He is a shooter, but he is far from one-dimensional. He's a tremendous passer, excellent rebounder, and he is all over the floor on defense. He jokes that his goal is to break his own school record of 10 three-pointers in a game, but he'd rather have a championship."
Notable Dates
The Eagles have already competed in jamborees in Richmond, VA and Tavares, FL and have had two scrimmages against Shaw University and Central Carolina Community College. They will play eight games in November before opening their conference schedule on December 2 against Denmark Tech. The season officially gets underway on Thursday, February 2 against Shooting 4 Greatness Academy. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. and admission is free. The game will also be streamed live on Wake Tech's YouTube channel.
November 15 is Military Families Appreciation Night. Wake Tech Men's Basketball will take on Fayetteville Tech at 7:30, but prior to that Women's Basketball plays Richard Bland at 5:30. It is also the first of three Men's and Women's Basketball doubleheaders of the season.
In total, Wake Tech will play 15 home games, 12 of them at the South Campus Gym (Building N). Three games from December 28-30 will be played at the North Campus Gym (Building K) as part of the Wake Tech Holiday Classic. The Wake Tech Holiday Classic consists of seven games played over three days. Caldwell Tech and Brunswick will represent Region 10 alongside Wake Tech in the event, and the rest of the field is rounded out by Region 20's Baltimore City and Hagerstown, and Region 15's Monroe College. The Eagles will play the final game of each session (6:00 p.m.) on days one and two of the event, and they will play one standalone game on Saturday, December 30 against the reigning Region 15 champions Monroe, who represented the NJCAA East District in the national tournament last season.
The Eagles host the reigning Region 10 champs Cape Fear on January 24 at 6:00 p.m. The two teams met up last season in a non-conference game in Wilmington in which Cape Fear won 90-66.