Wake Forest is ready for two years worth of growing pains to start paying off.The Demon Deacons begin Dave Clawsons third season Thursday night when they play host to a Tulane team debuting under new coach Willie Fritz.Wake Forest has finished 3-9 twice as part of Clawsons patient rebuild of the program, and last years Demon Deacons were one of the nations youngest teams.Now theyre a year older, with nine offensive starters returning, and theyre ready for the progress they made to show up in their record.This is the most talented group up front that weve had. This is the most cohesive group up front that weve had since I have been here, offensive lineman Tyler Hayworth said. We are a unit that has to work together and trust each other to be able to succeed. From last year to this year, we have built up that trust and built up these relationships with each other to where we are ready to play and we are prepared mentally and physically.John Wolford will start at quarterback for the Demon Deacons, but Kendall Hinton also will play. Wolford has started 22 of the 23 games hes played at the school, throwing for 1,791 yards last season while completing 61 percent of his passes with 11 interceptions and nine touchdowns. Hinton made two starts as a freshman in 2015 and rushed for seven touchdowns with four TD throws and five interceptions.Fritz is taking over a Tulane team that -- like Wake Forest -- is coming off consecutive 3-9 seasons, the latter of which cost fourth-year coach Curtis Johnson his job. His Georgia Southern teams led the Bowl Subdivision in rushing in both of his seasons there, and he led the Eagles to a Sun Belt title in his first season and a bowl game to end Year 2.The main thing I really want to see is incredible effort, Fritz said. We talk around here about, `The Wave dont beat the Wave. Lets stay away from those pre-snap penalties ... and just play a clean game.---Some things to know about the Tulane-Wake Forest opener:- RUNNING WAVE: The Green Wave figure to cycle in four running backs as part of a run-heavy system, with Dontrell Hilliard, Sherman Badie, Josh Rounds and Lazedrick Thompson getting most of the work. Theyll look to replicate what Fritzs Georgia Southern team did last year, averaging 363 yards per game and nearly 6.5 yards per carry. Tulane ranked 119th last year in the FBS in rushing, averaging just 115.8 yards.- DEMON DEACONS D: Wake Forest returns seven starters from their defense, but must replace three members of their front seven, including mainstay LBs Brandon Chubb and Hunter Williams. DL Duke Ejiofor will be important up front, after he recorded a sack in four of the seven games he played last year and had a team-best 4.5 sacks.- RUNNING WAKE: The Demon Deacons have struggled to get their ground game going under Clawson, mainly because of a young offensive line and injuries that mounted at key positions. Wake Forest was 123rd nationally in rushing last year and 127th in 2014. Theyve got more options this year, with freshman Cade Carney earning the start over redshirt freshman Rocky Reid and sophomore Matt Colburn. Freshman Tyler Bell, who rushed for a team-best 451 yards last year, was the first freshman to lead the team in rushing since 1982 but dealt with injuries during camp.- THE SERIES: Tulane has won both previous meetings between the schools with similar profiles -- small, private, academically elite -- but they havent met since 1995. Nate McMillan Jersey .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. Derrick McKey Jersey . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. https://www.cheapthunder.com/ . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. 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Birmingham, Ala. - The Southeastern Conference unveiled its 13th annual mens basketball coaches preseason All-SEC first and second teams Thursday, tipping off another great season of SEC mens basketball.Ten different schools are represented on the two teams with Kentucky having four selections while Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Vanderbilt have two selections each. In all, 31 different players received votes for the coaches teams.The coaches preseason All-SEC first and second teams consist of a minimum of eight players on each squad, voted on by the SEC Head Mens Basketball Coaches. No ties were broken and no predicted order of finish was made.All 14 SEC teams officially tip-off the 2015-16 campaign this weekend, beginning with 12 teams hitting the court Friday night. Conference play is set to begin on December 29 and the 2017 SEC Tournament will be March 8-12 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.A list of the 2016-17 SEC Mens Basketball Coaches Preseason All-SEC team follows:First Team All-SEC Moses Kingsley - Arkansas, F, 6-10, 230, Sr., Abuja, Nigeria J.J. Frazier - Georgia, G, 5-10, 155, Sr..dddddddddddd Glennville, Ga. Yante Maten - Georgia, F, 6-8, 240, Jr., Pontiac, Mich. Edrice Bam Adebayo - Kentucky, F, 6-10, 260, Fr., Little Washington, N.C. DeAaron Fox - Kentucky, G, 6-3, 187, Fr., Houston, Texas Quinndary Weatherspoon - Mississippi State, G, 6-4, 202, So., Canton, Miss. Sindarius Thornwell - South Carolina, G, 6-5, 211, Sr., Lancaster, S.C. Tyler Davis - Texas A&M, C, 6-10, 270, So., Plano, TexasSecond Team All-SEC Dusty Hannahs - Arkansas, G, 6-3, 210, R-Sr., Little Rock, Ark. KeVaughn Allen - Florida, G, 6-2, 183, So., Little Rock, Ark. John Egbunu - Florida, C, 6-11, 255, R-Jr., Bauchi, Nigeria Isaiah Briscoe - Kentucky, G, 6-3, 210, So., Newark, N.J. Malik Monk - Kentucky, G, 6-3, 200, Fr., Lepanto, Ark. Antonio Blakeney - LSU, G, 6-4, 190, So., Sarasota, Fla. Sebastian Saiz - Ole Miss, F, 6-9, 240, Sr., Madrid, Spain Matthew Fisher-Davis - Vanderbilt, G/F, 6-5, 185, Jr., Charlotte, N.C. Luke Kornet - Vanderbilt, F, 7-1, 250, Sr., Lantana, Texas ' ' '