Deac2Deac

The Deac2Deac Podcast continues this week, as host Kevin Smith welcomes Ben Sutton, Jr. (‘80, ‘83 JD) to the pod. The longtime Demon Deacon supporter and former CEO of IMG College discusses his lifelong connection to Wake Forest and his favorite Demon Deacon moment.

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Sutton is best known around the Wake Forest community as a longtime supporter of Demon Deacon Athletics, starting from his days as an undergraduate where he was a “mic man” for student cheers during the 1978 and 1979 football seasons. After graduating from the Wake Forest School of Law in 1983, Sutton went on to found ISP Sports in 1992. ISP, which went on to become IMG College, is one of the largest college sports sponsorship and media companies in the United States.

Both during his time as CEO of IMG College and after, in his current role as Founder and Chairman of Teall Capital, a private equity and portfolio company, Sutton has served on numerous boards across the country, including the Wake Forest Board of Trustees, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute and the U.S. National Olympic Committee. He’s been awarded both the Wake Forest University Distinguished Alumni award in 2012 and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by the state of North Carolina in 2015. He was inducted into the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.

Around Reynolda Campus, the Sutton family have been loyal benefactors of the university, with donations totaling more than $20 million. The recent renovation of Reynolds Gymnasium included The Sutton Center at Reynolds Gymnasium, a 46,000 square foot recreation and event space.

Porsche Jones, a standout point guard for the Deacs’ women’s basketball team and community leader within her hometown of Winston-Salem, joins this week’s edition of the Deac2Deac Podcast.

On this week’s episode, Jones and host Kevin Smith (‘00) discuss her most memorable moment at Wake Forest and the influence of her cousin Josh Howard on her time at Wake Forest.

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Jones, a standout guard from Carver High School in Winston-Salem, played for Wake Forest from 2002-2006. A three-time ACC Honor Roll member, Jones holds multiple Demon Deacon records from her time wearing the Old Gold & Black. She’s the program’s all-time leader in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.58 A/TO) and holds the record for most steals in a game (10, vs Savannah State, Jan. 10, 2015), and game in which she also earned the program’s only point/steal double-double (15 points, 10 steals). Jones also holds top ten seasons in multiple categories in the Wake Forest record book, including assists, steals, assist-to-turnover ratio and minutes played.

After graduating from Wake Forest in 2006 with a degree in Communications, Jones founded BOND (Building on New Development), a project where she coached AAU basketball in the community and helped over 30 players earn college scholarships. Working in conjunction with Josh Howard, her cousin and fellow Wake Forest alum, Jones recently opened the BOND Center of Excellence, a community center with basketball courts, weight rooms, fitness facilities and classrooms for the Winston-Salem community. Jones is a member of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County High School Sports Hall Of Fame and was an inductee into the inaugural class of the Carver High School Hall of Fame in 2019, where her jersey is retired.

Desmond Clark, a two-time All-ACC wideout for the Deacs and 12-year NFL veteran, is this week’s guest on the Deac2Deac Podcast.

Clark joins host and former teammate Kevin Smith to chat about playing in the Super Bowl and Clark’s favorite off the field memories at Wake Forest.

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A 2015 inductee into the Wake Forest Athletics Hall of Fame, Clark was a four-year letterman for Wake Forest on the gridiron from 1995-1998, graduating with the school record for career receptions with 216 (he has since been surpassed by Michael Campanaro). He ranks in the top ten in numerous Wake Forest receiving records, including career receiving yards (2nd, 2,864), career receiving touchdowns (6th, 20) and receptions in a game (T-8th, 13), among many others.

He was named second team All-ACC in 1996 and 1998, years in which he was also named team MVP, and graduated with the ACC record for career receptions.

He was drafted in the 6th round of the 1999 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos, who converted the 6-foot-3 wideout to tight end. Clark spent three seasons with the Broncos, and a season with the Miami Dolphins, before he joined the Chicago Bears, the team he was best known for in his professional career, in 2003.

Selected as a Pro Bowl Alternate in 2005, Clark helped the Bears reach Super Bowl XLI during the 2006 season, hauling in 45 catches for 626 yards and six touchdowns. Clark retired from the NFL in 2012, finishing his career with 323 receptions for 3,591 yards and 27 touchdowns over 12 seasons.

Dr. Janice Collins, a former All-ACC player for women’s basketball at Wake Forest and multi-Emmy award-winning journalist, joins this week’s edition of the Deac2Deac podcast.

On today’s podcast, host Kevin Smith (‘00) and Collins discuss her induction as an ACC Legend, why she chose Wake Forest, her connection to Dr. Maya Angelou, among other topics.

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Collins was a standout basketball player for the Deacs in the 1980s, becoming the women’s program’s first ever All-ACC player in 1985 when was named to the second team her junior year, after averaging 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting .507 from the field. A four-year letter winner, Collins finished her Demon Deacon career with 992 points, 548 rebounds, 186 assists and 146 steals, playing in 109 games while starting 80. In 2015, Collins was inducted as an ACC Tournament Legend.

After graduating from Wake Forest with a degree in communications and theatre arts, Collins embarked on an illustrious career in journalism, working primarily as a broadcast news producer, winning multiple Emmy, Best of Gannett, Associated Press and National Association of Black Journalist awards during her career. She earned her master’s degree in journalism and Ph.D in Mass Communications from Ohio University in 2005 and 2009, respectively. She currently serves as a professor in the University of Illinois College of Media.

Dr. Louis Frazier, a double Deac and former offensive lineman for the 2006 ACC Champion Wake Forest football team, joins this week's edition of the Deac2Deac Podcast.

On today's pod, Frazier joins fellow football alum Kevin Smith to talk about winning the ACC title and why he chose Wake Forest.

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Frazier began his Demon Deacon career in 2003, redshirting as a reserve offensive lineman. The Clearwater, Fla. native would go on to see action in the next four seasons, culminating in starting all 14 games of the Wake Forest's 2006 ACC Championship Season at guard. His 69.5 knockdown blocks ranked second on the team during his senior season.

After graduating from Wake Forest with a degree in Biology as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa honor societies and the Beta Beta Beta biology honors society, Frazier was accepted into the Wake Forest School of Medicine, where he was elected class vice president of the class of 2012 and joined the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. Frazier specialized in emergency medicine, and was matched into Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Emergency Medicine Resident Program. After completing his residency in Nashville, Frazier has worked as an emergency physician at multiple hospitals in Tennessee.

Lauren Crandall, a two-time NCAA champion in field hockey at Wake Forest and former captain of the U.S. Women’s National Field Hockey team, joins host Kevin Smith on this week’s Deac2Deac Podcast.

On this week’s podcast, Crandall discusses lessons she learned at Wake Forest that she still carries with her, and why she chose to attend Mother So Dear.

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A first ballot inductee into the Wake Forest Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018, Crandall was a three-time All-American in field hockey while playing for the Deacs, earning third-team honors in 2004 and first-team honors in 2005 and 2006. She won national titles with the team in 2003 and 2004, and was the first Demon Deacon to earn All-South region honors all four years while wearing the Old Gold & Black. The Doylestown, Pa. native finished her Wake Forest career with 38 goals from her midfielder position.

After graduating from Reynolda Campus in 2007, Crandall went on to have an illustrious career with the United States’ national team. She is a three-time olympian (2008, 2012, 2016), and was captain of the 2012 squad in London. Crandall won gold medals with the U.S. in the Pan-American Games in 2011 and 2015, and retired from the national team in 2016 with 279 international caps.

Former Demon Deacon men’s tennis star and current ATP Tour player Noah Rubin joins Deac2Deac for this week's episode!

Kevin Smith talks with Rubin about why he chose Wake Forest over Virginia for his collegiate career, what was going through his mind during the national title match and how a Texas storm affected the final sets in Waco in 2015.

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Rubin joined Wake Forest for the 2014-15 tennis season after an illustrious prep career, highlighted by winning the Boys’ Championship at Wimbledon in 2014, and quickly made his mark on the Demon Deacon record book. The Long Island native posted a 26-4 record in singles alongside a 16-6 record in doubles, becoming the first ever student athlete named both ACC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the same season in conference history, while also becoming the first Demon Deacon to earn ACC Player of the Year honors.

Rubin would go on to make the finals of the NCAA singles draw, finishing runner-up after a grueling three-set match. He was also named ITA Rookie of the Year both nationally and in the Carolina Region while earning All-American honors at the end of the 2015 spring season.

After his record-setting freshman year, Rubin elected to turn pro and joined the ATP Tour in 2015. He’s won four tournament titles at the ATP Challenger level throughout his career. In 2018, he earned a career-high ranking of No. 125 in the world after defeating fellow American and then No. 9 John Isner at the Citi Open.

Former Wake Forest Men's Soccer star and 2020 Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame inductee Michael Parkhurst ('04) joins Kevin Smith for Episode 4 of Deac2Deac!

In this episode, Parkhurst and Smith discuss Parkhurst's MLS career, winning the MLS Cup with Atlanta United, and some of his favorite Deacon moments.

Parkhurst played for the Deacs from 2002-2004, earning All-ACC honors all three years of his career and All-American honors in 2004, while also being named the 2004 ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He signed a Generation Adidas contract following the 2004 season, leading to his selection in the 2005 MLS Superdraft by the New England Revolution. He earned Rookie of the Year honors from the MLS in 2005, and Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2007. Off the field, Parkhurst was named the MLS Humanitarian of the Year in 2006 for his work raising money for pediatric cancer research and treatment as an instructor in the Revolution’s Youth Clinics.

At the national level, Parkhurst earned 25 caps for the U.S. Men’s National Team, representing the United States on their 2008 Olympic and 2009 and 2013 Gold Cup rosters. After a stint playing abroad in Denmark and Germany, Parkhurst returned to the MLS, captaining the Columbus Crew and Atlanta United FC in his final seasons before his retirement from the sport in 2019.

Former Wake Forest Women's Basketball star LaChina Robinson ('02) joins Deac2 Deac. In this episode, Kevin Smith and Robinson discuss her favorite memories as a Deac, her toughest interviews and why she chose Wake Forest.

Robinson was a four-year starter at center for the Demon Deacons, making the All-ACC Freshman team and All-ACC Academic team during her time in Winston-Salem. After graduating with a degree in sociology, Robinson worked in the ACC front office before working at Georgia Tech in various administrative roles with the Yellow Jackets’ women’s basketball team. While in Atlanta, Robinson filled in as a color commentator on the team’s radio broadcast, which got her foot in the door for the next stage of her career.

Hired at ESPN in 2010 as a color commentator for women’s basketball, Robinson has grown into one of the leading voices for the women’s game at the collegiate level, leading ESPN’s coverage as a color commentator, studio analyst and sideline reporter. She is a co-founder of Rising Media Stars, a non-profit that provides professional development opportunities to women of color looking to start a career in sports broadcasting.

In Episode 2, host and director of alumni engagement Kevin Smith ('00) welcomes Mit Shah (‘91) to the pod!

Shah and Smith discuss Shah’s vision for the future of Wake Forest, and how the Demon Deacons’ success on and off the field help the university’s mission.

Shah is perhaps best known among the Wake Forest athletics community for tireless support of men’s and women’s basketball, serving as the lead donor for the Shah Basketball Complex. Shah’s $5 million donation was, at the time, the largest donation by the youngest alumnus in Wake Forest history. A former walk-on on the men’s tennis team during his time as an undergraduate student, Shah currently serves Wake Forest on the University Board of Trustees and the Men’s Basketball Committee.

After getting his start in the hospitality industry as a part-time employee at Graylyn, Shah’s career has blossomed since his time in Winston-Salem. He is the CEO and founder of Noble Investment Group, an Atlanta-based lodging investment organization, and is a part-owner of the Atlanta Hawks.