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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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On the inaugural episode of Deac2Deac, Kevin Smith talks with Wake Forest Director of Athletics, John Currie. The two discuss Currie's life growing up in Chapel Hill, becoming a Deacon fan, and his favorite Deacon Moment.

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