Special Olympic Players Get Assist From Deacons

Forsyth County Special Olympic basketball players got a chance to scrimmage with a local college basketball team. And this year the athletes are getting a new opportunity to learn.

When Wake Forest's men's basketball team hosted two dozen members of Forsyth County's Special Olympics team last week, enthusiasm was high and the focus was on learning – and fun.

And in the middle of it all, was Wake Forest Coach Danny Manning.

Wake Forest has been involved with the Special Olympics team for many years now. But that relationship changed when Manning took over as Wake's basketball coach last year.

Previously, the Special Olympics' team members were mostly spectators – visiting practices and attending games. Now, the special Olympic athletes also get a chance to take the court with the Deacons. They ran drills to improve their shooting ad passing, and also engaged in a few scrimmages.

Manning says his players get a boost from helping the Special Olympians improve their game.

“They get a chance to come in here and work on their skill set. A lot of them play on teams around the Triad area and they represent Forsyth County when they leave the county and go play in different competitions. For us, if we can help them out in any way and encourage their basketball skills and encourage them to keep on playing.”

Christopher Dudgeon has been on the Special Olympics team since 2010. Like many of his teammates, his favorite part was getting to dunk on a six-foot high goal. But he also sees the clinic as helping him and his teammates grow.

“I think just being here doing stuff like this makes me a better player and helps me to get better at specific things like shooting and rebounding and all stuff like that.”

Coach Manning says he has done similar work with Special Olympics teams at previous coaching stops at Kansas and Tulsa universities. He says the clinics are a chance for the Wake Forest team to get out into the community and have an impact on peoples' lives.