WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Winning last year's NIT championship in New York was a bittersweet moment for Robert O'Kelley.

"Nobody wanted to go to the NIT again," said a candid Wake Forest senior guard during ESPN.com's preseason tour. "It was tough, the way the season ended. But I felt really good about the run we made in the NIT. We had hit rock bottom, losing all of those games the way we did, and to make that run, it showed that we had heart and character."

Heart and character are words that many players and coaches use, but few truly display. Wake Forest displayed both, beginning in February.

Wake began the 1999-00 season with every expectation of winning, and being a team worthy of selection into the NCAA field. Dave Odom had a group of upperclassmen in O'Kelley, Raphael Vidauretta and Josh Shoemaker, blended with Darius Songaila, Josh Howard and Ervin Murray, and the Deacons felt confident they could break into the upper division of the ACC.

The Deacons started the season 9-2, throttling Temple and Wisconsin. Wake's two losses came on stunning, last-second shots by Oregon and Georgia. Absent those shockers, Wake Forest could have easily started the season 11-0.

But by the end of February, 9-2 seemed so far away. Wake Forest won just six of its next 17 games, losing several games it should have won, including a loss to Florida State in which the Deacons gave away an 18-point lead, not to mention an unimaginable loss to Davidson.

	“	What I am most proud of, and I will take to my grave, is that these kids showed incredible resiliency (last season) Even in the downward spiral, they kept fighting when it didn't look like it would ever get better. They never gave up on us or each other. ”
		— Dave Odom, Wake Forest head coach

Wake Forest was in freefall, and Odom wasn't sure what to do.

"I had never had a team go through anything like it," Odom said of his team's epic struggle. "We tried everything, but we just needed to hit bottom and start building back up again."

The ride down to rock bottom was a long one, and there was plenty of time for soul searching on the part of every player and coach.

"We had a lot of meetings, I mean, a lot of meetings. It was really tough," O'Kelley said. "The lowest point was when I finally thought things couldn't get any worse. And they did."

"What I am most proud of, and I will take to my grave, is that these kids showed incredible resiliency," Odom said of his team, thoughtfully. "Even in the downward spiral, they kept fighting when it didn't look like it would ever get better. They never gave up on us or each other."

O'Kelley credited Odom, and his belief in his players.

"The difference was within us the entire time," O'Kelley said. "(Odom) always said that he knew there was something out there for us, that we needed to believe in ourselves."

Although Odom does not discuss the nuts and bolts of his strategies, he may have turned the tide when he decided to move O'Kelley to the scoring guard position, instead of continuing to ask him to shoulder such a giant load at the point. O'Kelley is a potent scorer, having scored over 1,500 points in three seasons, and the change allowed him to concentrate only on scoring.

After O'Kelley's position switch, Wake Forest finished the season 10-4 and marched on to the NIT title.

"I want to win," O'Kelley said. "I can score the ball and get my teammates involved, and I love to have (the ball) in my hands and take over. But I will do whatever the team needs me to do."

Odom clearly respects O'Kelley, and his will to win.

"Robert is a great kid, just a great kid," Odom said of his senior guard. "He has incredible pride, and I know he will do whatever I think is best for our team."

Clearly, O'Kelley could not, and cannot be asked this season, to carry this team alone. To get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since Tim Duncan's departure in 1997, which Odom is confident his team can do this season, Wake Forest needs consistent, high-level performances from the talented and hardworking Songaila, and the continuing improvement of Murray and the gifted sophomore Josh Howard.

But first, Odom needs to get his entire team healthy. Murray, who replaced O'Kelley at the point last season, has been out with mononucleosis, while Vidauretta may be out until December after knee surgery.

"We can put a seven-man team out there against just about anybody and be okay," Odom said, while watching his shorthanded squad scrimmage against each other. "But losing Murray and Vidauretta hurts our depth and changes roles significantly."

One role change that Odom cannot make yet is to find Songaila more rest. Songaila spent the summer, and an enormous amount of energy, playing for his native Lithuania in the Sydney Olympics. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward was impressive Down Under, played very well in Lithuania's bronze-medal run, which included a two-point loss to the Dream Team.

"I didn't expect the success of playing the U.S., and I didn't expect the bronze," Songaila said of the medal he still keeps in his dorm room. "Being on the medal stand was maybe the most exciting moment of my life."

	Wake Forest's Darius Songaila held his own against the Dream Team in Sydney.

Odom knows that the fatigue from Songaila's summer may not catch up with him until later in the season.

"I've really got to watch him," Odom said of Songaila. "I would give Songaila a second day off a week through November, but with Vidauretta out, that puts us below a number (of players) that makes us good for practice situations."

Odom feels the need to protect Songaila from himself, as well as from the grind. "He's so bull headed, like Tim Duncan, if you take him out of a drill, he'll put himself back in. He'll stay out there every minute if I let him."

One player Odom will look to rely upon more this season is Howard, who is as athletic as anyone in the ACC.

"If we need a fourth post guy, I may go to Josh Howard," Odom said. "We may post him up more, and take advantage of him down low."

Howard has the ability to be a special defender. At 6-6, with long arms and very good quickness, Howard can close out to a shooter with incredible speed, and is a very good perimeter shotblocker. Add in senior Josh Shoemaker, who appears more assertive and spontaneous on the offensive end to go with his toughness on defense and the glass, and junior Antwan Scott, a 6-8 athletic big man that is stepping out, and Odom has a group he can feel very good about.

"We have really worked with our big guys on shooting the jumper," Odom said of his post players. "And they look a lot more comfortable shooting it."

Whether or not the Deacon big men produce more points, Odom never questions their toughness.

"Vidauretta, Shoemaker and Songaila are the three toughest kids I have ever coached, as a group," Odom said.

While the NCAA Tournament is not a lock by any means, Odom remains confident that his team will build upon the finish to last season. Odom has good reason to feel he has a team that responds well to challenges. And this year's ACC, arguably the nation's toughest conference, will provide plenty of those.

"Once you get to playing games, you either build on (last year's finish) or it's gone," Odom said. "But we need all hands on deck. Without that, we need to go to the drawing board."

"This team has proven that it is resilient. I am buoyed by the stretch last year where they showed such resiliency. If we lose a couple in a row, I know they won't cash in their chips, but keep playing."

O'Kelley agrees with his coach.

"Having been through it last year, we know how to avoid it," O'Kelley said. "We have the experience and confidence to go out an win the next game, to get back on top."