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WINSTON-SALEM — The biggest news to come out of Wake Forest's basketball media day had nothing to do who would replace two star underclassmen gone early to the NBA or how the new freshmen would fit in.

No, the news of the day was all about who would solve those problems.

Dino Gaudio will. For at least the next five years.

Gaudio, who had one year left on his contract, received a four-year extension through the 2013-14 season. Gaudio has coached the Demon Deacons since Skip Prosser's sudden death of a heart attack in the summer of 2007. Wake Forest is 41-20 in two seasons under Gaudio.

"Dino has continued to move our basketball program forward, much as was anticipated when he was hired two years ago," Wake athletics director Ron Wellman said. "We are pleased with the progress of the student-athletes, both on and off the court, and Dino is responsible for that progress."

Last season, Wake Forest got off to a 16-0 start and climbed to No. 1 in the national polls. The Deacons went 8-7 the rest of the way, finishing No. 12 in the polls after disappointing first-round exits in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

"My daughter is a freshman (at Wake Forest)," Gaudio said. "I told her, this season, she's got to understand there's some ups and downs. Everybody loved your dad when we were 16-0, but when we lost to Cleveland State (in the NCAA tournament) everybody was ready to hate him. She said, 'Dad, don't worry about that.' She's pretty thick-skinned."

Terms of the contract extension were not disclosed. But Gaudio was clearly pleased with the stability that comes with the deal. This is his ninth season with the Wake Forest coaching staff.

"I hope I'm here for a long, long, long, long time," Gaudio said. "This is the longest I've been anywhere.

"I think it's rewarding, and I think it's a compliment to the kids," he added. "It's more than the success we had on the court. In two years, Mr. Wellman looked and saw what we've done off the court in the community and in the classroom. And we all know that's really what Wake Forest is all about. It's the academic stuff coupled with success on the basketball floor."

Gaudio said a long-term deal also helps with recruiting. He said there were prospects — high school juniors and sophomores — on campus Saturday for Wake Forest's football game against Maryland.

"It's already manifested itself," Gaudio said. "Every kid that comes in to visit, the first question the parents want to ask &ellipses; 'Well, coach, are you going to be here when my son's here?' &ellipses; There's no question it helps recruiting when you show that stability."

Senior point guard Ish Smith said Gaudio has earned the extension.

"He's a heck of a coach," Smith said, "just a heck of a coach. He's a great X's and O's guy. And he allows you to play the game. He makes us better."

ALL NEW AMINU: With power forward James Johnson gone early to the NBA, the logical choice to pick up some of the scoring slack inside is sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu.

The 6-foot-9 Aminu was a starter as a freshman, averaging 12.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He said his game is much improved.

"My ball-handling has definitely gotten better, and also my body control," Aminu said. "When I go to the rim, I'm able to finish better. I've gained some strength, as well."

And how. His coach has noticed Aminu's work in the weight room.

"He's gotten stronger," Gaudio said. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was out there (doing interviews) with his shirt off, because now when he plays all the time he's got his shirt off so everybody can see his hardware. You know what I mean? And good for him. He feels good about himself."

TALE OF TWO TRIPS: Senior guard L.D. Williams, Wake Forest's defensive stopper, summed up last season best when he described two rides home.

"It's easy to remember when we were 16-0," Williams said. "I remember the bus ride from Clemson (after the 16th win). Bus rides home, guys are usually asleep, but not this one. We were riding back from Clemson, and everybody's up talking about what we were going to do when we got back to Winston-Salem and how we were going to handle ourselves because we've never been here before.

"And then I remember the airplane trip back from Miami (after the NCAA loss)," Williams said. "Then it was like, 'Man, is this guy leaving? Is that guy leaving? What's going on?' That really took a toll on us."

Williams said the mission for this year's seniors is to keep basketball fun.

"I think that's what we got away from last year," he said. "Basketball became something we had to do. 'We've got to go practice. We've got to do this. We've got to do that.' Now it's like, 'Yo, let's go practice. Let's go get shots.' It's not like anybody's forcing us to do that stuff. We want to do that stuff because it's fun."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com