news-record.com

HIGH POINT — This is no ordinary nonconference basketball game. This one is kind of a big deal.

Wake Forest of the mighty ACC will play High Point of the little Big South at 7 p.m. Wednesday — inside the Panthers’ cozy 1,750-seat Millis Center gym. It's the smallest venue Wake has played since the 1950s.

“A game like this is very, very rare for a lot of different reasons,” High Point athletics director Craig Keilitz said. “Coaches like to play at home, because everyone has a higher winning percentage at home. Schools in the power conferences can afford to pay guarantees to bring mid-majors in, and at the same time a lot of the mid-majors need to generate revenue by going on the road.

“It all sets up to play very few home games against the big boys.”

How few? Um, one.

This is the first time in High Point’s history that the school will host an ACC opponent, even though all of the Big Four are within a 90-minute drive.

It's also "Tubby Smith Night" at the Millis Center. High Point will honor its most famous basketball alumnus at halftime, raising a banner into the gym's rafters.

Smith, who played at High Point from 1969-73, has gone on to coach at Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky and now Minnesota. Smith's 1997-98 Kentucky team won the NCAA national championship.

For more, check the sports section of Wednesday's News & Record.