Here’s the arena,

There’s the stands,

Open the door,

There’s all the fans.

OK, so maybe that’s not the version Mom and Dad taught us. But one thing is certain. If any of the Wake Forest basketball players contorted their hands just right and got to the last stage of seeing all the people, the number of fingers showing wouldn’t be all that many more than have watched the Demon Deacons play this year.

Forget for a moment that Wake Forest played UNC Greensboro on a Wednesday night and barely avoided an upset with the 71-62 win. Forget that it’s the holiday season and many of Wake’s students are gone already for a long break after finals.

The Demon Deacons finally broke into the Top 25 this season and stand 6-1. The talented crew might gain even more respect on the national scene if more than 5,000 people showed up for a home game. Forget also the announced attendance of 9,342 Wednesday— Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, capacity 14,407, was well more than half empty.

And yes, the players noticed.

“You definitely notice when you come into a big game and you hear a crowd and you come in tonight and you don’t hear that,”junior center Josh Shoemaker said. “You can’t let it bother you. You have to create your own energy.”

That didn’t work for quite some time Wednesday, as the only energy being generated came from the shock of Greensboro hanging around as long as it did.

It would be easy to dismiss the UNCG game as an anomaly before other games are taken into account. What about a Saturday noon tip-off against a Top 10 team, Temple? Some 10,000 fans were listed for that game, but plenty of upper deck seats remained for Wake’s upset win.

“If people don’t think we’re worthy of being seen, that’s fine,” senior point guard Robert O’Kelley said. “We’re going to keep playing hard and keep doing our job.

“During the ACCseason we usually have great fan support. We wish they could come out for all the games.”

Ah, yes, the ACC defense. That’s the easiest plea Wake basketball fans can cop, that they’re waiting for the “real” season to start. They don’t care about Campbell and Wisconsin and High Point (Friday night’s foe). Bring on the Atlantic Coast Conference and see how loud it gets for the Blue Devils and Tar Heels.

“When the ACCgets here I know a lot more people come to the games and it definitely helps you a lot,”junior center Rafael Vidaurreta said. “It’s a good feeling, it motivates you a lot more, helps you concentrate.”

That’s something Wake Forest needs now, though. Waiting for the conference season to come along is not good enough.

A Division I college basketball team, ranked among the nation’s 25 best, shouldn’t draw as many fans as, say, the intense North Rowan-West Rowan high school boys matchups did recently.

Demon Deacon hoops fans need to spread the word.

The team is good.

Go watch it.

Judging from Wednesday night’s performance, Wake needs all the help it can get.

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