John Collins stood up when prompted and stepped onto the court, waving to all sides of the crowd. As happy as the Wake Forest fans were to see him, it was bittersweet. With Collins actually on the court, and not sitting beside it, the Demon Deacons might have had a chance against Duke on Tuesday.
Instead, he reclined back into his seat next to the Wake bench alongside uber-booster Mit Shah -- a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks, where Collins now plays instead -- and watched as Wake Forest lost to Duke for the second time in 11 days, 84-70.