Introducing Hunter Sallis, not to be confused with past transfer guards

WINSTON-SALEM – The comparisons are inevitable.

Hunter Sallis is Wake Forest’s next lead guard, following in the footsteps of Alondes Williams and Tyree Appleby. One of them was the ACC player of the year; the other was the first to ever lead the ACC in scoring and assists.

Just as Steve Forbes wanted Williams and Appleby to be themselves, that’s all he wants from Sallis — which means he’s not hellbent on shoehorning Sallis into either mold of Wake’s past two primary guards.

“I think they’ve kinda got to be their own people,” Forbes said after a practice last week. “They’re all kind of different in a way.”

The first line in the sand here is age.

Williams was a fifth-year player when he arrived in Winston-Salem, having spent two years starring at a junior college and two at Oklahoma, playing behind and alongside Austin Reeves. Appleby’s season with the Deacons was his sixth in college, spending two years at Cleveland State and three at Florida (sitting out the first one).

Sallis spent two years at Gonzaga. He doesn’t turn 21 until late March and doesn’t have the same type of experience as his two predecessors.

Forbes also sees a difference on the defensive end of the court.

“Hunter’s a better defender than those two,” Forbes said of the 6-5, 185-pounder. “I don’t know if he’ll score as many points. He probably can, but I don’t know. If you would’ve asked me that last year about Ty, I’d have said, ‘I don’t know.’”

Williams averaged 18.5 points per game and 5.2 assists for the 2021-22 season; Appleby was at 18.8 points and 6.4 assists last season.

Sallis is a former 5-star recruit who averaged 4.4 points over two seasons at Gonzaga. His career-high is 16 points, scored in the third game of his career against Alcorn State.

While Sallis adjusts on the court, he’s also adjusting to a bit of a culture shock.

Sallis is from Omaha, Neb., and was on the Pacific coast for the past two years. From the middle of the country to the west coast, and now the south Atlantic, he is well-traveled.

It’s early, but at least he’s learned one essential thing about living in North Carolina.

“I’d say food is a lot better down here,” Sallis said last week. “That was the big thing I noticed right when I got here, that’s for sure.”

This is, indeed, about barbeque. Sallis’ favorite local place so far is Camel City BBQ — “That was pretty good, I really like that spot.”

The Deacons seem to like the spot that Sallis is in right now, given the ability to hand him the keys to the offense as a lead guard but also play him off the ball with Cameron Hildreth or Kevin Miller initiating the offense.

“He’ll have the ball in his hands enough to make plays like that,” Forbes said of Sallis. “They’re all kind of different in their own way.”