After losing his best player to Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers this offseason, a former Tennessee Volunteers assistant coach will enter the 2026-27 college basketball season with a strong hot seat.
Steve Forbes, a former Tennessee Volunteers assistant coach, is in his seventh season as the head coach of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Forbes, who worked as an assistant under Bruce Pearl at Tennessee from 2006 to 2011, has yet to qualify for the NCAA Tournament during his time at Wake Forest.
Wake Forest is expected to continue its title drought after losing guard Juke Harris, the Demon Deacons’ finest player last season, to the Vols earlier this month.
Wake Forest was named one of the offseason’s worst transfer portal losers.
This week, 247Sports recognized Wake Forest as one of the NCAA’s biggest losers in the transfer portal.
In addition to losing Harris to Tennessee, the Demon Deacons lost guard Myle Colvin, their second-leading scorer last season, to the transfer portal.
Wake Forest’s biggest addition was Merrimack transfer guard Kevair Kennedy, who is untested against high-level opposition.
“The only ACC program with a lower-ranked gateway class than Boston College in average rating per commit is Wake Forest (86. 86),” 247Sports’ Grant Hughes said. “The Demon Deacons lost ACC Most Improved Player of the Year Juke Harris to Tennessee, while their second- and third-highest-rated departures both committed to Power Five programs. “
“Steve Forbes’ best transfer portal acquisition, Kevair Kennedy, averaged 18. 4 points per game as a rookie at Merrimack. In his two games against high-major opponents, that figure fell to 9. 5 points.
Many people in Winston-Salem desired Forbes gone after he failed to qualify for the tournament. But the former Vols assistant was able to keep his position for another season.
Forbes, on the other hand, will most likely need to qualify for the competition in order to earn an eighth season at Wake Forest. And that will be difficult with Harris now on Rocky Top.
