Steve Forbes knows the narrative that’s being crafted around him nationally, whether it’s fair or not. He knows most of the focus is on what he and his Wake Forest program haven’t done, rather than what they have accomplished. He’s not naive.
Forbes has an ACC Coach of the Year Award under his belt. He’s won 20 games in three of his six seasons. He’s won 13 games in ACC play in two of his six seasons. Wake Forest has the fifth-most ACC wins since COVID. It has the second-most home wins in the ACC over the last five seasons. It had an ACC Player of the Year—and another if you count the Associated Press’ award—a first-round draft pick and four All-ACC players.
The crown jewel is missing from Wake Forest’s rèsumè under Forbes, though. It hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament. It’s been to the NIT three times–and could’ve gone a fourth time had it not declined an invitation in 2025–and may be the sport’s most successful program that hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in the past six seasons. But that doesn’t change its reality. It hasn’t played in the sport’s biggest event, which some see as making Forbes’ tenure unsuccessful.
“I wake up every morning thinking about it, planning for ‘what can we do to help our team get there,’” Forbes told Basket Under Review. “That’s obviously a big box that we haven’t checked. We’ve checked a lot of boxes, had a lot of really good teams and players, but ultimately that’s the box you want to check.”
Forbes never would’ve thought his program’s aforementioned accolades wouldn’t translate to an NCAA Tournament berth when he took the Wake Forest job in 2020, but here he is. He acknowledges the role Wake Forest’s crucial late-season losses have played, as well as the need for it to help itself more in November and December. Still, he admits that he believes the ACC’s lean years as a conference were a real factor in getting his program here.
