Strength in Numbers: Coach Forbes Gives a Look into the Revamped Demon Deacons

Coach Forbes spoke at ACC Tipoff in Charlotte on his expectations going into the 2025-26 season

Oct 8, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes answers questions from the media at The Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: William Howard-Imagn Images | William Howard-Imagn Images

Steve Forbes rolled into his press conference at ACC Tipoff on Wednesday afternoon with a sense of focus. Right when he reached the podium, he started laying out key objectives the team had to address this offseason, coming off missing the NCAA Tournament a year ago. He said, "I thought that we obviously need to do improve our three-point shooting, we needed to improve our passing with more assisted baskets, improve our rebounding on both sides of the ball, and improve on some movement and cutting on offense. I feel like we've accomplished those things and more since March."

These key aspects are definitely at the forefront of many Deacon fans' minds as the team last season showed flashes, but also had some glaring weaknesses they couldn't overcome. Hearing Forbes talk about fixing these issues must at least bring some sense of optimism to Wake fans. Here are some other big takeaways from Coach Forbes' press conference.

Improved Depth

The past few seasons, Wake Forest has struggled to find consistent depth in its rotation. It was very common that in many games, 7-8 guys would see the court. However, this season looks to be a different story as Forbes said, "I think our team, as of today, the strength is in our numbers. 10 or 11 deep."

If this is the case, Deacon fans will certainly see more players impacting the game than in prior years. The best teams in college basketball today have solid depth, and it would definitely benefit Wake to join that trend. Being able to play more guys off the bench will allow the Deacs to give their top guys more rest so they are fresh for critical end-of-game situations. It seemed like last year's team may have run out of gas in key moments of the season due to having to play such a high minutes load. The potential of a deeper rotation will definitely benefit the Deacs throughout the duration of the season.

Positional Size

Forbes did not shy away from the fact that this new-look team does not have the typical big man. He said, "I've always kind of had a footer. This year we don't, but we have guys with really incredible wing spans." After losing Efton Reid, the Deacs have elected to look for guys who could space the floor and shoot the three in the frontcourt.

This should help the team generate more explosive offense with added space in the paint. It goes beyond offense, though, as Coach said, "Even though we may not have a five-man in there at 7 foot, we have good positional size and length across the board, which will really help us on defense." Having guys with long wingspans and good positional size will allow the Deacs to match up better against their opponents.

They will be able to switch screens more easily and avoid mismatches that hurt the team defensively, as was sometimes the case a year ago. We already talked about how the Deacs brought in some defensive studs through the portal, Sebastian Akins and Myles Colvin being two, to play alongside Tre'Von Spillers, who was one of the best interior defenders in the ACC a season ago. This positional size should definitely benefit the Deacs on both sides of the ball and allow them to play more fluidly.

Expect a Juke Harris leap

A year ago, Juke Harris played key minutes for a Wake Forest team as a freshman who had great positional size and athletic ability, but looked a little raw at times. This year, Coach Forbes expects Juke to put the pieces together to be an elite player. When discussing Juke to the media, Forbes said, "He's really improved his shooting. He's shooting 47% from three right now in practice......So if he can stay on that path, he's got a chance to be an outstanding player at Wake Forest."

In between those two statements, Coach also talked about Juke's NBA potential. He said that the offense will always be there, but if Juke can improve his defense along with the shooting, he has a chance to be an NBA three-and-D player. This is certainly exciting news for many Deacon fans, as there is already a lot of excitement about the improvements Juke will bring to his game in his second year of college basketball. Expect big things.

What's Next

Wake now continues to work towards preparing for opening night at the Joel against American on Monday, November 3, at 8 pm. Additionally, Wake Forest will travel to East Tennesse State on October 29th to play in a charity exhibition game. This will give the team a good chance to play against an opposing team before the season offically begins.