Wake Forest Celebrates Strong Season, Looks Forward to 2025-2026 Campaign

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Following a hard-fought season that included a fourth-place finish in the ACC, a program-record tying 13 ACC wins during the regular season, and another 20-plus win campaign, the Wake Forest men's basketball team has chosen to decline an invitation to the 2025 National Invitation Tournament.

What They're Saying

Vice President & Director of Athletics John Currie:
- "I'm proud of Coach Steve Forbes, our student-athletes and our fans for bringing back excitement to Wake Forest basketball, including this year's win over 2025 Big Ten Champion Michigan, our 13-7 ACC mark which earned our highest league finish since 2009, and running our four-year win total to 86, a dramatic improvement compared to the previous the 11-year stretch when we averaged just 12 wins season. I deeply respect how difficult it is for the members of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to choose from 332 teams for just 37 at-large spots. The embedded principles which enabled six teams who finished at below .500 in their conferences to take 16% of those at large spots don't make sense to me. Recently, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of Wake Forest's 2000 NIT Championship team, and we have been proud to participate in the NIT in recent years. However, this year, it is appropriate to conclude the season, celebrate the accomplishments of our seniors - Cameron Hildreth, Efton Reid III, Hunter Sallis, Kevin Dunn and RJ Kennah - and begin preparing for the 2025-26 season. We are grateful for the incredible support of Demon Deacons fans nationwide and look forward to more progress for Wake Forest basketball under Coach Forbes leadership next year."
Head Coach Steve Forbes:
- "While we are certainly disappointed that we did not make the NCAA Tournament, we believe declining the invitation to the NIT is the right decision for this team at this time. I am incredibly grateful for the support of our fans, students, and the entire Wake Forest and Winston-Salem community as we had nearly 130,000 cumulative fans attend our 16 home games inside Joel Coliseum this year. With that, we have averaged 21 wins per year over the last four seasons and that is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our players and staff. Now, our focus shifts to the future as we aggressively attack the roster-building process for the 2025-26 season. We are excited about what's ahead and look forward to continuing to elevate Wake Forest Basketball."

2024-25 Wake Forest Men's Basketball Season Overview

Deacon Nation Support
- Average attendance per game on the season was 9,564, compared to 9,025 per game last year - 539 more attendees per game.
- Student attendance on the season totaled 21,486 compared to 14,577 last season - an increase of 6,909 year-over-year.
  - The student average per game was 1,343, the highest on record.
- Season ticket sales increased 15 percent year-over-year and was the highest total since 2018-19.
- Non-conference attendance was 8,534 per game, an increase from 7,086 during the 2023-24 season.
- There were two sellout crowds at LJVM Coliseum - North Carolina and Duke - at 12,799 and 13,169 respectively.
A Look at the Numbers
- Wake Forest ranked in the top-60 nationally in numerous statistical and analytical categories, including:
  - SOR - 44
  - WAB - 50
  - Kenpom Defensive Efficiency - 35
  - KPI - 59
  - NET OOC SOS - 51
- Wake Forest claimed six road victories, in addition to two wins at neutral sites - over Michigan and Minnesota.
  - The six road victores all came in ACC play, matching the program record for ACC road wins (1996-97).
- Wake Forest won three-straight road contests in February, all coming against the ACC's three new conference members and being the first ACC school to sweep the West Coast swing.
  - The win at SMU was a Quad 1 result.
Building on Excellence
- Wake Forest won six-straight ACC games earlier this year for the first time since the 2003-04 season when Chris Paul was leading the team.
- The Deacs became the first -- and only – ACC team to sweep the West Coast swing, defeating Stanford and Cal on their home courts.
- Wake Forest has 86 total wins since the start of the 2021-22 season, a mark that ranks fourth in the ACC during that time frame.
- Wake Forest has now won 10-plus conference games in each of the last four seasons and the team has won 47 ACC regular season contests since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, most in a four-year span in Demon Deacon program history.
- Defensively, the Deacs were one of the ACC's most impressive units - ranking high in multiple areas:
  - 1st in 3-point FG% Defense (.307)
  - 2nd in FG% Defense (.402)
  - 4th in forced turnovers (427)
  - 5th in blocked shots (126)
- Nationally, Wake Forest ranked 20th in field goal percentage defense and 26th in three-point field goal percentage defense.
- The Deacs averaged 3.90 blocks per game - the second-best mark in the Steve Forbes era.
- Wake Forest's opponents committed double-digit turnovers in 24 games this season including 15 or more four times in ACC play.
- Wake Forest remains one of the league's best at home court protection, holding a 13-3 mark inside LJVM Coliseum this season, and 61 total home victories since the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
Top Wins
- vs. No. 24 Michigan (Nov. 10)
- vs. North Carolina (Jan. 21)
- vs. Pitt (Feb. 1)
- at Stanford (Feb. 5)
- at SMU (Feb. 15)
Taking Care of Business
- Wake Forest was 19-3 against Quad 2, 3 & 4 opponents.
- Nearly all of the team's losses were in tough road environments, including vs. No. 18 Florida in Orlando, at No. 22 Texas A&M, at No. 25 Clemson, at No. 13 Louisville and at No. 2 Duke.
Student-Athlete Honors
- A top-four scorer in the ACC, Hunter Sallis was named to midseason watchlists for both the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Player of the Year and Jerry West National Shooting Guard of the Year.
  - Sallis also became the first multiple time first-team All-ACC selection for the Demon Deacons since Tim Duncan's three-straight selections from 1995-97.
  - Overall, he is the 10th player in program history to earn multiple first-team All-ACC selections. The other nine have been inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame.
- Cameron Hildreth is a four-year veteran and has posted 20-plus points 10 times this year. He leads the team in free throws made and taken (139-for-171), as his 82.6 percentage was top-15 in the ACC.
  - He was named an ACC Honorable Mention selection in March.

Wake Forest Athletics

Wake Forest Celebrates Strong Season, Looks Forward to 2025-2026 Campaign

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Kevin Dunn

Cameron Hildreth

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Efton Reid III

Hunter Sallis

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