Former Tennessee Vols assistant coach Steve Forbes is entering his seventh season as the head coach of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

And it could be his last.

Forbes, who served as an assistant at Tennessee under Bruce Pearl from 2006 to 2011, has never reached the NCAA Tournament during his run at Wake Forest.

The tournament drought is expected to continue for Wake Forest after losing guard Juke Harris, the Demon Deacons’ best player last season, to the Vols earlier this month.

Wake Forest named as one of the biggest transfer portal losers of the offseason

Wake Forest was named this week by 247Sports as one of the biggest losers in the NCAA transfer portal.

In addition to losing Harris to Tennessee, the Demon Deacons also 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 unproven against top competition.

“The only ACC program with a lower-ranked portal class than Boston College in average rating per commit is Wake Forest (86.86),” wrote 247Sports’ Grant Hughes. “The Demon Deacons lost ACC Most Improved Player of the Year Juke Harris to Tennessee, while their second- and third-highest-rated departures also committed to Power Five programs.

“Steve Forbes’ top transfer portal addition, Kevair Kennedy, averaged 18.4 points per game as a freshman at Merrimack. That number dropped to 9.5 points in his two games against high-major competition.”

There were plenty of folks in Winston-Salem who wanted Forbes gone after he failed to reach the tournament. But the former Vols assistant managed to keep his job for one more season.

Forbes, however, will probably need to make the tournament to get an eighth season at Wake Forest. And that won’t be easy with Harris now on Rocky Top.