Wake Forest Men’s Basketball has opted to end their 2024-25 campaign, despite earning an invite to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
“This year, it is appropriate to conclude the season, celebrate the accomplishments of our seniors… and begin preparing for the 2025-26 season,” said Wake Forest Vice President & Director of Athletics John Currie via press statement. “We look forward to more progress for Wake Forest basketball under Coach Forbes’ leadership next year.”
This is the first time that Wake Forest has declined an invite to the NIT under Head Coach Steve Forbes’ leadership. Most recently, the Demon Deacons were named a No. 1 seed in the 2023-24 season but fell in the NIT Quarterfinals to the Georgia Bulldogs.
“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,” Forbes said via a statement. “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.”
The end of the season has also brought about the time of transfer portal exits, with three players announcing that they are set to depart the program upon the portal’s opening on March 24.
One of the most prominent transfers is that of Parker Friedrichsen, who joined the program as a four-star recruit in Forbes’ 2023 recruiting class alongside current Demon Deacons forward Marqus Marion. Friedrichsen excelled from three-point range in his first year, shooting 36.5% from deep during the 2023-24 season. However, a regression occurred this past season, with Friedrichsen shooting 25.3% from behind the arc-finishing as the second-worst three-point shooter on the team, behind point guard Ty-Laur Johnson (24.1%).
Additionally, Johnson is set to leave the program after one year. A transfer from Louisville, he featured heavily in the Demon Deacons’ lineup during the latter parts of the season, earning 19 starts across 29 games played. The 6’0” sophomore averaged 6.1 points, 2.7 assists and 1.9 rebounds per game.
Finally, Davin Cosby Jr. is expected to leave after one season playing in the Demon Deacon uniform. Cosby started in a stretch of games earlier on during the 2024-25 campaign. The former Alabama transfer then suffered a foot injury that limited his availability for the remainder of the season. Cosby finished the season averaging 5.6 points, 1.4 assists and 0.9 rebounds across nine starts and 17 games played.
Forbes now looks to replace the three departures, in addition to the losses of seniors Efton Reid III, Hunter Sallis and Cameron Hildreth, in the transfer portal ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.
Lacole • Mar 29, 2025 at 12:14 am
This article failed to mention that the best game the Demon Deacons had this year was against SMU. They won by double digits thanks to Parker and Johnson. I guess the 1 to 5pt wins are very impressive to Wake fans. Crosby had the same pt stats as the leading scores with about 1/3 of the time on the court. He warmed up every game but had an injury? Smh…..Hope they find better homes….Good Luck Wake.. the program needs a rebuild the players are not being developed wasted talent.