The 2025–26 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team represented Wake Forest University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Demon Deacons, led by sixth-year head coach Steve Forbes, played their home games at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Demon Deacons began their season with two straight wins before traveling to Detroit, Michigan to face sixth-ranked Michigan. Wake Forest would go on to lose that game by a single point in overtime. They defeated UMass Lowell before traveling to Nassau, The Bahamas to participate in the Baha Mar Championship. They lost their opening match of the tournament by a point to fifteenth-ranked Texas Tech and defeated Memphis by a point to finish in third place. The Demon Deacons lost their ACC–SEC Challenge game against Oklahoma but won their Holiday Hoopfest match versus West Virginia. They won two games before finishing their non-conference season with a loss to thirteenth-ranked Vanderbilt. The Demon Deacons opened ACC play with a rivalry loss to NC State. They went 2–2 over their next four games, defeating Virginia Tech and Florida State but losing to rivals and seventeenth-ranked North Carolina and Miami (FL). The team experienced their toughest stretich of the season next, losing their next five games. This stretch included an overtime loss at Pittsburgh, a rivaly re-match with NC State, a loss to fifth-ranked Duke and a loss to twenty-fourth ranked Louisville. The Demon Deacons went 3–2 over their next five games. The finished the season on a 2–1 run, where their only loss was by five points at Virginia.

The Demon Deacons finished the season 18–17 and 7–11 in ACC play to finish in thirteenth place. As the thirteenth seed in the 2026 ACC tournament, they defeated Virginia Tech in the First Round in overtime. They were defeated by fifth-seed Clemson in the Second Round. They accepted an exempt bit do the NIT. They were the first seed in their quadrant of the bracket. THey defeated Navy by ten points before losing to fourth-seed Illinois State in the Second Round by three points to end their season.

Previous season

The Demon Deacons finished the season 21–11 and 13–7 in ACC play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place. Wake Forest finished atop the tiebreaking procedure and was the fourth seed in the 2025 ACC tournament. As the fourth seed, they earned a bye into the quarterfinals where they lost to rivals North Carolina 68–59. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament and declined an invitation to the NIT.

Offseason Departures Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Davin Cosby 1 G 6'5" 210 Richmond, Virginia Transferred to Kennesaw State Efton Reid 4 F/C 7'0" 250 Richmond, Virginia Graduated, signed with Kobrat Cameron Hildreth 6 G 6'4" 195 Worthing, England Graduated, signed with the Noblesville Boom Parker Friedrichsen 7 G 6'4" 185 Bixby, Oklahoma Transferred to Davidson Ty-Laur Johnson 8 G 6'0" 170 Brooklyn, New York Transferred to San Diego Mason Hagedorn 20 F 6'9" 225 Charlotte, North Carolina Transferred to VMI Hunter Sallis 23 G 6'5" 185 Omaha, Nebraska Graduated and signed two-way NBA contract with the Philadelphia 76ers RJ Kennah 40 G 6'5" 200 Parker, Colorado Graduated Owen Kmety 44 F 6'7" 210 Chicago, Illinois — Kevin Dunn 51 G 6'3" 210 Winston-Salem, North Carolina Graduated Churchill Abass 55 C/F 6'10" 250 Edo State, Nigeria Transferred to New Orleans

Incoming transfers Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous school Nate Calmese 1 G 6'2" 181 Gilbert, Arizona Washington State Myles Colvin 6 G 6'5" 212 Indianapolis, Indiana Purdue Mekhi Mason 8 G 6'5" 202 Gilbert, Arizona Washington Sebastian Akins 10 G 6'2" 175 Concord, North Carolina Denver Cooper Schwieger 13 F 6'10" 235 Overland Park, Kansas Valparaiso

2025 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results Source:

!colspan=12 style=""| Exhibition

!colspan=12 style=""| Non-conference regular season

!colspan=12 style=""| ACC regular season

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References