East Tennessee State tabs Forbes as new men's basketball coach

Mar 31, 2015 - 11:57 AM Johnson City, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - East Tennessee State has named Steve Forbes as its new men's basketball coach.

Forbes spent the past two seasons as an assistant at Wichita State and has also worked as an assistant at Tennessee, Texas A&M, Illinois State, Louisiana Tech and Idaho.

"The profile we had for our next coach led us directly to Wichita State and to Coach Forbes," said East Tennessee State athletic director Dr. Richard Sander. "With his guidance, our teams will play with great energy and passion, and they will show what it means to be a great teammate. When you look at his accomplishments, it's easy to see that Steve Forbes and winning are synonymous."

Forbes helped Wichita State to a pair of 30-win seasons the last two years, including a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament this season. The Shockers were 35-1 in 2013-14.

"The past two years I've had the honor and the privilege to work for the best coach in all of college basketball, Gregg Marshall," said Forbes. "He provided me with a blue print for success that I will use at ETSU. If it wasn't for Gregg Marshall, I wouldn't be standing here today."

Before his stint at Wichita State, Forbes spent two years as head coach of Northwest Florida State. He guided the junior college program to a record of 61-6.

The Iowa native also was a head coach at Barton County Community College in Kansas from 1995-98.

East Tennessee State needed a replacement for Murry Bartow, who spent 12 years as head coach.