2024-2025 College Basketball Preview: Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Check out our entire college basketball season preview!

The college basketball season is less than two weeks away, and here at FTN Fantasy we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. We will be previewing each team from all of the major conferences along with some mid-majors as well. We will recap betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season and talk about any key players for that program.

The ACC is home to some of the most storied programs in the history of college basketball. Lately, the Final Four champion has come out of the Big East or the Big 12, but the ACC has a great chance to reclaim the title of the best conference in CBB. There has been an influx of talent via the transfer portal, good old fashioned recruiting and the additions of SMU, Stanford and Cal. 

Let’s take a look at the Wake Forest Demon Deacons

2024-25 College Basketball Season Preview: Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Conference: ACC
Head Coach: Steve Forbes (5th season)
2023-2024 Record: 21-14
ATS: 18-16-1
O/U: 21-14
Projected Starters: G Hunter Sallis, G Ty-Laur Johnson, G Cameron Hildreth, F Tre’Von Spillers, C Efton Reid

Steve Forbes has an eye for talent and can develop as well as anyone in the collegiate basketball space. However, that hasn’t translated to postseason success, and the Demon Deacons are yet to make the Big Dance under Forbes. This is truly shocking because he has developed role players into stars, but the wins haven’t followed. Players like Alondes Williams and Tyree Appleby have thrived with his guidance, which is why he continues to land quality players via the portal. But you have to wonder how much longer he can last with the program if he can’t deliver a tourney berth.

Kevin Miller, Damari Monsanto, Andrew Carr and Matthew Marsh have all moved on, but they were able to retain Hunter Sallis, Cameron Hildreth, Parker Freidrichsen and Efton Reid which is a fantastic core to build around. Sallis took a huge step forward in his development after transferring from Gonzaga, and I think there is a solid chance he morphs into a conference POY caliber stud this season.

As usual, Forbes snagged a productive group of players from the portal with Tre’Von Spillers (12.8 PPG at Appy State), Ty-Laur Johnson (8.7 PPG at Louisville), Churchill Abass (3.9 PPG at DePaul), Omaha Billiew (2.4 PPG at ISU) and Davin Cosby (3.6 PPG at Alabama) all joining the program. Top-100 recruit Juke Harris figures to be part of the rotation sooner rather than later as well.

Key Player: Hunter Sallis

Sallis never got the opportunity to showcase his skills at Gonzaga because they were always crowded at his position, but the move to Wake Forest was perfect and Forbes has made it clear they’ll lean heavily on him in 24-25. After averaging no more than 5 PPG in each of his two years at Gonzaga, he exploded for 18 PPG last season while knocking down almost 41% of his triples. He also averaged just over 1 SPG and contributed 4.1 RPG along with 2.5 APG. With “Boopie” Miller out of the picture, Sallis will see his usage increase further, and if he can retain his efficiency, we are talking about a first-round NBA Draft pick type of player.