Wake Forest's Steve Forbes prioritizes team over family as he vows to coach despite his wife's recovery from a stroke

NCAA Basketball Tournament - East Tennessee State v Florida

Steve Forbes, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons head coach has been pretty occupied since early August, as her wife, Johnetta suffered a stroke. On August 8th, Johnetta suffered a stroke while she was with her three kids in Destin, Florida.

At the time, Forbes was in Kuwait being a part of a basketball program. As soon as Steve heard about it, he left Kuwait as soon as he could.

Johnetta is 58 years old, and according to Forbes, she is making steady improvement. Forbes decided to return to coaching at Wake Forest while she was still recovering.

"As far as stepping away, no — first of all, I don’t think that’s what my wife would want. I don’t think that would help her recover. I think she needs me to be doing what I’m doing, so we just had to work it out, a plan,”said Forbes

Forbes also mentioned that Johnetta travels to Destin by herself quite frequently.

"She goes down a lot by herself. And I have a bad feeling that if she'd have been by herself, she might have just went back to bed.”, told Forbes

Not only that, but Forbes has been taking all essential steps, including furniture dimensions, to ensure her wife's smoother accommodation throughout the house. Given her current state, Johnetta may need to utilize a wheelchair. Forbes and his family are hoping for the best.

Wake Forest is set to tip off their upcoming season in two months

The Demon Deacons have their schedule released, as their season opener will be against Elon Phoenix on November 6th. With Forbes returning despite his wife recovering, he'll be participating in limited team practices. Luckily, Forbes and Johnetta live near the campus, which makes it easier for Steve to coach the team as well as be there for his wife.

Steve is a determined coach as well as a caring husband. The players as well as the staff will truly appreciate Forbes' efforts as a coach and as a husband. The Deacons are just a couple of months away from their first game of the 2023-24 season. It will be interesting to see the Deacons play, having four transfers coming in.

The Demon Deacons have also added a three-star shooting guard. The team stood 9th in the ACC previously. It will be interesting to see the Deacons play this season, with the Wake Forest fans having higher expectations for this upcoming season.