East Tennessee State hires Wichita State assistant Forbes

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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) β€” East Tennessee State has hired Wichita State assistant Steve Forbes as its next basketball coach.

Forbes replaces Murry Bartow, who was fired March 13 after going 224-165 with three NCAA Tournament appearances in 12 seasons. ETSU earned the last of those NCAA invitations in 2010.

In a release Monday announcing the move, ETSU athletic director Richard Sander said “when you look at his accomplishments, it’s easy to see that Steve Forbes and winning are synonymous.”

The 50-year-old Forbes spent the last two seasons at Wichita State after going 61-6 in two seasons as the head coach at Northwest Florida State, a junior college in Niceville, Florida.

Forbes has connections within the Volunteer State from his five years working as an assistant on Bruce Pearl’s Tennessee staff.