ASHEVILLE — Former University of Tennessee assistant and men’s basketball coach Steve Forbes is headed back to the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Forbes and his East Tennessee State University team punched their ticket to the Big Dance when they defeated Wofford, 72-58, Monday night in the Southern Conference Championship game at U.S. Cellular Arena.
The Buccaneers won the regular-season Southern Conference title and were the top seed in the postseason tournament.
The Bucs (30-4) are making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2017.
Forbes has been the head coach at ETSU since 2015 when he replaced Murry Bartow.
Forbes is the 2020 Southern Conference Coach of the Year and was an assistant at Tennessee under Bruce Pearl between 2006-11.
He has won 130 games as the head coach in Johnson City.
Jason Shay, who also coached under Pearl on Rocky Top, is an assistant on Forbes’ staff with the Buccaneers.