Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes used the transfer portal to turn around the fortunes of the program last year.

The Demon Deacons went 23-9 overall and 13-7 in the ACC, but were relegated to the NIT, where they reached the quarterfinals.

Wake Forest had to reload in recruiting again, but has sprinkled in four players in the rotation from the high school ranks. WFU is off to a 14-7 start and 6-4 in the ACC, but have back-to-back losses against Virginia and Pittsburgh.

Wake Forest hosts NC State at 1 p.m. Saturday on the ACC Network.

Wake Forest has meshed in three transfers with two organic recruits, with Florida guard transfer Tyree Appleby leading the way.

Appleby and post player Andrew Carr (Delaware) are the new transfers in the starting lineup, and junior wing Damari Monsanto is a former transfer from East Tennessee State. Two other former transfers come of the bench.

International products round out the starting lineup. Shooting guard Cameron Hildreth is one of the ACC’s most improved players and is from Worthing, England. Sophomore center Matthew Marsh has started 11 of 18 games he’s played in, and he’s from Crowie, England.

Rankings

Wake Forest is No. 69 in the NET rankings, and NC State is No. 43.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Demon Deacons ranked No. 62 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 43.

KenPom.com has Wake Forest at No. 74, and NCSU is at No. 48.

RealtimeRPI.com has Wake Forest ranked No. 39 in the country, and NC State is No. 40.

Shooting

Wake Forest is averaging 77.4 points per game, and are shooting 46.9 percent from the field, 37.4 percent on three-pointers and 73.0 percent at the free-throw line.

Monsanto leads the way with 62 three-pointers made, and he’s shooting 41.1 percent from beyond the arc. Senior point guard Daivien Williamson is shooting 41.0 percent on three-pointers and Appleby is 38.7 percent.

Rebounding

WFU is averaging 34.5 rebounds per game, and have a plus-one rebounding margin.

Hildreth at 6-4 is leading the team with 6.4 rebounds, and Carr is right behind at 6.2. The latter has a team-high 35 offensive rebounds.

Defense

The Demon Deacons are allowing 72.7 points per game, and allowing 44.0 percent from the field and 34.6 percent on three-pointers.

Carr has a team-high 16 blocks and Appleby leads the way with 37 steals. The Demon Deacons have four players with at least 18 steals.

Depth

Williamson has started seven games, but has recently started coming off the bench, but still plays starter’s minutes. The 6-1, 180-pounder, who is a East Tennessee State transfer, is averaging 8.7 points in 26.1 minutes per game. He has cracked double figures in nine games this season, including a season-high 24 points in the 81-71 win vs. Georgia on Nov. 11.

Williamson averaged 11.8 points a contest last year, and he erupted for 28 points and five three-pointers in the 101-76 home win over NC State on March 2, 2022.

Massive 7-0, 270-pound junior center Davion Bradford, a Kansas State transfer, and freshman post players Bobi Klintman and Zach Keller round out the bench. Klintman is chipping in 4.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in 16.9 minutes a contest.

Senior guard Tyree Appleby has thrived at Wake Forest, which is his third college.

The 6-foot-1, 165-pounder from Jacksonville, Ark., leads the Demon Deacons with 17.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game this season.

That is a big jump from his two-year numbers at Florida, but more in line with what he achieved at Cleveland State. He averaged 10.9 points and 3.7 assists per game last year for the Gators, with a season-high 26 points and five three-pointers in a 63-62 win over Auburn on Feb. 19, 2022.

In 2018-19, he led Cleveland State with 17.2 points and 5.6 assists per game. Appleby picked Cleveland State over offers from Mississippi Valley State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Missouri State, Troy and Abilene Christian. His brother Raheem Appleby was a standout at Louisiana Tech.

Appleby is shooting a career-best 45.0 percent from the field and is just shy of his top mark in three-point percentage (38.7).

Appleby exploded for 32 points and 4 of 6 on three-pointers in the 78-75 win over Wake Forest on Nov. 19. He’s tallied at least 20 points in seven games this season. He also has been a volume three-point shooter, but has been in a slump the last four games, going a combined 7 of 31.

Appleby also has the gift of going to the free-throw line, where he’s shooting 82.7 percent on the season. He’s had four games of at least 13 free-throw attempts.

NC State

PG — 1 Jarkel Joiner (6-1, 180, R-Sr., 16.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.3 apg, 1.1 spg)

SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 165, Soph., 18.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.8 spg)

G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Jr., 12.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.1 spg)

PF — 23 Greg Gantt (6-8, 215, R-Jr., 1.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 0.4 apg)

C — 30 D.J. Burns (6-9, 275, R-Jr., 10.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.5 apg)

Wake Forest

PG — 1 Tyree Appleby (6-1, 165, Sr., 17.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 6.0 apg, 1.8 spg)

SG — 2 Cameron Hildreth (6-4, 195, Soph., 13.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.3 spg)

SF — 30 Damari Monsanto (6-6, 225, Jr., 12.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.5 apg, 1.2 spg)

PF — 11 Andrew Carr (6-10, 220, Jr. 11.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.5 apg)

C — 33 Matthew Marsh (7-1, 250, Soph., 4.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.1 bpg)

2 Players on the Wake Forest roster who were ranked in the Rivals150 — No. 150 Zach Keller, a freshman, and No. 141 Davion Bradford, a Kansas State transfer. Wing Cameron Hildreth was a four-star prospect coming out of England.

5 Games where junior forward Damari Monsanto has hit at least five three-pointers in a game this season. He went 7 of 15 on three-pointers for 25 points in the loss vs. Virginia on Jan. 21.

175 Wins for Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes since becoming a head coach in 2015 at East Tennessee State. He is 175-76.

Wake Forest post player Andrew Carr has made an immediate impact after transferring in from Delaware.

Delaware coach Martin Inglesby, a former Notre Dame player and assistant coach, has had a string of transfers, including Carr. He has followed the footsteps of Ryan Daly (St. Joseph), Ithiel Horton (Pittsburgh/Central Florida) and Justyn Mutts (Virginia Tech).

The 6-10, 220-pounder averaged 10.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game and shot 56.4 percent from the field for the Blue Hens. He has increased to 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game at Wake Forest. He is shooting 50 percent from the field and is 24 of 70 on three-pointers for 34.3 percent.

Carr is playing some of his best ball of late. He had 22 points in the 90-75 win over Florida State on Jan. 11, and went for 21 points and 13 rebounds in the 85-63 win at Boston College the next game Jan. 14.

Carr has three double-doubles for points and rebounds and two games where he blocked three shots.

Carr was a mid-major target coming out of West Chester (Pa.) East High. He picked Delaware over American, Army, Binghamton, Dartmouth, Holy Cross, La Salle, Merrimack, Navy and Stony Brook.

The 6-8, 215-pound Greg Gantt has split the power forward minutes with Ernest Ross, with redshirt junior Jack Clark out with an injury. Gantt is averaging 1.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per game.

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