Ex-Cougar Coach Forbes headed to Illinois State
Former Barton County Community College men's basketball coach Steve Forbes has moved on to Illinois State University as an assistant coach. Forbes has spent the past three seasons as an assistant at Louisiana Tech, where he helped guide the team to its first post season game in 10 years with a trip to the NIT in 2002.

Forbes coached the Cougars for 3 seasons, compiling a 68-28 mark from 1995-98. His final team went 29-4 in 1997-98. Forbes' .708 career winning percentage ranks No. 4 all-time for the Cougars. Brandon Hughes and Alek Radojevic - two NJCAA All-Americans for Barton -- played under Forbes.

From Barton, Forbes moved on to Idaho as the associate head coach, where he helped turn around the Vandals during his two seasons. He moved on to Louisiana Tech following his stint at Idaho.

At Illinois State, Forbes will be one of the top recruiters under Porter Moser, who took over Illinois State job just a few weeks ago after coaching at Arkansas-Little Rock. Forbes is a native of Lone Tree, Iowa and graduate from Southern Arkansas in 1988. He and his wife Johnetta have two children, Elizabeth, 13, and Christopher, 7.

Steve Forbes comments
" I'm very excited about this opportunity," Forbes said. "There is an enormous amount of potential at Illinois State and I will have the opportunity to work on one of the brightest young staffs in the country. With a lot of hard work and Porter's leadership, I know that we can turn the Illinois State program around."

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Check out Barton County Men's Basketball Online at www.bartonccc.edu/sports