Wake Forest named Steve Weinman its General Manager for Basketball and Senior Associate Athletics Director for Analytics, combining operational control and data infrastructure under one hire as the Demon Deacons prepare for the $22 million annual athlete payment cap arriving in 2025.

Weinman's title merges two functions most Power Five programs still separate. He reports directly to Athletics Director John Currie and sits alongside head coach Steve Forbes, not beneath him. The structure mirrors NBA front offices where the GM controls roster construction, cap management, and personnel evaluation while the coach runs practice and rotations. Wake Forest becomes the third ACC program to install a basketball-specific GM after Duke hired Rachel Baker in 2021 and Virginia created a similar position last spring.

The timing matters because the House settlement framework converts NIL collectives into school-administered payroll systems. Wake Forest will distribute roughly $10-12 million annually to its basketball program under the revenue-sharing model, which means roster decisions become salary-cap problems. Weinman inherits scholarship allocation, transfer portal timing, and NIL budget modeling—tasks Forbes previously managed alongside game preparation. College coaches spent an average of 11 hours per week on roster management tasks last season, according to a CBS Sports survey of 48 Power Five assistants. That time now gets reallocated.

The analytics portfolio adds leverage. Wake Forest finished 47th nationally in adjusted efficiency last season but ranked 112th in three-point rate and 98th in defensive rebounding. Weinman's previous role at a data analytics firm—his LinkedIn lists tenure at a sports tech startup, though Wake Forest's release omits specifics—suggests he brings modeling tools most mid-tier programs lack. Virginia deployed its analytics director to identify undervalued transfer targets; the Cavaliers signed three players projected as rotation pieces who combined cost $380,000 in NIL, roughly half the market rate for comparable production.

Wake Forest operates in the shadow of Duke, North Carolina, and NC State within a 90-mile radius. The program hasn't won an NCAA Tournament game since 2010 and Forbes went 44-52 in his first three seasons before posting a 21-14 record last year. The GM hire signals Currie is extending Forbes' runway but installing infrastructure to survive a coaching change. The model protects institutional knowledge when coaches leave; Georgia hired a basketball GM in 2023, fired its coach seven months later, and retained transfer commitments through the transition because the GM maintained recruiter relationships.

The role also creates a buffer for booster negotiations. Wake Forest's Deacon Club reported $18.3 million in donations last fiscal year, modest by ACC standards but growing. Weinman will likely coordinate NIL fund deployment with the collective while Forbes focuses on on-court development. Tennessee pioneered this split in football, hiring a GM who meets with collectives biweekly while coach Josh Heupel handles zero donor calls. Wake Forest basketball drew 4,100 fans per game last season, 62% of capacity; better roster management could tighten that gap, which matters because gate revenue funds the non-revenue sports Wake Forest must maintain under Title IX.

Forbes signed a contract extension through 2028 last April. Weinman's hire either sets up Forbes for a tournament run or makes the next coaching search cleaner. Two other ACC programs are quietly building similar structures; one has interviewed three GM candidates since November, per a source familiar with the search.

Wake Forest opens the 2024-25 season November 4 against Coppin State. The transfer portal window for spring closes April 24; Weinman has 128 days to shape the roster before summer workouts.