2025 North Carolina Sports Network
NC Basketball Spotlight, 10-Year Snapshot:
Western Carolina


By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network

School: Western Carolina University

Location: Cullowhee, N.C.

NCAA DI Member Since: 1976-77

Conference: Southern Conference (SoCon)

SoCon Member Since: 1976-77

SoCon Ranking Among 31 Leagues (KenPom): 13th (2025), 14th (2024), 20th (2023), 12th (2022), 14th (2021), 15th (2020)

NCAA Tournament Bids: 1 (1996)

Conference Titles: 1 (1996)

Conference 1st-Place Finishes: none

Head Coach: Tim Craft (47 years old, 1st season at WCU)

As A Player: none at NCAA level (2000 Florida graduate)

Record At WCU (through Jan. 28): 6-13 (.316) in 1st season

Previous HC Experience: 188-166 (.531) in 11 seasons at Gardner-Webb

College AC Experience: Pensacola JC (2002-04), Gardner-Webb (2004-07), Auburn (2008-10), East Carolina (2010-13)

Assistant Under: Rick Scruggs, Jeff Lebo

2023-24 Record: 22-10, 11-7 (4th in 10-team SoCon)

2024-25 Preseason Prediction (Coaches): 8th in 10-team SoCon

2024-25 Record (through Jan. 28): 6-13, 2-6 SoCon

2024-25 Midseason Ranking (KenPom): #349 nationally (9th in SoCon)

Upcoming Schedule: Chattanooga (1/29), VMI (2/1), at Furman (2/5), at UNC Greensboro (2/8), ETSU (2/12), Citadel (2/15), at Chattanooga (2/19)

Winning at Western Carolina isn’t easy.

In almost a half-century at the Division One level, the Catamounts have posted only two 20-win seasons, a single conference championship and zero first-place league finishes. They have participated in the postseason only four times, including just one trip (in 1996) to the NCAA Tournament.

On the plus side, after a difficult rebuilding year in 2021-22, coach Justin Gray — the former Wake Forest star — led WCU to perhaps its best back-to-back campaigns (18-16 and 22-10) in program history over the past two seasons. After spending most of the past five decades in the bottom half of the Southern Conference standings, the Catamounts posted fourth-place finishes and winning records in league play in both years.

After last season, though, Gray left Cullowhee to take the job at Coastal Carolina, a struggling program in the Sun Belt Conference. Gray, 40, signed a five-year contract with the Chanticleers that pays him more than $175,000 per year and includes incentive clauses that could lead to much larger paydays.

Western Carolina quickly pivoted last March and hired long-time Gardner-Webb coach Tim Craft.

Craft, 47, had only one NCAA Tournament trip during his 11 seasons with the Runnin’ Bulldogs, but his teams finished at .500 or better in the Big South standings every year, an impressive feat of consistency at another in-state program where high-level success has been rare historically.

With his move, Craft got to keep his family in western North Carolina — Cullowhee is about two hours west of Boiling Springs, which is west of Charlotte — while joining a conference with a slightly higher profile in men’s basketball.

“The Southern Conference to me is one of the best mid-major conferences in the country,” Craft said. “The success that Coach Gray was able to achieve here, we just felt like this was a place that we could come in and continue to elevate the program.”

Just as Gray needed a rebuilding year at WCU, so will Craft.

Four of the five starters on the Catamounts’ 22-win team last season were “super seniors,” guys playing their fifth full season (because of the COVID-related bonus eligibility year) of college basketball. All four are now playing professionally. (Please see those details below.) The other 2023-24 starter, sophomore DJ Campbell, transferred to California.

Craft’s 10-man rotation this season, led by former Catawba star Bernard Pelote (14 ppg, 7 rpg), includes eight newcomers, none of whom had ever been a regular starter for a major college program prior to his arrival at WCU.

2024-25 Western Carolina Catamounts
(6-13, 2-6 SoCon; through Jan. 28)

STARTERS (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

G Cord Stansberry, r-So. (6-4/180) — 2024 Pepperdine transfer (backup)
30 mpg, 12 ppg, 4 rpg, 36% FG, 95% FT, 30% threes, 32/35 ATO, 3 blocks, 23 steals

G CJ Hyland, Fr. (6-1/175) — 2024 HS signee (Grayson HS; Loganville, Ga.)
22 mpg, 5 ppg, 2 rpg, 32% FG, 80% FT, 24% threes, 37/31 ATO, 1 block, 14 steals

G Ice Emery, Jr. (6-0/180) — 2024 Dodge City CC transfer (2nd-team All-KJCCC)
23 mpg, 9 ppg, 2 rpg, 31% FG, 74% FT, 25% threes, 35/38 ATO, 1 block, 19 steals

F Bernard Pelote, Ss. (6-8/224) – 2022 Catawba/D2 transfer (3rd-team All-SAC)
27 mpg, 14 ppg, 7 rpg, 45% FG, 67% FT, 36% threes, 20/37 ATO, 12 blocks, 9 steals

F Vernon Collins, Jr. (6-10/224) — 2024 Princeton transfer (backup)
19 mpg, 5 ppg, 5 rpg, 54% FG, 71% FT, 0 threes, 10/19 ATO, 18 blocks, 5 steals

KEY RESERVES (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

G Brandon Morgan, Jr. (6-4/180) — 2024 Caldwell CC transfer (1st-team all-region)
24 mpg, 7 ppg, 3 rpg, 37% FG, 78% FT, 30% threes, 37/27 ATO, 3 blocks, 12 steals

F Marcus Kell, r-So. (6-8/213) — 2022 HS signee (Legion Academy; Rock Hill, S.C.)
20 mpg, 8 ppg, 4 rpg, 45% FG, 67% FT, 35% threes, 10/28 ATO, 11 blocks, 10 steals

F Chase McKey, r-Jr. (6-10/202) — 2024 Marshall transfer (backup)
16 mpg, 4 ppg, 4 rpg, 54% FG, 59% FT, 0 threes, 16/20 ATO, 2 blocks, 7 steals

G Jamar Livingston, So. (6-3/190) — 2024 Walters State CC transfer (starter)
14 mpg, 4 ppg, 2 rpg, 31% FG, 73% FT, 11% threes, 6/19 ATO, 0 blocks, 6 steals

G Fischer Brown, Fr. (6-4/180) — 2024 HS signee (Wasatch Academy; Mt. Pleasant, Utah)
11 mpg, 3 ppg, 2 rpg, 33% FG, 78% FT, 27% threes, 11/17 ATO, 2 blocks, 6 steals

Departures from 2023-24: G Keshawn Brown Jr. (Fr./transfer/Dodge City CC), G DJ Campbell* (So./transfer/California), F Colin Granger (r-Jr./transfer/Coastal Carolina), G Tre Jackson* (Ss./Poland), F Charles Lampten* (Ss./TBL), G Russell Jones Jr.* (Ss./Switzerland), G Kamar Robertson (Ss.), F Corneilous Williams (r-Fr./transfer/North Alabama), G Vonterius Woolbright* (Ss./Kosovo)

*—2023-24 starter (started at least 50% of the Catamounts’ games last season)

Western Carolina Catamounts
10-Year Snapshot

Season: Overall, League (Place), Postseason

2023-24: 22-10, 11-7 SoCon (4th), no postseason (Justin Gray)
2022-23: 18-16, 10-8 SoCon (4th), CBI 1st Round (Justin Gray)
2021-22: 11-21, 5-13 SoCon (10th), no postseason (Justin Gray)
2020-21: 11-16, 4-13 SoCon (9th), no postseason (Mark Prosser)
2019-20: 19-12, 10-8 SoCon (5th), no postseason (Mark Prosser)
2018-19: 7-25, 4-14 SoCon (8th), no postseason (Mark Prosser)
2017-18: 13-19, 8-10 SoCon (6th), no postseason (Larry Hunter)
2016-17: 9-23, 4-14 SoCon (8th), no postseason (Larry Hunter)
2015-16: 16-18, 10-8 SoCon (5th), CBI 1st Round (Larry Hunter)
2014-15: 14-16, 8-8 SoCon (4th), no postseason (Larry Hunter)

*—conference champion

NOTE: In the coming weeks and months, please visit the North Carolina Sports Network’s 2024-25 profiles and 10-year snapshots for all 19 Division One men’s basketball programs in North Carolina and all 18 Atlantic Coast Conference programs. The items below will become “live links” as new articles are posted.

Appalachian State Mountaineers, Sun Belt Conference

Boston College Eagles, Atlantic Coast Conference

California Golden Bears, Atlantic Coast Conference

Campbell Camels, Coastal Athletic Association

Charlotte 49ers, American Athletic Conference

Clemson Tigers, Atlantic Coast Conference

Davidson Wildcats, Atlantic-10 Conference

Duke Blue Devils, Atlantic Coast Conference

East Carolina Pirates, American Athletic Conference

Elon Phoenix, Coastal Athletic Association

Florida State Seminoles, Atlantic Coast Conference

Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs, Big South Conference

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Atlantic Coast Conference

High Point Panthers, Big South Conference

Louisville Cardinals, Atlantic Coast Conference

Miami Hurricanes, Atlantic Coast Conference

North Carolina Tar Heels, Atlantic Coast Conference

North Carolina A&T Aggies, Coastal Athletic Association

North Carolina Central Eagles, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

North Carolina State Wolfpack, Atlantic Coast Conference

Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Atlantic Coast Conference

Pitt Panthers, Atlantic Coast Conference

Queens Royals, Atlantic Sun Conference

SMU Mustangs, Atlantic Coast Conference

Stanford Cardinal, Atlantic Coast Conference

Syracuse Orange, Atlantic Coast Conference

UNC Asheville Bulldogs, Big South Conference

UNC Greensboro Spartans, Southern Conference

UNC Wilmington Seahawks, Coastal Athletic Association

Virginia Cavaliers, Atlantic Coast Conference

Virginia Tech Hokies, Atlantic Coast Conference

Wake Forest, Atlantic Coast Conference

Western Carolina Catamounts, Southern Conference