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