Under eighth year head coach Larry Hunter, the Catamounts return a total of seven players from last season’s squad that won seven-straight games in making a run at the Southern Conference Basketball Championship title before falling in the thrilling double-overtime loss by 2 points to Davidson at the US Cellular Center in Asheville.
New Faces
Mike Brown, 6-3 / 175 (freshman - guard) from West Charlotte HS. Brown scored 775 points in his first three high school seasons including a career-best 512 as a junior, helped guide West Charlotte to the North Carolina 4-A State Championship with a 28-2 overall record in 2011, earning Most Valuable Player honors.
Rhett Harrelson, 5-10 / 170 (freshman – guard) from Enterprise Alabama. Finished high school career with 2,322 career points, a 16.0 point per game average. All-time leading scorer in Alabama 6-A history and 16th best in state history at all levels, ranking fourth best in career free throw percentage (87%), seventh-best in single-season free throw percentage (88%) and eighth-highest career 3-point percentage (38%), also averaging five assists and 3.5 steals per game.
Torrion Brummitt, 6-7 / 240 (freshman – forward) from Columbus, Georgia. Averaged 12.1 points and 9.0 rebounds per game as a junior for the Raiders and head coach Anthony Jenkins ... As a sophomore, was named Defensive Player of the Year and team MVP. Brandon Littlejohn, 5-11 / 175 (freshman – guard) Two-sport athlete that plays for the WCU football team and is expected to join the men's basketball squad after the season.
Justin Browning. 6-4 / 175 (freshman – forward) A two-star recruit by Rivals.com, Browning has averaged 12 points and eight rebounds per game through his first three years as a prep, adding a 1.5 assist per game and three steals per contest average and claimed the state 5-A high jump championship as a junior with a leap of 6-foot,4-inches
Josh Mendenhall (junior forward) Sat out the 2011-12 season after transferring to Western Carolina in the fall prior to the season. Took a redshirt and enters 2012-13 as a redshirt junior with two years of eligibility.
2012-13 WCU Basketball Schedule
In the upcoming season, the Catamounts will play 13 games in the friendly confines of the Ramsey Center, where the Catamounts have an 82% winning percentage over the last 5 years. The 2012-13 schedule includes hosting an ESPN BracketBuster game, as well as, road trips to the likes of Tennessee, Georgetown & Illinois.
Seven of the 2012-13 opponents saw action in post-season play last year, five in the NCAA tournament, and one each in the NIT and College Basketball Invitational. The Catamount non-conference schedule also includes four games against teams that make their home in Western North Carolina, including mountain-rival UNC Asheville.
Playing in the "Mayan Division," the Catamounts open in the 2012 Cancun Challenge by visiting Wichita State (Nov. 15) and Western Kentucky (Nov. 17) on the road before traveling to Mexico for two additional tournament games. Once in Cancun, the Catamounts will play Austin Peay on Nov. 20, and will face either Howard or Gardner-Webb the following day.
"We have assembled another top-notch and challenging schedule for our players and fans," said head coach Larry Hunter, talking about the 2012-13 schedule. "The start of the year should be as exciting as any we have had in recent years. We need our students, faculty, season ticket holders, alumni and supporters to quickly get fired up about basketball because our rivalry game with UNC Asheville (Nov. 9) and home-opener two days later tip-off our season." He added, "This is a schedule that will afford our team room for growth and development as we prepare for the rigors of the Southern Conference season."
THREE QUESTIONS
1. What effect, if any, does not having any senior leadership have on the team? Can the large and talented junior class step-up and provide the leadership that Harouna Mutombo and Keaton Cole provided for last years team? This role will probably fall to Trey Sumler and Tawaski King.
2. Can Hunter replace Mutombo and Cole? Most likely Mutombo & Cole’s role on the team will be filled again by Sumler and King. According to reports, King has made great strides in this game during the off season. The play of Sumler and King will be the key to the Catamount success this season
3. Which freshman steps up for another “freshman of the year” type season? In the last five seasons, the Cats have produced two freshmen of the year (Mutombo & Sumler), is there another on waiting in the wings? Freshman Rhett Harrelson has the potential for an outstanding season, however the new face on the team that may make the most noise this season in the Catamount line up just may be junior transfer Josh Mendenhall.
Head Coach Larry Hunter is entering his eighth season guiding the Catamounts and is excited about the prospects of the upcoming season. Over the last five seasons, the Cats are 42-9 at home - an 82.4% winning percentage - including 32 of its last 39 SoCon games. Coach Hunter has succeeded in making Cullowhee one of the most difficult places in the SoCon to pick up a win by visiting teams. "We have good basketball players in our program. Skill wise, athletically, they are very strong.” Hunter said. "We're excited to have some potential depth on our team, and hopefully it can all come together and we can play some solid basketball." "Even though we are not exceptionally big, we have a lot of talent, experience and character on our team. It will be fun to see how it all comes together during the season," added Hunter.
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