3 Days Until Catamount Football Kickoff - Sterling & Dukes

It's now 3 days until the kickoff of Catamount football on Saturday,  August 30, 2025, against the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs in E.J. Whitmire Stadium, Cullowhee, NC. 

To help pass those long summer days and get the Catamount faithful more excited about the upcoming season and more knowledgeable of the team members, we'll continue the football countdown each day until kickoff day. 

Today, we will highlight two players who wear #3, one on offense and one on defense: 

#3 Kha'leal Sterling

Position Wide Receiver
Height 5-9
Weight 170
Class Freshman
Hometown Miami, Fla.
High School Miami Central HS









Prior to Western Carolina: HeroSports had him as the No. 2 wide receiver prospect in the NCAA FCS … Listed as a three-star recruit by 247Sports.com and a two-star recruit by Rivals.com … Originally committed to Pitt … As a junior, caught 26 passes for 609 yards and seven touchdowns … Also ran track as a prep.

#3  Samaurie Dukes

Position Safety

Height 5-11
Weight 185
Class Senior
Hometown Miami, Fla.
High School Miami HS








2025 (Senior): Named to the second-team Preseason All-Southern Conference as a defensive back.

2024 (Junior): Saw action in 10 of the team’s 12 games on the season with seven starts in the defensive secondary … Finished with 55 total tackles to rank third on the WCU squad, with 33 solo stops and 1.5 tackles for loss with a quarterback hurry … Recorded at least two tackles in all 10 games he played … Tallied four pass breakups and had two interceptions … Tallied six tackles with three solo stops at NC State (Aug. 29) … Credited with a career-high 12 total tackles, including 10 solo stops, against Campbell (Sept. 7), his first double-digit tackle performance … Intercepted a pass with five tackles against The Citadel (Oct. 12) … Had seven stops, including four solo tackles, in the road win at Furman (Oct. 19) and eight tackles at ETSU (Nov. 9) … Added an interception to his eight-tackle performance at ETSU.

2023 (Sophomore): Played in nine of the team’s 11 games with seven starts in the defensive secondary … Finished with 29 total tackles including 20 solo stops and 2.5 tackles for a total of six yards of losses … Tallied four pass break ups and three interceptions … Recorded a tackle in all nine games he played including a season-high six twice – in the season-opener at Arkansas (Sept. 2) and in the road win at nationally-ranked Chattanooga (Oct. 7) … Credited with five solo stops in the road win at Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 16) … Had a tackle for loss, a pass breakup, and his first career interception in the home win over Charleston Southern (Sept. 23) … Intercepted two passes in the home win over ETSU (Nov. 11).

2022 (Freshman): Played in all 11 games on the season with three starts … Tallied 33 tackles with 21 solo stops and two tackles for loss … Made his collegiate debut in the season-opener at Charleston Southern (Sept. 3), recording his first career tackle … Was an honorable mention for the FedEx Ground National Freshman of the Week after recording a then career-high nine tackles with four solo stops at Mercer (Oct. 8) … Recovered a fumble with two tackles at Furman (Oct. 15) … Posted six tackles with four solo stops against The Citadel (Oct. 22) … Had three tackles and a quarterback hurry against Wofford (Nov. 5) … Named to the 2022 Southern Conference All-Freshman team on defense.

Prior to Western Carolina: Joined the Catamount football team during the spring 2022 semester, participating in annual spring drills ... Recorded two interceptions during WCU's annual Spring Showcase scrimmage ... Played wide receiver and defensive back as a prep, while also returning punts and kickoffs on special teams ... Was the offensive MVP of the annual Private vs. Public High School All-Star Game, catching six passes for 115 yards and a touchdown ... Named All-Dade first-team by the Miami Herald.