Soccer: Hodge named All State

Courtesy WCU 
Athletics

Charlotte, NC -  The North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association has named Samantha Hodge to the All-State women's soccer team.  No other players from a SoCon team in NC was named.  

Hodge, already named to the Capitol One District III All-Academic First Team, led the Catamounts in goals scored, assists, and points.  The Kentucky native notched a team-leading two game-winning goals, scoring game clinchers against UNC Asheville and The Citadel.  She serves as the Vice-President of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and helped organize pink games for all WCU sports that will be carried out throughout the 2011-12 seasons.

Randy Eaton appointed WCU Athletic Director

Cullowhee, NC - Randy Eaton is the new director of athletics at Western Carolina University.  Eaton's appointment, effective Dec. 14, follows a national search conducted by a search committee working with the assistance of Todd Turner of Collegiate Sports Associates. Chancellor David O. Belcher introduced Eaton in a press conference the Hospitality Room of the Ramsey Center.

"When I talked with the members of search committee last month, I asked them to find someone who is a true leader - someone who has the capacity to hire, retain and mentor excellent coaches, assistant coaches and other athletics staff. I charged them with identifying a director of athletics candidate who shares Western Carolina University's core values of excellence, student success and external focus. I am extremely pleased that the committee has found just that person in Randy Eaton," Belcher said.

Western Carolina Names Randy Eaton as Director of Athletics

Mike Dement out at UNCG

Greensboro, N.C. - Mike Dement is no longer the head basketball coach at UNC Greensboro, effective immediately, per a press release from Spartan Athletic Director Kim Record.

"In the interests of the long-term health of the men's basketball program, Mike and I have agreed that a change is necessary in order for the program to move forward," said Record. "Coach Dement has always exhibited the highest ethics and put the program before himself. He has been professional and committed to leading our efforts to enhance men's basketball with the program's move to the Greensboro Coliseum and the nonconference scheduling philosophy put in place over the last three seasons. We thank him for his contributions to UNCG's basketball program." Assistant coach Wes Miller has been named as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Scanning the SoCon-Week Six

My weekly ranking:
1) Charleston
2) Davidson
3) Elon
4) Western Carolina
5) Wofford
6) Furman
7) Georgia Southern
8) Chattanooga
9) Appalachian State
10) Samford
11) Greensboro
12) The Citadel

follow the link below:
Scanning the SoCon - Week #6

MBB: SoCon Basketball Game of the Week

"The Southern Conference is delighted to again work with the same group of broadcast partners for our basketball Game of the Week beginning in January," said Southern Conference Commissioner John Iamarino. "This partnership gives us outstanding reach in our conference footprint while still affording viewers outside the region the opportunity to watch live through ESPN3 as well as the public television websites." Games will be available in Georgia on the GPB Knowledge channel as well as WUGA, and distributed throughout South Carolina on the South Carolina Channel. North Carolina viewers can find the games on UNC-EX, the Explorer Channel. WTCI, a public television affiliate in Chattanooga, Tenn., will carry the games as will WABM, a commercial station in Birmingham, Ala.


2012 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Telecast Schedule

Jan. 7 Georgia Southern at Davidson 3:00 p.m.
Jan. 14 Chattanooga at Samford 3:00 p.m.
Jan. 21 Western Carolina at Appalachian State 3:00 p.m.
Jan. 28 Wofford at College of Charleston 3:00 p.m.
Feb. 4 Greensboro at Furman 3:00 p.m.
Feb. 11 Davidson at College of Charleston 3:00 p.m.
Feb. 18 Western Carolina at Elon 3:00 p.m.
Feb. 25 College of Charleston at The Citadel 3:00 p.m.

WCU to Introduce New Director of Athletics on Wednesday

The release from WCU Athletics

Cullowhee, NC - Western Carolina University will introduce its next director of athletics to the media and the public during a press conference scheduled for 11:00 am Wednesday, Dec. 14, in the Peele, Westmoreland Suhre, Hartshorn Hospitality Room of the Liston B. Ramsey Regional Activity Center.

The event will include remarks from WCU Chancellor David O. Belcher; Shea Browning, the chair of the athletics director search committee; and the new leader of the Catamount athletics program. Light refreshments will be served.

Wednesday's press conference will be streamed live through Catamount All-Access and will be made available free of charge online through WCU's official athletics page, www.CatamountSports.com.

A community meet-and-greet session will also be held at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at O'Malley's of Sylva.

Courtesy WCU Athletics

MBB: Cats fall to Kent State

Trey Sumler

Cullowhee, NC - The Cats lost a heart breaker to Kent State on Saturday night, falling 58-56 to the Golden Flashes at the Ramsey Center. Michael Porrini marked his return to Cullowhee by scoring five critical points in the closing minutes of the game, a layup for a three-point play and two clutch free throws with just 12 seconds on the clock that helped the Golden Flashes steal a win from his former team.  Harouna Mutombo led all scorers with 21 points and Trey Sumler put up a season-best 19 points in the loss. The game was tied a total of seven times with 14 lead changes, eight in the second half.  The loss snapped a  WCU 10-game home game winning streak against non-conference foes in the Ramsey Center.  The Catamounts will now break for final exams, and returns on Tuesday, Dec. 20 playing the Bradley Braves. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 pm ET.

SoCon Basketball Saturday

This Saturday, seven SoCon teams will be in out of conference action.  This is an ideal day for the SoCon to help itself in overall RPI, which currently stands at #26 out of 32 conferences.  In four of the games, the competition has a lower RPI than the SoCon team:  Kent State (70) at Western (211);  ETSU (257) at ASU (334);  GSU (229) at EKU (210),  Chattanooga (330) at Mercer (115).   Each one of these games is winnable by the SoCon, it's time to step up, and get the job done.  Hopefully, Davidson (34) takes care of UNC-C (158), then Samford & Wofford easily handle their non DI competition.  The SoCon will remain in the bottom third in RPI, until we start winning these type games.  

MBB: Kent State

Courtesy KS athletics

Cullowhee, NC - The Golden Flashes will visit Cullowhee for the first time this Saturday. While this will be the third meeting between Western and Kent State on the basketball court, both previous meetings were in Kent, Ohio. Western holds a 1-1 record with the Flashes, winning the first meeting in over time 84-89 (in 2008) then losing the second meeting 74-72 (in 2010). The Flashes are 6-1 so far on the season, with their only loss coming at the hands of Cleveland State (9-1, Horizon League), by a score of 57-53.  Kent State has wins over West Virginia, Alcorn State, Louisiana, Morehead State, UAB, & James Madison this year.

Catamount fans will remember Michael Porrini.  He was recruited by Coach Hunter and spent most of his freshmen season at WCU. He played for Gulf Coast College after leaving Western,  prior to transferring to Kent State for his junior season. Now a senior and starting guard, Porrini was the MAC Defensive Player of the Year last year.  Follow the link below for more information on this game.


Game #11 - Kent State

Basketball Alumni Reunions

Courtesy WCU Sports Information

Cullowhee, N.C. -  Western Carolina men's and women's basketball programs will welcome home basketball alumni at two upcoming reunion events. The Catamount men welcome home former players on January 13-14, and the women will host its alum on January 28 for reunion activities.

The Catamount men's basketball reunion opens on Friday, Jan. 13th as alum are welcomed to the afternoon practice session which will be followed by a visit with the current coaches and players in the Ramsey Center Hospitality Room.    At 7:30 pm, former Catmount players participate in an Alumni Basketball game.  On Saturday, reunion guests will get a behind-the-scenes look at the Catamount locker, team and film rooms and auxiliary gymnasium, followed by a tour of the campus.  Participants will then be the special guests of the Catamount Club's "Purple Zone" hospitality event held on the main concourse of the Ramsey Center beginning at 12:30 pm ahead of the 2:00 pm tip-off against, Furman.

Two weeks later on January 28th, the WCU women's basketball program welcomes home former players for its reunion weekend.  Festivities for the event on Saturday, follows a similar format with a facility and campus tour preceding an invitation to the Catamount Club's pre-game "Purple Zone" event.  At 2:00 pm, the Catamount women battle the Wofford Terriers.

For more information regarding the WCU men's and women's basketball reunions or to RSVP, please contact the Catamount Club office at (828) 227-3047 or jfisher1@email.wcu.edu.

Courtesy WCU Sports Information

MBB: Cats fall to Purdue 60-65

West Lafayette, Ind - The Catamounts went into the locker room holding a 29-21 edge over the Boilermakers at half-time, but a 10-0 run to start the second half by Purdue, allowed the Boilermakers back into the game. From that point,  it was a hard fought battle until the end of the game. The Cats were able to fight back to within four points several times in the final minutes of the game, but could get not match Purdue's points, as the Boilermakers were able to hold on at the free throw line.

"I'm proud of the effort we gave tonight. I thought we competed very, very well - we're growing," said head coach Larry Hunter. "We had way too many turnovers tonight, had some sloppy execution at times, but we kept battling defensively. I thought we were terrific in the first half defensively. They got into us with dribble drives, got themselves to the foul line quite a bit in the second half. We struggled because we had some key people out with foul trouble and had some slippage offensively."

The Cats returns to home this Saturday, hosting the Kent State Golden Flashes. Tip-off in the Ramsey Center is 2:00 pm.

MMB: Purdue Boilermakers

Courtesy WCU Sports

West Lafayette, Indiana - Purdue and Western Carolina will have their third-ever meeting on Wednesday, December 7 at 7:30 p.m. (EST), in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Boilermakers currently own a 22-game winning streak at home at the Mackey Arena, are a perfect 2-0 against against the Catamounts. This season Purdue is 7-2 overall, with a 5-0 record at home in Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers' two losses were to Alabama (65-56) and Xavier (66-63).

Through the first eight games of the 2011-12 season, the Boilermakers are 74-of-192 from three-point range, for 38.5 percent. Purdue has made at least 12 triples in four games, and is 22-4 (.846) under head coach Matt Painter when making at least 10 three-point field goals in a game. Senior Ryne Smith has made 28-of-55 (.509) from deep (three point range), and leads the Big Ten with an average of 3.5 treys per game. Robbie Hummel is 22-of-49 (.449) from the arc on the season, and ranks third in the conference at 2.8 triples per outing.  For more information on this game, follow the link below.

Game #10 - Purdue

2012 Baseball Schedule

Cullowhee, NC - Head baseball coach Bobby Moranda has released the 2012 Western Carolina baseball schedule. The season opens at home with a three-game series against Fordham on February 17-19.  The schedule includes seven, three-game weekend home series, as well as home-and-home meetings with Clemson, Georgia, East Tennessee State, and Asheville.

"We've got to be ready to come to play every day," said Moranda. "We've taken a team approach ever since the last pitch of last year's SoCon tournament in getting ready for 2012. I'm really looking forward to watching our sophomore class play as second-year players. You could tell when they arrived back in the fall that they had matured a lot from last season. The young guys that were every-day players in our lineup a season ago really got a lot of good experience."

"We've got some role players that are ready to make the next step - raise their game another level towards being big contributors for us this season. I think we're coming together. We will be young on the mound, but will pitch to contact and let our defense work for us. Offensively, I think we'll be able to score some runs with a good mix of righty and lefties." Moranda added.  Click on the link below to see the entire schedule.


2012 Baseball Schedule

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WBB: Tough loss to Appy State

ASU extended its winning streak over the Cats in women's basketball to 6 tonight in the Ramsey Center. A 36 point beat down by the Mountaineers, makes the Cats losers of the last 5 out of 6 games this season, and results in a 4-5 overall record (0-2 SoCon). It will not get a lot easier this Saturday for the Catamounts, as the Cats travel to Samford.

Basketball: Scanning the SoCon- Week Five

A look at the SoCon through the eyes of four SoCon fans:  Scanning the SoCon- Week Five

Here are the four bloggers:

DavidsonCats- A Davidson Wildcats fan.
MocsMania- A Chattanooga Mocs fan.
TheSportsArsenal- The Citadel Bulldogs fan.
UNCGBasketballFan- A UNCG Spartans fan.

But first, my rankings for the SoCon
1) Davidson
2) College of Charleston
3) Western Carolina
4) Elon
5) Wofford
6) Georgia Southern
7) Appalachian State
8) Chattanooga
9) Furman
10) Greensboro
11) Samford
12) The Citadel

WBB: Appalachian State

Courtesy ASU

The Mountaineer women's basketball team travels over the mountains tonight to meet the Catamounts. This will be the 89th meeting of the two women's teams on the court, and the Cats are 34-54 all-time against ASU, with the Mountaineers having won the last four-straight games. The Mountaineers are 5-1 (1-0 SoCon) coming into the game, with their only loss at Virginia (48-80). ASU has wins over Gardner-Webb, ETSU, EKU, Georgia State, and Georgia Southern. The Mountaineers are avering 69 points per game (58 for the Cats) while allowing only 58 points per game (60 for the Cats). Both teams are giving up a lot of turnovers, 19 for ASU and 20 for the Cats.  This will be a difficult game for the Cats.   For more information on the game, follow the link below.

Game #9 - ASU

MBB: Cats pick up second SoCon win

Courtesy WCU

Cullowhee, NC - Lead by redshirt senior Harouna Mutombo's 18 points, the Catamounts edged the Spartans of  UNC Greensboro for a 73-69 victory Saturday as part of a double header in the Ramsey Center.   In the hard fought game, the Cats out rebounded the Spartans 40-37 & outscored them 15 to 10 off turnovers.   Once again the bench was instrumental in a Catamount win, with the Cats getting 20 points from the bench, opposed to Greensboro's 11 from their bench.

Track & Field: Cats open indoor season

Boone, NC - The Catamount indoor track and field teams participated in the  Appalachian Indoor Invitational on Friday & Saturday, and hauled in 27 top-five finishes along with four first place wins. The season opening meet featured a total of 16 teams, with ASU, Wofford, and WCU being the only SoCon participants. Click here for the complete meet results.  

WBB: Davidson wins conference opener

Cullowhee, NC - The Catamounts dropped their conference opener to Davidson by a score of 64-46 on Saturday in the Ramsey Center in front of a home crowd of 257.   The Cats had 22 turnovers that resulted in 20 points for the Wildcats, combined with shooting an anemic 35% from field goal range sealed the fate of the Cats. Western has now lost four of the last five, and will face the hot shooting Mountaineers on Monday night, who are 5-1 on the season.

Basketball - Double Header today

Courtesy WCU

Baseball: Johnson named assistant baseball coach

Johnson - Courtesy

WCU Sports

Cullowhee, NC. - Head baseball coach Bobby Moranda announced the addition of Bruce Johnson to his full-time coaching staff.   Johnson spent the past two seasons as a volunteer assistant and as the head coach of the Wilson Tobs (of the Coastal Plain League). A 2009 graduate from Western Carolina, he officially started as an a full-time assistant on December 1, 2011.   "I am honored to have Bruce - another WCU graduate - as a full-time member of my coaching staff," said Moranda. "This is a well deserved promotion for he has paid his dues as both a student assistant and volunteer coach over the past four seasons.  His enthusiasm and love for the Catamount baseball program run deep within both he and his family."

SoCon Basketball Blog Contest

Courtesy SoConSports.com

Spartanburg, SC - The SoCon has announced an opportunity for students from SoCon member schools to be part of the 2012 Southern Conference Basketball Tournament by keeping a blog about their favorite SoCon men's or women's basketball team.  The grand prize will be awarded to two people (one for a men's team blog and one for a women's team blog) who submit the best blog series.  The grand prize winners will be the official bloggers for the SoCon Men's and Women's Basketball Championships in Asheville.  For more information on the SoCon Basketball Blog Contest, including an entry form and official rules click here.

Indoor Track and Field

Courtesy WCU Sports

Boone, NC - The men's and women's track & field teams are began their 2011 indoor campaign Friday at the Appalachian State. "We always look towards the opening competition of the season as it finally gives our athletes a chance to see what the preseason training has done for them in terms of raising their standard and level of performance at the collegiate level," said head coach Danny Williamson.

The Ramsey Center

Ramsey Regional Activity Center

Cullowhee, NC - There is nothing like home for the Cats. The Catamount's mens basketball team has won 39 of their last 45 games in the Ramsey Center (including 26 of the last 30 SoCon games in Cullowhee).  Over the past three seasons, WCU is 37-5 (.905) at home.  During head coach Larry Hunter’s tenure, the Catamounts are 60-20 (.750) at home over the past seven years. Western Carolina went 14-2 at home in the 2009-10 season in the Ramsey Center to set a school facility record for wins and posted an 11-1 mark last year. (Courtesy WCU Sports Information)

MBB: UNC Greensboro

Courtesy UNCG

Greensboro travels to Cullowhee on Saturday to meet the Cats as the second half of a double header to be played in the Ramsey Center.  It is also the second conference game for both teams. Saturday's game is the 38th meeting between Western Carolina and UNC Greensboro, with the Catamounts holding a 22-15 advantage in the overall series. The Cats swept all three meetings with the Spartans last season, including a 77-66 win in the SoCon Tournament. Greensboro hasn’t won in the Ramsey Center since the 2008 season. The Spartans enter the game with a 2-5 overall record, and are 0-1 in the SoCon. Greensboro has wins over Pembroke and Towson and losses against Tennessee (92-63); Georgetown (86-45); Middle Tennessee State (82-60); North Carolina A&T 87-65; and Appy State (78-64).  For more information on the game, follow the link below.

Game #9 - Greensboro

WBB: Conference opener

Courtesy Davidson

The Catamounts return to the friendly confines of the Ramsey Center to open their SoCon schedule as part of a Saturday double header. Tip off is at 2 pm against the Davidson WildCats. The Catamounts lead the overall series with Davidson 25-20, with the two teams spliting their two-game series last season. Western Carolina won in Cullowhee 60-48 and the Wildcats won at Davidson 65-56.  Davidson enters the game with a 3-4 record, with 3 home wins and 4 road losses. The Wildcats had home wins over Mercer (75-60); Gardner Webb (67-46); and Winthrop (80-65), as well as, road losses to Clemson (62-72); High Point (69-82); Princeton (45-53); amd Duquesne (53-84).   For more information on the game, follow the link below.

Game #8 - Davidson

Men's Golf: Tyler Lail signs with WCU

Tyler Lail

Cullowhee, NC - Head men’s golf coach Carter Cheves announced that Tyler Lail (Conover, N.C. / Bunker Hill HS) signed a National Letter of Intent to play golf for the Catamounts starting in the 2012-13 season.  As of the most recent rankings released in early November, Lail ranks 28th among all boy’s golfers in the state of North Carolina.

"We are excited to add Tyler Lail to our roster. We have a lot of talented players returning next season and Tyler will add quality depth to our team,” said Cheves. “He is an excellent putter and has played an extensive junior and amateur schedule to prepare his self for college golf."

Carolina Golf News Today

MBB: Cats win at Samford

Courtesy WCU Sports

Homewood, AL - The Catamounts opened the SoCon season on the road with a win over the Samford Bulldogs, 75-71.  The Cats were paced by 4 four players in double digit scoring, led by Harouna Mutombo (18 points), Brando Boggs (17 points), Trey Sumler and Keaton Cole with 15 points each.  Bench points were the big difference in the game, as the bench put up 32 points for the Cats and only 17 for Samford.   The Cats return to the Ramsey Center  to play Greensboro as part of a Catamount double header on Saturday

Catamount Basketball @ Samford tonight

Courtesy WCU Sports