Cat Chat with Mark Speir

The November 13th edition of Cat Chat on Big Wise radio (ESPN 1310), with Catamount Head Football Coach Mark Speir.


Listen here 

A look at Wichita State

The Catamounts hit the road for seven-straight games, including four in the 2012 Cancun Challenge.

First up, as part of the Cancun Challenge, the Cats visit Wichita State on Thursday, Nov. 15, then on to Western Kentucky on Saturday, before traveling to Cancun, Mexico on Tuesday, Nov 20th, for two games at the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort. 

Wichita State is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), and was picked to finish 4th over all this season.  Starting his sixth season at Wichita State, the Shockers are coached by Gregg Marshall, the former very successful coach at Winthrop University.

Wichita State only lost six games during the entire 2011-2012 season, but the the top five scorers are gone from that team that won the MVC conference title and went to the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Malcolm Armstead (6-0 guard, senior), who transferred from Oregon, will add experience and leadership. Armstead is a solid play maker and a good scorer while Fred Van Vleet (5-11 guard, freshman) is the Shockers point guard of the future and should see quality minutes as a freshman. Coach Marshall brought in a few junior college transfers to fill in openings, Cleanthony Early (6-8 small forward, junior) should be an all-around scorer. Nick Wiggins (6-6 guard, junior) will provide plenty of quality depth.

As far as the newcomers are concerned, junior college transfer Chadrack Lufile (forward) is the likely impact player.  At 6-9 and 240 pounds, Lufile will provide defensive depth. The player to watch is seven-footer center  Ehimen Orukpe, who averaged just 1.3 points and 2.1 rebounds in under eight minutes per game last season. WSU is hoping for a big rise from Orukpe during his senior season.

The Shockers will enter the game with a 2-0 record, after a 53-51 win over VCU on Tuesday night in Richmond.  WSU opened the season with a 71-57 win over NC Central.

This is potentially a very deep team and how quickly they can jell together and form a cohesive unit will make all of the difference.  Later in the season, this could be a very good team.

Scanning the SoCon- Week Two

Each week, twelve bloggers/message boarders (one representing each team) all will vote on a Game of the Week and Power Rankings. At least four will answer a series of questions on their team and around the SoCon.





THE CONTRIBUTORS 

Appalachian State - Yosef's Cabin - T-Dog
Chattanooga - Mocs Mania - JohnMoc
College of Charleston- King Kresse - CougarSurf11
Davidson- Davidson Cats Message Board - David Sink
Elon- Elon Pendulum Student Newspaper- Zachary Horner
Furman- The UFFP Message Board- Hawg
Georgia Southern- GSU Fans Message Board - half-n-half
Samford- Samford Bulldogs Message Board - AP
The Citadel- The Sports Arsenal - Sandlapper Spike
UNC-Greensboro- UNCG Basketball Fan - DashSpartan
Western Carolina- Purple & Gold - Jerry Love
Wofford- Terrier Fans Message Board - Cody Cooper

POWER RANKINGS 
1) Davidson (11) 132
2) College of Charleston 121
3) Elon 103
4) Wofford 95
5) Western Carolina 84
6) UNC-Greensboro 80
7) Appalachian State 57
8) Georgia Southern 48
9) The Citadel 38
10) Samford 37
11) Chattanooga 35
12) Furman 28

GAME OF THE WEEK
Davidson at New Mexico, Tuesday, 2:00 AM Eastern, ESPN (7)
Others receiving votes: St. John’s at College of Charleston (2), Clemson at Furman (1), Winston Salem State at UNCG (1)

QUESTIONS 

 1) Tell us about your team since the last time you wrote about them.

To read the entire article and see the answers to this week's questions, visit MocsMania

Basketball: Mars Hill at Western Carolina

Mars Hill will visit Western Carolina on November 11, 2012 at 7 p.m. in the Ramsey Center.

Rick Scruggs is the first year head coach for the Lions.  Last season the Lions had an overall record of 6-22 and a South Atlantic Conference (SAC) record of 3-15.

The Lions and Catamounts last met on the basketball court back in 1992, with the Lions winning, 86-74 under then head coach, Greg Blatt.  The Cats leads the series all time, 15-6, with the two first meeting in 1945.

Mars Hill dropped an exhibition game to High Point 96-62 back on Nov. 3.  Daron Guyton led Mars Hill with 18 points and Carter Wright finished with 12 for the Lions. Since becoming a NCAA Division I program in 1976-77.

Western Carolina is 29-7 in the first home game played in Cullowhee.

Veterans Day 2012 - Freedom Isn't Free

Veterans Day 2012 - Freedom Isn't Free from Patriots on Vimeo.

Cats pick up win in the Asheville Collegiate Invitational

The Catamounts won the night cap of the Asheville Collegiate Invitational which matched up two teams from the Southern Conference and two from the Big South Conference at UNC Asheville's Kimmel Arena.

The Catamounts' 58-45 victory over Asheville evened the day's series that saw Charleston Southern defeat SoCon's UNC Greensboro by a narrow 60-57 final score.

Western Carolina's Diamond Hunnicutt scored a career high 16 points with the Cats shooting 43 percent from the field, and hitting 11 of 17 from the free throw line.

A good win and a great way to kick of the season for Karen Middleton's Catamounts.

Basketball: WCU 61 - UNCA 71

Two mountain rivals met in Asheville's Kimmel Arena Friday night.  The Western Carolina Catamounts and the UNC Asheville Bulldogs, both wanting and expecting to come away with a season opening victory.  Both teams were playing for the honor of their conference in this battle between the Southern Conference and the Big South Conference.  Tonight, it was the Big South that prevailed.   

While both teams were picked to finish the season third in their respective division, the Bulldogs played anything like a third place team. Asheville's lone returning starter from last season's Big South Championship team, Jeremy Atkinson, lead all scores with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals. Conversely  the Catamounts played like a team that would battle for even a fifth place finish in their division.

The Bulldogs walked away with their third straight home win over the Catamounts in games played in Asheville, the final score was 71-61.  

The rest of the Bulldogs were almost as efficient Atkinson, as they out-shot the Catamounts in field goals, 46% to 32%, as well as, out scoring the Cats 46 to 28 points in the paint. While the Cats did edge out the Bulldogs in 3-point shots, making less than a stellar 7 of 25 attempts, (the Bulldogs were even worse in threes, going 0-7 on the night), but the points scored inside by the Bulldogs were more than enough to give the dogs a victory.

The Cats were hampered by personal fouls all night, but especially in the second half of the game.  Boggs fouled out, while Ross, King, Sumler finished the game with 4 fouls each.  The Cats committed a total of 25 personal fouls, 15 coming in the second half. The lack of senior leadership was very apparent, as well as,   the lack of height, and the poor free throw shooting that continues to plague Catamount basketball teams.

 

3 named Academic All-District III

Rock Williams, Conner Orr and Clark Sechrest

Seniors  Rock Williams, Conner Orr and junior Clark Sechrest were named to the Capital One Academic All-District III team by the by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

District III is comprised of all Division I Football FBS and FCS schools in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

To be eligible a player must have completed at least one full calendar year at the nominating institution, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.3 in the classroom and be a starter or key reserve on the field, having participated in at least 50-perent of their team's competitions.

These three selections are the most from a single school in the Southern Conference, Appalachian State and Chattanooga both had two players named to the all-district team.

SoCon Monster Game of the Week Preview - WCU @ UNCA

Western Carolina is picked to finish third in the SoCon North. UNC-Asheville is picked to finish third in the Big South South Division. Let's start with the implications to the two conferences.

These two conferences are fairly closely ranked in the power conference rankings. They need to win all the head-to-head match-ups that they can against each other. This is an important showdown on the head-to-head front between the two conferences.

The SoCon hates to admit how close the Big South has come to them in recent years.

Read the entire game preview here

Girl Football Player Dominates

35 touchdowns and counting.

Coach Hunter talks about his team & UNCA

Coach Hunter discusses this season's Catamount Basketball team and the game with UNC Asheville on Friday night that opens the season in Kimbell Arena on the campus of UNCA.


View the video here

Good Luck Cats.  

Steve White discusses the WCU-UNCA series

According to Steve, the series between Western Carolina and UNC Asheville started back in the 1964-65 season, when Henry Logan was a freshman at WCU.

Both schools were District 6, NAIA foes at the time, and UNCA was then known as Asheville-Biltmore College.

View the video here

Sechrest named SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week

Junior punter/kicker Clark Sechrest has been named the Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week for November 7, 2012.

Sechrest punted five times last Saturday for an average of 50.6 yards per punt in the home finale against Chattanooga.

Sechrest also recorded three kicks of 50-yards or more including a career-long punt of 58 yards. He finished a perfect 3-for-3 on PATs and kicked a 36-yard field goal, recording six points on the afternoon for the Catamounts.

Congratulations to Clark Sechrest from the Purple & Gold.  

The Mark Speir Show

The Mark Speir Show

  

Cat Chat with Mark Speir

The November 6th edition of Cat Chat on Big Wise radio (ESPN 1310), with Catamount Head Football Coach Mark Speir.


Listen here 

SoCon Monster Game of the Week Announcement

This week, two games were picked by the Scanning the SoCon crowd for top game of the week. The two games were either Western Carolina's trip to UNC Asheville or Elon's trip to Butler.

So, which game did I select as the game that will get extra breakdowns this week?

Read about it here. 

Look for a preview coming Thursday and a recap coming Friday.

Clark Sechrest honored by Southern Pigskins

SouthernPigskin.com has selected Western Carolina's Clark Sechrest as their Steak 'n Shake Southern Conference Special Teams Player of the Week.

The Cornelius, N.C native punted five times for 253 yards, downing two kicks inside the 20-yard line, and kicked a 36-yard field goal in the Catamounts' 45-24 loss to Chattanooga.

Purple & Gold congratulates Clark Sechrest on his selection.

Cats open at Asheville in the Asheville Collegiate Invitational

Karen Middleton's 2012-13 Catamounts will open their season against the UNC Asheville Bulldogs as part of the Asheville Collegiate Invitational.  The 4:30 p.m game on Saturday Nov. 10 will be regionally televised by WMYA (Channel 40).

Asheville's first-year head coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick's Lady Bulldogs returns four starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's team including center Kelli Riles who finished 12th in the nation in rebounding; sophomore guard Shonese Jones who earned Big South Freshman of the Year honors; and sophomore forward Leah Wormack who made the Big South All-Freshman team..

A big concern for Coach Kirkpatrick early in the season is injuries, especially in the backcourt. "We've got to get healthy," said Kirkpatrick at the Big South media day. "We have Grace Blaylock and Brittany Gwyn out at the start of practice and that really hurts our perimeter presence. Hopefully, we can get both of them healthy once the season starts and that will make a difference."

The Lady Bulldogs completed the 2011-12 season with a 7-23 overall record and was picked by the league coaches to finish in 10th place (out of 11 teams) in the Big South Conference this season

Scanning the SoCon - Week One

Each week, twelve bloggers/message boarders (one representing each team) all will vote on a Game of the Week and Power Rankings. 

At least four will answer a series of questions on their team and around the SoCon. 

In this first week, we will have everyone answer the questions and do a full preview of the SoCon, including Player of the Year, conference predictions, and a preseason All SoCon team. 


THE CONTRIBUTORS 
Appalachian State - Yosef's Cabin - T-Dog
Chattanooga - Mocs Mania - JohnMoc
College of Charleston- King Kresse - CougarSurf11
Davidson- Davidson Cats Message Board - David Sink
Elon- Elon Pendulum Student Newspaper- Zachary Horner
Furman- The UFFP Message Board- Hawg
Georgia Southern- GSU Fans Message Board - half-n-half
Samford- Samford Bulldogs Message Board - AP
The Citadel- The Sports Arsenal - Sandlapper Spike
UNC-Greensboro- UNCG Basketball Fan - DashSpartan
Western Carolina- Purple & Gold - Jerry Love
Wofford- Terrier Fans Message Board - Cody Cooper

THE PREDICTED STANDINGS (first place votes in parentheses)
North 
1) UNCG 65 (7)
2) Elon 60 (4)
3) Western Carolina 55 (1)
4) Appalachian State 27
5) Chattanooga 24
6) Samford 21

South 
1) Davidson 72 (12)
2) College of Charleston 58
3) Georgia Southern 45
4) Wofford 39
5) Furman 25
6) The Citadel 13

ALL SOCON PRESEASON VOTING (number of votes in parentheses)
 De'Mon Brooks, Davidson 12
Jake Cohen, Davidson 11
Eric Ferguson, Georgia Southern 10
Trevis Simpson, UNCG 10
Andrew Lawrence, College of Charleston 6

Others Receiving Votes: Mike Groselle (The Citadel) 5, Trey Sumler (Western Carolina) 3, Jake Isenbarger (Elon) 1, Trent Wiedeman (College of Charleston) 1, Karl Cochran (Wofford) 1.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR VOTING 
De'Mon Brooks, Davidson

THE QUESTIONS 

 1) Who is your preseason player of the year? Why?

Click here to read the entire Scanning the SoCon questions and answers 

(If you like this, let us know what you think, leave a comment below)

Cats Rally to Second Place in Hummingbird Intercollegiate

The Catamount golf team rallied from 6th place in day two of the Hummingbird Intercollegiate held at the Country Club of Sapphire Valley to finish the tournament tied for the runner-up spot with Belmont.  

The Cats turned in the lowest team round on Sunday, but it was not enough to over come the lead established by Samford in day one of the event.  The Bulldogs won the tournament with a with a two-day score of 570.

Tyler Lail, lead the Catamounts by twice shooting career-low rounds of 71. Senior Kyle Wilson matched Lail's final round and advanced into a five-way tie for 14th for the tournament, while sophomore J.T. Poston carded a team low shooting a two-under, 69.  Senior Kyle Wilson matched also matched Lail's final round even-par, advancing nine spots in the finishing order.

Congratulation to the Catamounts on a very successful tournament.

Newest Hall of Fame members

Eric Johnson (Football & Baseball, 1995-99), Laura Tieszen-Kamarainen (Women's Track & Field, 2002-05) and Bill Stanley (Football, 1964-69) were inducted as the 23rd class into the Western Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday morning,  November 3d, prior to the final home football game against the UT Chattanooga Mocs.

Congratulations to each from Purple & Gold.

Basketball: Justin Browning

Meet the 2012-13 men's basketball team

Justin Browning 

Class: Freshman
Hometown: Sylacauga, Ala.
High School: Sylacauga HS
Height / Weight: 6-4 / 175
Position: F




Prior to Western Carolina: Was a two-time all-county selection, helping guide Sylacauga High to a 24-7 record as a junior for head coach Josh Golden ... 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 ... Hunter describes Browning - the son of Kimberly Browning - as "a gifted athlete" who claimed the state 5-A high jump championship as a junior with a leap of 6-foot,4-inches ... Played alongside fellow WCU signee, Rhett Harrelson, with the Alabama Celtics AAU team during the summer.

Personal: Is the son of Kimberly Browning.

Courtesy WCU Sports Information

Chattanooga Preview: With Four Starters Gone, Mocs Start Over

Each day from October 23-November 3, there has been a basketball blogger/fan previewing their team in this space.  Today is the final preview, and my thanks to John of MocsMania! for making this possible.  Tomorrow, week #1 of Scanning the SoCon will be published, and you can find it right here.  

Coming off one of the worst season in program history, the Mocs are looking to start over. They were 11-21 last year with four senior starters and one other senior on the roster. It all started falling apart early in the year, though. The team played fairly well at Indiana and at Butler, before the horrendous collapse at home against Kennesaw State told us that these Mocs may not live up to expectations.

Chris Early was suspended permanently, and the Mocs went on a run. They won seven out of nine games to get to 9-9 overall. Things were starting to look up. Then, the injury bug hit, with plenty of people being injured. They lost twelve of their last fourteen games- including a remarkable 0-7 in games decided by less than six points during that stretch.

The first returnee to focus on for the Mocs is Coach John Shulman. There was a lot of pressure to make a change at the end of last season, but the athletic department chose to stick with Shulman for his ninth season. His tenure has been often plagued by fans calling for his head following a disappointing season, and successful seasons when the expectations are down.


Read the entire review here

Basketball: Brandon Littlejohn

Meet the 2012-13 men's basketball team

Brandon Littlejohn 

Class: Freshman
Hometown: Lawndale, N.C.
High School: Burns HS
Height / Weight: 5-11 / 175
Position: G




Notes: Two-sport athlete that plays for the WCU football team and is expected to join the men's basketball squad after the season.

Prior to Western Carolina: A three-year football starter, became the 27th different quarterback in state history to eclipse the 6,000-yard passing mark in his prep career, finishing with over 7,557 yards and 97 career TD passes ... Broke Cleveland County's career record for passing yards ... Guided Burns High to back-to-back South Mountain Athletic Conference (SMAC) championships en route to the 3-A West region championship game ... Amassed 2,225 yards and 24 touchdowns as a senior, adding 682 rushing yards and 13 TDs on the ground ... Selected to the second team offense of the All-Region team by the Charlotte Observer ... Played in the North-South Shrine Bowl ... Earned PrepInsiders.com Player of the Week in mid-September of his senior year after throwing for 163 yards in a win over Q Foundation which put him over 6,000 yards passing for his career ... As a junior, threw for 2,827 yard and 39 touchdowns, slightly better than his 2,638 yards and 34 touchdowns as a sophomore earning SMAC Offensive Player of the Year plaudits.

Personal: Full name is Brandon G. Littlejohn ... Is the son of Cynthia Littlejohn.

Courtesy WCU Sports Information

The Hummingbird Intercollegiate

"Western Carolina men's golf and the Country Club of Sapphire Valley host the Hummingbird Intercollegiate, November 2-4 in Sapphire.

Western Carolina wraps up the fall portion of its 2012-13 schedule by hosting the 36-hole, stroke play event, welcoming 12 other teams to the resort town for the three-day event. It is the sixth-consecutive year - and seventh time overall - that WCU and the Country Club of Sapphire Valley have hosted this intercollegiate golf tournament.

Four other Southern Conference schools return to the southern mountains of Western North Carolina including Appalachian State, Elon, Samford and Wofford. Others include Army, Belmont, Colgate, Francis Marion, Gardner-Webb, Guilford, High Point and IPFW to round out the competing teams.

The 2012 installment of the event gets underway with a practice round on Friday, Nov. 2 with the two, 18-hole rounds slated for Saturday, Nov. 3 and Sunday, Nov. 4. The event is open to the public with free admission. Fans can follow all of the action from the 2012 Hummingbird Intercollegiate with live scoring through www.GolfStatResults.com."

"What a great partnership we have and an honor to be able to host a collegiate golf tournament at a facility as great as the Country Club of Sapphire Valley," said WCU head men's golf coach, Carter Cheves. "It truly is a privilege for both our men's and women's programs to be able to use this course for practice, and is just amazing in the job everyone at the course does in helping us host a first-class tournament." Cheves added, "The grounds crew always has the course in perfect condition. The membership comes out to volunteer and really supports all of the teams. The Country Club of Sapphire Valley is a great venue for college golf and we are lucky to be able to call it home."

View The Country Club of Sapphire Valley

Courtesy WCU Sports Information

Charleston Preview: New Coach, Same Expectations

Each day from October 23-November 3, there will be a basketball blogger/fan previewing their team in this space. 

This time last year the Cougars faced big adjustments. Redshirt senior Antwaine Wiggins, the last remaining member of Coach Bobby Cremins’ first recruiting class, was asked to lead a team of young players who had only seen limited roles to that point.

Quickly the Cougars overachieved, winning nine of their first ten games including victories over Clemson and Tennessee. Things seemed to be going good but quickly turned sour once conference play began. The team looked ill-prepared on the court, star freshman Anthony Stitt broke his hand and things culminated with Bobby Cremins taking a medical leave of absence before eventually retiring.

Now the Cougars are lead by former Tulsa head coach Doug Wojcik and a brand new staff. The playing style of this team is still a big unknown but Wojcik has expressed defense, rebounding and post play as key components of the team’s system. How steep of a learning curve the players face is still up for debate; but one of the reasons Wojcik took this job was because this team is built to contend right now. There’s a new face at the end of the bench but expectations are still high for the College of Charleston.

Read the entire preview here

Basketball: Torrion Brummitt

Meet the 2012-13 men's basketball team

Torrion Brummitt 

Class: Freshman
Hometown: Columbus, Ga.
High School: Shaw HS
Height / Weight: 6-7 / 240
Position: F




Prior to Western Carolina: 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 ... Over his amateur career, he has played AAU basketball for the Georgia Blazers and the Atlanta Knicks. 

Personal: Is the son of William Brummitt, III and Carla Thornton.

Courtesy WCU Sports Information

The Mark Speir Show - Chattanooga Mocs game

  The Mark Speir Show

Georgia Southern Preview: The Next Step

Each day from October 23-November 3, there will be a basketball blogger/fan previewing their team in this space. 

The Georgia Southern Eagles are coming off the second largest turnaround in Southern Conference history and find themselves looking to build off the momentum gained from last season. After winning only one conference game in the 2010-2011 season the Eagles finished with a 12-6 conference record in 2011-2012, barely missing 2nd place in the South Division.

Georgia Southern found themselves above .500 in March for the first time since the 2007-2008 season when they beat UTC in the first round of the SoCon tournament to improve to 15-14. It was also the Eagles first SoCon tournament victory in seven years. For good reason there is plenty of optimism around Statesboro that the Eagles can take things to the next level in coach Charlton Young’s fourth year despite losing senior starters Willie Powers (10.8 ppg, 5.4 ast, 4.0 reb) and Ben Drayton (11.9 ppg, 3.0 ast, 1.6 stl) to graduation, as well as rising Sophomore center Tyrone Brown (2.4 ppg, 1.2 rpg) who was dismissed from the team over the summer.

Georgia Southern returns 7 players who were a part of the rotation last season and adds four newcomers this year. The core of the team will be the highly praised junior class that Coach Young brought in two years ago. The five players from that class have combined to play 278 games, with 145 starts, and over 6000 minutes in their first 2 years on campus. This is the year that Eagles fans hope the growing pains of the past two years start to pay off.

Read the entire preview here

Basketball: Rhett Harrelson

Meet the 2012-13 men's basketball team

Rhett Harrelson 

Class: Freshman
Hometown: Enterprise, Ala.
High School: Enterprise HS
Height / Weight: 5-10 / 170
Position: G




Prior to Western Carolina: Finished his high school career as Enterprise High's all-time leading scorer with 2,322 career points, boasting a 16.0 point per game average .... He is the all-time leading scorer in Alabama State 6-A history - 16th best in state history at all levels - while also 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%) ... Guided Enterprise HS to a pair of region championships under the tutelage of head coach Kenny Hill ... Also topped his high school's career charts in steals and assists, averaging five assists and 3.5 steals per game ... Was the first eighth-grader to play on his varsity team at Enterprise, and was EHS's first ninth grader to make the 6-A South Regional All-Tournament team - an honor he also earned as a junior ... Was a three-time, Wiregrass Super 12 selection - as chosen by the Dothan Eagle newspaper - and was twice selected to the 6-A All-State team ... Was also a two-time, 6-A Area 5 most valuable player ... In addition to his prowess on the hardwood, Harrelson is also a career-leading football player for the Wildcats boasting a school-record 4,683 career yards including 3,433 yards through the air and 36 combined touchdowns ... A four-year starter, he also owns the school's single-season passing mark as well ... Played alongside fellow WCU signee, Justin Browning, with the Alabama Celtics AAU team. 

Personal: Is the son of Rick and Connie Harrelson.

Courtesy WCU Sports Information