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 Men's basketball head coach Larry Hunter enters his fourth season at Western Carolina this year. |
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July 3, 2008
2008-09 Western Carolina Men's Basketball Schedule 
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina head men's basketball coach Larry Hunter today released his 2008-09 schedule which features a 30-game regular season and prominent road trips to Connecticut, Kent State, Marquette and a three-game appearance in the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Alaska. The scheduled includes a 20-game Southern Conference slate with the first-ever league meeting with the Samford Bulldogs.
All told, five of WCU's opponents advanced to post-season play a year ago, including five to the NCAA tournament and one to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). The schedule also features five Saturday home dates in conference play, with the entire SoCon slate falling in the final two months of the season.
"We have assembled another very challenging and exciting schedule," said Hunter, who enters his fourth season at the helm of the Catamount program. "Our players will get to play in some great basketball venues with lots of crowd atmosphere. At least three of our non conference opponents (UConn, Marquette and Kent State) will be ranked teams nationally, with both Connecticut and Marquette potentially top 15 type teams."
He added, "We will have our most experienced team since my arrival at WCU and I hope our non-conference games and experiences prepare us well and allow us to bond together for the conference battles ahead after the New Year."
Western Carolina opens its season in mid-November (Nov. 14) with a trip to Storrs, Conn., to face the Connecticut Huskies for the first-time in school history. Six days later, the Catamounts host Toccoa Falls in the 08-09 home opener on Thurs., Nov. 20 as a part of "Beat App" Football Week. WCU is 5-0 all-time against TFC, last playing in 2006.
November closes as WCU will make it's first-ever appearance in the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout. The eight-team field and tournament bracket will be announced in mid-July. Last year's field included the host Alaska-Anchorage, Butler (2007 champion), Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, Michigan, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech and Western Kentucky. Four teams that played in last year's Shootout advanced to post-season play (Butler, WKU and Gonzaga to NCAA Championships; Virginia Tech to NIT).
"This will be my second time taking a team to the Great Alaska Shootout," Hunter added. "I can assure our team that they are in for a terrific educational, cultural and playing experience."
A five-game December begins with a road trip to face first-time foe, Kent State, on Saturday the 6th, before back-to-back home games on Dec. 15 and 17 against non-conference foes, Tennessee Wesleyan and Gardner-Webb. WCU closes the month with a pre-holiday trip to Marquette - which was a six-seed in last year's NCAA Field of 64 - and winds out 2008 with a trip to mountain-rival, UNC Asheville on New Years Eve (Dec. 31) in the final non-conference game of the regular season.
For a second-consecutive season, WCU will open the New Year and SoCon play with a trip to Timmons Arena against the Furman Paladins on Sat., January 3. Consecutive home games against Piedmont squads, UNC Greensboro (Jan. 8) and Elon (Jan. 10) precede consecutive road dates at conference newcomer, Samford (Jan. 15) and Chattanooga (Jan. 17). Two days later, the Catamounts will host Georgia Southern in the lone meeting of the season, followed by two-straight away games at The Citadel (Jan. 22) in Charleston, S.C., and arch-rival, Appalachian State (Jan. 24) in Boone.
January concludes with home games against Upstate opponents, Furman (Jan. 29) and Wofford (Jan. 31).
The month of February opens with WCU's only seasonal meeting with defending conference champion, Davidson, on the road at the Belk Arena on Mon., Feb. 2. The Wildcats were seeded 10th in last year's NCAA tournament, advancing to the Elite Eight.
WCU hosts Lowcountry foes, the College of Charleston (Feb. 5) and The Citadel (Feb.7) before venturing back to Charleston to face the Cougars for a second-time in a six-day span. Western downed CofC on the road for the first-time in school-history last year, upending the Bobby Cremins-led Cougs, 65-57, at the Kresse Arena.
Appalachian State provides the Valentine's Day opponent as the Mountaineers come to Cullowhee on Sat., February 14 in the Ramsey Center.
Three of Western's final five games will be played on the road. WCU will be on the road at Elon (Feb. 19), UNC Greensboro (Feb. 21) and Wofford (Feb. 23), tying its longest road swing of the season. However, the Catamount close out the regular season with back-to-back home dates against Samford (Feb. 26) and Chattanooga (Feb. 28).
The 2009 Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship will be held Fri., March 6 through Mon., March 9 at the McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Western Carolina returns six players from last season's active roster, including leading scorer and All-SoCon selection, junior guard Brandon Giles. The Auburndale, Fla., native averaged 15.3 points per game last year to rank fourth overall in the league, while his 18.1 ppg in conference games also ranked fourth.
The Catamounts will have the services of eight incoming players - four true freshmen, red-shirt freshman Harouna Mutombo who was with the team the second half of last season and three junior college transfers.
Practice for the 2008-09 season can officially begin at 7:00 pm on Friday, Oct. 17.
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