2016–17 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball team represented Western Carolina University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Catamounts, led by 12th-year head coach Larry Hunter, played their home games at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 9–23, 4–14 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the SoCon tournament to The Citadel.

2016–17 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	9–23 (4–14 SoCon)
Head coach	Larry Hunter (12th season)
Assistant coaches	Anquell McCollum Brigham Waginger Wilie Freeman
Home arena	Ramsey Center

2016–17 Southern Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East Tennessee State †	14	–	4		.778			27	–	8		.771
UNC Greensboro	14	–	4		.778			25	–	10		.714
Furman	14	–	4		.778			23	–	12		.657
Chattanooga	10	–	8		.556			19	–	12		.613
Wofford	10	–	8		.556			16	–	17		.485
Mercer	9	–	9		.500			15	–	17		.469
Samford	8	–	10		.444			20	–	16		.556
The Citadel	4	–	14		.222			12	–	21		.364
Western Carolina	4	–	14		.222			9	–	23		.281
VMI	3	–	15		.167			6	–	24		.200
† 2017 SoCon Tournament winner

Previous season

The Catamounts finished the 2015–16 season 16–18, 10–8 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They defeated Wofford to advance to the Semifinals of the SoCon tournament where they lost to Chattanooga. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they lost in the first round to Vermont.

Offseason

Player departures

Name	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Mike Brown	G	6'3"	Senior	Charlotte, NC	Graduated
Rhett Harrelson	G	5'10"	Senior	Enterprise, AL	Graduated
Justin Browning	F	6'4"	Senior	Sylacauga, AL	Graduated
Aaron Williams	G	6'3"	Sophomore	Morehead City, NC	Left team

Recruiting Class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jason McMillan G	Cherokee, NC	Cherokee High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	160 lb (73 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Onno Steger F	Upper Arlington, OH	Upper Arlington High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Yalim Olcay F	Izmir, Turkey	SPIRE Academy	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Adam Sledd F	Roanoke, VA	Virginia Episcopal School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

Roster

2016–17 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Maurice Smith 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Lauderdale Lakes, Florida G 1 Elijah Pughsley 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Lima, Ohio G 3 Jason McMillan 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Cherokee, North Carolina G 5 Devin Peterson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Milton, Georgia G 11 Haboubacar Mutombo 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Pickering, Ontario, Canada F 12 Marc Gosselin 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Lyon, France G 13 Deriece Parks 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Sr Charlotte, North Carolina F 21 Kyle Rhoades 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Lumberton, North Carolina F 22 Jesse Deloach 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Grayson, Georgia F 24 Ashley Williams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Morehead City, North Carolina G 32 Devonte Fuller 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS So Hickory, North Carolina F 33 Onno Steger 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Upper Arlington, Ohio F 35 Yalim Olcay 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr İzmir, Turkey F 41 Charlendez Brooks 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Jr Duncan, South Carolina F 44 Adam Sledd 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Roanoke, Virginia	Head coach Larry Hunter (Ohio) Assistant coach(es) Anquell McCollum (Western Carolina) Brigham Waginger (Western Carolina) Willie Freeman (Western Carolina) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
11/11/2016* 7:00 pm, ACC Extra		at Miami (FL)	L 43–92	0–1	Watsco Center (7,142) Coral Gables, FL
11/13/2016* 2:00 pm		Hiwassee	W 87–47	1–1	Ramsey Center (1,774) Cullowhee, NC
11/16/2016* 7:30 pm, ESPN3		North Carolina Central Global Sports Invitational	L 59–67	1–2	Ramsey Center (1,495) Cullowhee, NC
11/19/2016* 5:00 pm		at Marshall Global Sports Invitational	L 63–98	1–3	Cam Henderson Center (5,741) Huntington, WV
11/21/2016* 7:00 pm, BTN		at Ohio State Global Sports Invitational	L 38–66	1–4	Value City Arena (10,452) Columbus, OH
11/26/2016* 7:00 pm		at Jackson State Global Sports Invitational	W 58–47	2–4	Williams Assembly Center (225) Jackson, MS
11/30/2016* 7:00 pm, FS2		at Marquette	L 44–90	2–5	BMO Harris Bradley Center (11,397) Milwaukee, WI
12/03/2016* 3:30 pm		at Appalachian State	W 58–53	3–5	Holmes Center (2,497) Boone, NC
12/07/2016* 7:00 pm, RTPT		vs. No. 15 West Virginia	L 37–90	3–6	Charleston Civic Center (8,384) Charleston, WV
12/17/2016* 4:30 pm		at UNC Asheville	L 57–59	3–7	Kimmel Arena (1,661) Asheville, NC
12/19/2016* 7:30 pm		High Point	W 70–65	4–7	Ramsey Center (1,063) Cullowhee, NC
12/22/2016* 7:00 pm		College of Charleston	L 59–77	4–8	Ramsey Center (1,103) Cullowhee, NC
12/28/2016* 2:00 pm		Mars Hill	W 87–71	5–8	Ramsey Center (944) Cullowhee, NC
SoCon regular season
12/31/2016 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Chattanooga	L 48–64	5–9 (0–1)	Ramsey Center (1,020) Cullowhee, NC
01/02/2017 7:00 pm, ASN		Samford	L 65–70	5–10 (0–2)	Ramsey Center (921) Cullowhee, NC
01/07/2017 5:00 pm, ESPN3		at UNC Greensboro	L 57–76	5–11 (0–3)	Greensboro Coliseum (1,455) Greensboro, NC
01/12/2017 7:00 pm		at VMI	L 78–79	5–12 (0–4)	Cameron Hall (718) Lexington, VA
01/14/2017 4:00 pm		at East Tennessee State	L 52–75	5–13 (0–5)	Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,342) Johnson City, TN
01/19/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		The Citadel	W 100–95	6–13 (1–5)	Ramsey Center (1,561) Cullowhee, NC
01/21/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Mercer	L 50–70	6–14 (1–6)	Ramsey Center (1,685) Cullowhee, NC
01/25/2017 7:00 pm		at Furman	L 37–85	6–15 (1–7)	Timmons Arena (1,431) Greenville, SC
01/28/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Wofford	W 68–62	7–15 (2–7)	Ramsey Center (1,894) Cullowhee, NC
01/30/2017 7:00 pm, ASN		at Mercer	L 47–62	7–16 (2–8)	Hawkins Arena (2,789) Macon, GA
02/02/2017 8:00 pm		at Samford	L 63–82	7–17 (2–9)	Pete Hanna Center (1,190) Homewood, AL
02/04/2017 5:00 pm		at Chattanooga	L 65–77	7–18 (2–10)	McKenzie Arena (5,449) Chattanooga, TN
02/11/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3		UNC Greensboro	L 68–76	7–19 (2–11)	Ramsey Center (5,225) Cullowhee, NC
02/15/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Furman	L 62–74	7–20 (2–11)	Ramsey Center (1,329) Cullowhee, NC
02/18/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Wofford	L 56–84	7–21 (2–12)	Benjamin Johnson Arena (3,317) Spartanburg, SC
02/22/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at The Citadel	W 84–80	8–21 (3–12)	McAlister Field House (1,270) Charleston, SC
02/25/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		East Tennessee State	L 52–68	8–22 (3–13)	Ramsey Center (3,015) Cullowhee, NC
02/27/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		VMI	W 81–68	9–22 (4–14)	Ramsey Center (981) Cullowhee, NC
SoCon tournament
03/03/2017 5:00 pm, ESPN3	(8)	vs. (9) The Citadel First Round	L 72–78	9–23	U.S. Cellular Center (2,930) Asheville, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source.