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 WCU head coach Larry Hunter today released the Catamounts' 2009-10 men's basketball schedule. |
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Aug. 26, 2009
Western Carolina 2009-10 Men's Basketball Schedule 
Cullowhee, N.C. - A combined 16 home dates including hosting an in-season NCAA Division I exempt tournament appearance, match-ups against seven teams that played in the post-season a year ago and participation in the ESPN Bracket Buster event headline the 2009-10 Western Carolina men's basketball schedule unveiled today head men's basketball coach Larry Hunter.
The season will culminate with the annual Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship, Thursday, March 4 through Monday, March 8 at both the Bojangles and Time Warner Arenas in Charlotte, N.C.
WCU's 16 home dates represents the most for a Catamount men's basketball team since moving into the Ramsey Center in for the 1986-87 season. WCU finished 11-2 at home a year ago, including a league-best 9-1 mark inside the friendly confines of the Ramsey Center. The 11 victories were the most-ever by a Catamount squad in the Ramsey Center, surpassing the previous record of 10 set in 1996-97.
"With a veteran team returning, we wanted to assemble a non-conference schedule that will provide great challenges while also enabling us to hopefully grow and gain some confidence as a team before we head into the bulk of conference play after the New Year," said Hunter, who is entering his fifth season at the helm in Cullowhee. "It is certainly a very challenging schedule, but one that should excite our players and fans."
Coming off its first winning season since 1996, the Hunter-led Catamounts will open the year by hosting NAIA-member, St. Catharine College, in Cullowhee on Saturday, Nov. 14, before opening a four-game stint in the O'Reilly Auto Parts College Basketball Experience (CBE) Classic.
In the opening round of the CBE Classic, WCU will visit Rick Barnes and the Texas Longhorns in Austin on Wednesday, Nov. 18. The tournament will then switch focus to Cullowhee for the sub-regional portion as the Catamounts will entertain Illinois-Chicago (16-15 in 2008-09), Duquesne (21-13, NIT team) and Binghamton (23-9 in 2008-09, NCAA team) for three days of double-header action on November 23-25. WCU will play the nightcap of each twin bill during the three-day event, with each team facing one-another.
"We are looking forward to hosting the school's first NCAA Division I exempted event in Cullowhee and on our campus," Hunter said about the CBE Classic. "With the difficult economic times most everyone is experiencing, this tournament should be a boost for local lodging, restaurants and businesses. It is my hope that our campus and community will embrace this three day event and help make the tournament a success."
November will conclude with a post-Thanksgiving trip to Boiling Springs, N.C., and a date with Gardner-Webb out of the Big South on Saturday, Nov. 28.
As the calendar flips to December, WCU, which won a share of the 2008-09 North Division crown, will open its 18-game Southern Conference slate by hosting South Division foe, Wofford, in the Ramsey Center on Dec. 2 in the first of two conference games before the New Year. The Catamounts will also visit upstate rival, Furman, on Dec. 5, before stepping out of league play for five games to round out 2009.
Western will host Atlantic Sun-member, Campbell (Dec. 10) and the annual meeting with mountain-rival, UNC Asheville on Wednesday, Dec. 30. The month also includes road trips to Bradley (Dec. 7), Elite Eight and No. 1 seed a season ago, Louisville (Dec. 12) and at regional ACC-foe, Clemson on Dec. 22.
The Catamounts will entertain non-conference foe, Berea College (Jan. 10) from Kentucky to start 2010 before diving head first into the heart of the SoCon slate. Home appearances by divisional-foes UNC Greensboro (Jan. 14), Elon (Jan. 16) and College of Charleston (Jan. 25) highlight the January schedule, with Georgia Southern (Feb. 4), arch-rival Appalachian State (Feb.6), Davidson (Feb. 13), and divisional battles with Samford (Feb. 25) and defending champion, Chattanooga (Feb. 27) rounding out the home slate.
Western will make road trips Georgia Southern (Jan. 9), Davidson (Jan. 20), Appalachian State (Jan. 23), Chattanooga (Jan. 28) and Samford (Jan. 30) in January, with February's road slate featuring trips to Elon (Feb. 8), UNC Greensboro (Feb. 15) in the Greensboro Coliseum and the only meeting with The Citadel (Feb. 18).
Also highlighting the 2009-10 schedule is Western's first-ever appearance in the ESPN Bracket Buster tournament on Saturday, Feb. 20. Opponents, locations and game times will be announced in early February, 2010.
The first two rounds of the conference championship will be played at the Bojangles' Arena in Charlotte, with the semifinal and finals to be played at the Time Warner Arena, home of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats.
WCU returns six players that started 12-or-more games a season ago, including five seniors and the SoCon's Freshman of the Year in redshirt sophomore Harouna Mutombo. The Catamounts are slated to open practice this fall on Friday, October 16.
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