Cullowhee, N.C. – A new season begins Monday night for Western Carolina men's basketball as the Catamounts open the 2026-27 campaign against their first of three Atlantic Coast Conference opponents. WCU travels to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina at the Dean E. Smith Center in the season opener for both programs.
Monday's opener will be broadcast on the ACC Network (paid subscription required) and the Watch ESPN app, with live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.
Matchup: Western Carolina (0-0) at RV/RV North Carolina (0-0)
Date: Monday, Nov. 2
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Smith Center (Chapel Hill, NC)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Live Video: ACCN (paid subscription required)
Twitter: @CatamountMBB
About Western Carolina:
A new chapter begins in Cullowhee under third-year head coach Tim Craft as the Catamounts return four players from last year's roster while welcoming eight transfers and four freshmen.
WCU's returning quartet is anchored by rising sophomores Samuel Dada and Tayeshaun Smith, who are joined by Drew Hollifield and Titian DeRosa. Dada made an immediate impact in his collegiate debut season, recording five double-doubles and leading the team with 7.6 rebounds per game. Smith flashed his potential during his freshman campaign, highlighted by an 18-point effort against UVA-Lynchburg in which he shot 8-for-10 from the floor and grabbed six rebounds.
Among the 12 Catamount newcomers are eight transfers, including seniors Malachi Brown (Georgia State/Seton Hall), Isaiah Manning (Sam Houston State/TCU), and Donovan Raymond (ODU/Hampton). The group also includes juniors Travelle Bryson (Howard/Vincennes) and Jaxon Prunty (College of Charleston), along with sophomores Jaeden Roberts (Hofstra), Jake Baker (East Carolina), and Cross Arias (Emory & Henry).
Craft and staff added four freshmen to the lineup, including Jose Martins (Katy, Texas), Jacob Zhu (Atlanta, Ga.), Fola Sodipo (Katy, Texas), and Antonio McKoy (Salemburg, N.C.).
Monday's opener will provide the first look at a dramatically reshaped Catamount roster as Western Carolina begins a season that includes three ACC opponents before Southern Conference play begins.
To Be the Best, Play the Best:
Craft and the Catamounts face stout competition as part of another strong nonconference schedule that includes teams from the ACC, Big East, and the American Athletic Conference (AAC). The Catamounts are slated to face 16 opponents that won at least 15 games a season ago, including four teams that eclipsed the 20-win mark. Three opponents appeared in the 2026 NCAA tournament, including SoCon tournament champion Furman.
Craft is no stranger to challenging nonconference schedules. During his time on the benches at both Gardner-Webb and Western Carolina, he's played 53 contests against schools from the ACC, SEC, Big 10, PAC 12, Big East, Big 12, and American.
The Catamounts face North Carolina, Wake Forest, and Virginia out of the ACC, adding match-ups against Butler and Charlotte, all before the start of SoCon play. Craft-led teams have enjoyed notable success against ACC competition, earning victories over Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest during his tenure at Gardner-Webb. His teams also defeated Purdue, Nebraska, and Georgia.
Scouting the Opposition:
North Carolina finished 24-9 last season and posted a 12-6 mark in ACC play. The Tar Heels reached the NCAA Tournament for the 22nd time since 2000 before falling to VCU in overtime in the opening round of the 2026 tournament.
The Heels enter this season under the new leadership of first-year head coach Michael Malone, who spent 12 seasons in the NBA. Malone helped lead the Denver Nuggets to the 2023 NBA Championship as he totaled 471 regular-season wins and 44 postseason wins.
Denver averaged 50.3 wins over his last seven seasons, including a franchise record-tying 57 in 2023-24, 54 in 2018-19 and 53 in 2022-23. He won 510 regular-season games combining two seasons as head coach of the Sacramento Kings and 10 years in Denver. His teams produced five of the 10-winningest seasons in Nuggets' history, and his 44 postseason wins are 20 more than any other Denver coach.
Senior Jarin Stevenson headlines UNC's returning cast after averaging more than eight points per game last season following his transfer from Alabama. A product of Pittsboro, N.C., Stevenson had 10 double-figure scoring efforts last season. N.C. State transfer Matt Able was named to the Preseason Jerry West Award Watch List, an award which is given annually to the top shooting guard in the NCAA. Able averaged 8.4 points per game and knocked down 49 three-pointers while reaching double figures in scoring 14 times during his debut season in Raleigh.
The Tar Heels have defended their home court well at the Smith Center, as North Carolina is 507-90 (.849) since the facility opened in January of 1986. UNC enters Monday's opener with an active 18-game home win streak.
North Carolina was tabbed fifth in the 18-team ACC Preseason Poll as the league has four teams in the Preseason AP Top 25 poll, while two more are receiving votes, including the Tar Heels.
Series History:
Western Carolina and North Carolina met twice before Monday's opener, with the Tar Heels claiming both meetings. The most recent meeting came in 2017, when Roy Williams' Tar Heels defeated Larry Hunter's Catamounts 104-61 in Chapel Hill.
The first meeting occurred on Jan. 30, 1957, when Western Carolina hosted top-ranked North Carolina and legendary head coach Frank McGuire in historic Reid Gym. The Tar Heels won 77-59 as part of their 32-0 season. It was also the same year UNC earned its first-ever top national ranking.
Western Carolina vs. the ACC:
The Catamounts have battled 12 of the current schools in the ACC – Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, Clemson, Florida State, N.C. State, Virginia Tech, SMU, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, and Georgia Tech. WCU has earned wins over Louisville, Florida State, Notre Dame, and Georgia Tech. Multiple matchups among those 12 teams battling WCU have occurred when the respective schools were in different leagues.
Did You Know?
The Southern Conference gave rise to two of the premier NCAA conferences, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Founded in 1921, the SoCon is the fifth-oldest NCAA conference (Big Ten, 1896; Missouri Valley, 1907; Pac-12, 1915; SWAC, 1920), and boasts the nation's oldest men's basketball tournament, held in 1922 at the Municipal Auditorium in Atlanta, Ga., and won by North Carolina.
North Carolina was one of the SoCon's 14 charter members. Of those original institutions, six remain members of the ACC (Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia, Virginia Tech) and six currently compete in the SEC (Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee).
Up Next:
Following Monday's debut contest in Chapel Hill, the Catamounts continue their road slate with a trip to Asheville to battle mountain rival UNC Asheville on Saturday, Nov. 7. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live stats available on CatamountSports.com.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's basketball and WCU Athletics through our social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@catamountmbb @wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@CatamountMBB @catamounts).
