# 2021–22 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball team represented Western Carolina University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Catamounts, led by first-year head coach Justin Gray, played their home games at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina, as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 11–21, 5–13 in SoCon play to finish in last place. They lost to Mercer in the first round of the SoCon tournament.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Catamounts finished the 2019–20 season 11–16, 4–13 in SoCon play to finish in ninth place. They lost in the first round of the SoCon tournament to The Citadel.

## Offseason
### Player departures

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Sin'Cere McMahon | G | 6'1" | 167 | Freshman | Indianapolis, IN | Transferred to Winthrop |
| Matt Halvorsen | G | 6'1" | 183 | Senior | Kingsport, TN | Transferred to Florida Gulf Coast |
| Kennedy Miles | G | 6'1" | 165 | Freshman | Burlington, NC | Transferred to Lawson State CC |
| Douglas Elks | G/F | 6'5" | 200 | RS Junior | Raleigh, NC | Left team |
| Mason Faulkner | G | 6'1" | 190 | RS Senior | Glasgow, KY | Transferred to Louisville |
| Cory Hightower | F | 6'7" | 222 | RS Junior | Flint, MI | Transferred to Winthrop |
| Xavier Cork | F | 6'9" | 235 | Sophomore | Sulphur Springs, TX | Transferred to TCU |
| Kameron Gibson | G | 6'3" | 192 | Junior | Cincinnati, OH | Transferred to Vermont |
| Daniel Ransom | F | 6'5" | 214 | Freshman | Charlotte, NC | Left team |
| Marcus Thomas | G | 6'3" | 185 | Senior | Mint Hill, NC | Graduated |
| Tyler McGhie | G | 6'5" | 188 | Freshman | Denton, TX | Transferred to Southern Nazarene |
| Ahmir Langlais | F | 6'9" | 218 | RS Freshman | Atlanta, GA | Transferred to USC Upstate |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School | Years Remaining |
| Vonterius Woolbright | G | 6'5" | 208 | Junior | Albany, GA | Lawson State CC | 2 |
| Cam Bacote | G | 6'3" | 173 | Graduate | Hampton, VA | Indiana State | 1 |
| Marvin Price | G | 6'5" | 230 | Junior | Baltimore, MD | Salt Lake CC | 2 |
| Madison Monroe | G | 6'3" | 193 | Junior | Charlotte, NC | Independence CC | 2 |
| Marlow Gilmore | F | 6'5" | 191 | Junior | Norway, SC | Dodge City CC | 2 |
| Nicholas Robinson | G | 6'6" | 220 | Graduate | Chicago, IL | Valparasio | 1 |
| Joe Petrakis | F | 6'10" | 224 | RS Junior | Wichita, KS | Kansas State | 2 |

### 2021 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Marcus Banks G | Hampton, VA | Fork Union Military Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 187 lb (85 kg) |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| K.J. Odour F | Kisumu, Kenya | Spire Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 198 lb (90 kg) |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Jordian Fox F | Fayetteville, NC | Jack Britt High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Max Rogers G | Waynesville, NC | Asheville Christian Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Davion Everette G | Columbia, SC | Ridge View High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| 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: ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2021* 7:00 pm | | Campbellsville–Harrodsburg | W 106–62 | – | Ramsey Center (934) Cullowhee, NC |
| Non-conference Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Bowling Green | W 79–71 $^{OT}$ | 1–0 | Ramsey Center (1,862) Cullowhee, NC |
| November 12, 2021* 7:30 pm, ACCNX | | at Wake Forest | L 75–87 | 1–1 | LJVM Coliseum (4,359) Winston-Salem, NC |
| November 14, 2021* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at East Carolina | L 79–95 | 1–2 | Williams Arena (3,245) Greenville, NC |
| November 19, 2021* 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | vs. UMBC Lander Invitational | L 75–91 | 1–3 | Willett Hall (174) Farmville, VA |
| November 20, 2021* 3:30 pm, ESPN+ | | vs. American Lander Invitational | W 80–79 | 2–3 | Willett Hall (218) Farmville, VA |
| November 21, 2021* 3:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Longwood Lander Invitational | W 64–53 | 3–3 | Willett Hall (1518) Farmville, VA |
| November 27, 2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Gardner–Webb | L 59–87 | 3–4 | Paul Porter Arena (175) Boiling Springs, NC |
| December 1, 2021* 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Warren Wilson | W 102–47 | 4–4 | Ramsey Center (1,522) Cullowhee, NC |
| December 4, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at USC Upstate | W 78–73 | 5–4 | G. B. Hodge Center (567) Spartanburg, SC |
| December 8, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Tennessee Tech | W 74–69 $^{OT}$ | 6–4 | Ramsey Center (1,722) Cullowhee, NC |
| December 11, 2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UNC Asheville | L 72–73 | 6–5 | Ramsey Center (2,418) Cullowhee, NC |
| December 20, 2021* 7:00 pm, SECN+ | | at Georgia | L 79–85 | 6–6 | Stegeman Coliseum (7,271) Athens, GA |
| December 22, 2021* 5:00 pm, CUSA.TV | | at Charlotte | L 82–98 | 6–7 | Dale F. Halton Arena (2,805) Charlotte, NC |
| SoCon Regular season ||||||
| January 5, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | The Citadel | W 94–90 $^{OT}$ | 7–7 (1–0) | Ramsey Center (892) Cullowhee, NC |
| January 8, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Samford | L 65–80 | 7–8 (1–1) | Pete Hanna Center (703) Homewood, AL |
| January 10, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at East Tennessee State Rescheduled from Jan. 1 | L 69–87 | 7–9 (1–2) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,552) Johnson City, TN |
| January 12, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Chattanooga | W 70–59 | 8–9 (2–2) | Ramsey Center (2,749) Cullowhee, NC |
| January 15, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Wofford | L 64–84 | 8–10 (2–3) | Ramsey Center (2,132) Cullowhee, NC |
| January 19, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Furman | L 50–88 | 8–11 (2–4) | Timmons Arena (1,464) Greenville, SC |
| January 22, 2022 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Mercer | L 64–72 | 8–12 (2–5) | Hawkins Arena (2,271) Macon, GA |
| January 26, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at The Citadel | L 66–68 | 8–13 (2–6) | McAlister Field House (1,103) Charleston, SC |
| January 29, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Samford | L 64–74 | 8–14 (2–7) | Ramsey Center (1,381) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 2, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | East Tennessee State | W 87–84 | 9–14 (3–7) | Ramsey Center (1,086) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 4, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at VMI | L 69–76 | 9–15 (3–8) | Cameron Hall (2,434) Lexington, VA |
| February 7, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UNC Greensboro Rescheduled from Dec. 29 | L 49–68 | 9–16 (3–9) | Ramsey Center (1,007) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 9, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Chattanooga | L 47–65 | 9–17 (3–10) | McKenzie Arena (3,128) Chattanooga, TN |
| February 12, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Wofford | L 57–69 | 9–18 (3–11) | Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (1,222) Spartanburg, SC |
| February 16, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Furman | L 85–103 | 9–19 (3–12) | Ramsey Center (1,209) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 19, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Mercer | W 69–65 | 10–19 (4–12) | Ramsey Center (1,721) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 23, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UNC Greensboro | L 64–73 | 10–20 (4–13) | Greensboro Coliseum (1,978) Greensboro, NC |
| February 26, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | VMI | W 82–73 | 11–20 (5–13) | Ramsey Center (2,026) Cullowhee, NC |
| SoCon tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2022 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | (10) | vs. (7) Mercer First Round | L 53–81 | 11–21 | Harrah's Cherokee Center (3,113) Asheville, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
Source