# 2019–20 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball team represented Western Carolina University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Catamounts, led by second-year head coach Mark Prosser, played their home games at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina, as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 19–12, 10–8 in Southern Conference play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They defeated Mercer in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference tournament before losing in the semifinals to East Tennessee State.

## Previous season

The Catamounts finished the 2018–19 season 7–25, 4–14 in Southern Conference play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place. In the Southern Conference tournament, they were defeated by VMI in the first round.

## Offseason
### Player departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Marc Gosselin | 12 | F | 6'7" | 205 | Senior | Lyon, France | Graduated |
| Josh Cottrell | 15 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Freshman | Hayesville, NC | Transferred to North Georgia |
| Yalim Olclay | 35 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Junior | Izmir, Turkey | Transferred to Minnesota-Duluth |

### Recruiting Class of 2019

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Travion McCray G | Timmonsville, SC | Village Christian Academy | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 176 lb (80 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Tyler Harris G/F | Charlotte, NC | Independence High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 186 lb (84 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Xavier Cork F | Sulphur Springs, TX | Sulphur Springs High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Ahmir Langlais F | Atlanta, GA | Holy Spirit Prep | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 210 lb (95 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: ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 5, 2019* 7:00 pm, SECN+ | | at Georgia | L 72–91 | 0–1 | Stegeman Coliseum (8,722) Athens, GA |
| November 9, 2019* 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Gardner–Webb | W 71–59 | 1–1 | Ramsey Center (1,735) Cullowhee, NC |
| November 12, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | North Carolina A&T | W 90–64 | 2–1 | Ramsey Center (1,206) Cullowhee, NC |
| November 15, 2019* 7:00 pm, FS South | | at Florida State | L 74–79 | 2–2 | Donald L. Tucker Center (9,490) Tallahassee, FL |
| November 21, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Jacksonville | W 96–94 $^{2OT}$ | 3–2 | Swisher Gymnasium (764) Jacksonville, FL |
| November 24, 2019* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Stetson | W 70–64 | 4–2 | Edmunds Center (522) DeLand, FL |
| November 27, 2019* 12:00 pm | | Bryan | W 78–54 | 5–2 | Ramsey Center (793) Cullowhee, NC |
| December 3, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Chattanooga | W 87–77 | 6–2 (1–0) | Ramsey Center (2,021) Cullowhee, NC |
| December 7, 2019* 4:00 pm, Nexstar/ESPN+/3 | | UNC Asheville | W 78–77 | 7–2 | Ramsey Center (2,302) Cullowhee, NC |
| December 18, 2019* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | at Xavier | L 61–74 | 7–3 | Cintas Center (9,907) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 21, 2019* 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Tennessee Tech | W 89–76 | 8–3 | Eblen Center (1,392) Cookeville, TN |
| December 28, 2019* 12:00 pm | | Piedmont | W 108–47 | 9–3 | Ramsey Center (965) Cullowhee, NC |
| January 4, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at The Citadel | W 86–82 | 10–3 (2–0) | McAlister Field House (1,056) Charleston, SC |
| January 8, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at VMI | W 97–85 | 11–3 (3–0) | Cameron Hall (645) Lexington, VA |
| January 11, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Mercer | W 79–71 | 12–3 (4–0) | Ramsey Center (2,296) Cullowhee, NC |
| January 15, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Furman | L 79–83 | 12–4 (4–1) | Timmons Arena (1,695) Greenville, SC |
| January 18, 2020 7:00 pm, Nexstar/ESPN+ | | East Tennessee State | L 66–85 | 12–5 (4–2) | Ramsey Center (3,756) Cullowhee, NC |
| January 22, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Mercer | L 79–85 | 12–6 (4–3) | Hawkins Arena (2,572) Macon, GA |
| January 25, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wofford | W 81–72 | 13–6 (5–3) | Ramsey Center (3,809) Cullowhee, NC |
| January 29, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UNC Greensboro | L 58–72 | 13–7 (5–4) | Ramsey Center (1,860) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 1, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Chattanooga | W 64–61 | 14–7 (6–4) | McKenzie Arena (3,188) Chattanooga, TN |
| February 5, 2020 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Samford | W 78–70 | 15–7 (7–4) | Pete Hanna Center (378) Homewood, AL |
| February 8, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Furman | L 73–82 | 15–8 (7–5) | Ramsey Center (2,338) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 12, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UNC Greensboro | L 62–82 | 15–9 (7–6) | Greensboro Coliseum (3,057) Greensboro, NC |
| February 15, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Wofford | W 80–74 | 16–9 (8–6) | Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (2,365) Spartanburg, SC |
| February 19, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | VMI | L 71–74 | 16–10 (8–7) | Ramsey Center (1,528) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 22, 2020 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | The Citadel | W 96–84 | 17–10 (9–7) | Ramsey Center (3,497) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 26, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Samford | W 109–78 | 18–10 (10–7) | Ramsey Center (1,474) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 29, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at East Tennessee State | L 67–68 | 18–11 (10–8) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (6,177) Johnson City, TN |
| Southern Conference tournament ||||||
| March 7, 2020 2:30 pm, ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (4) Mercer Quarterfinals | W 70–56 | 19–11 | Harrah's Cherokee Center (5,573) Asheville, NC |
| March 8, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (1) East Tennessee State Semifinals | L 75–97 | 19–12 | Harrah's Cherokee Center (6,132) Asheville, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
Source