# 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.

## 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 |
| 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: ||||||

## 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. ||||||