2025–26 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball team

2025–26 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball
2025–26 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	15–16 (10–8 SoCon)
Head coach	Tim Craft (2nd season);
Associate head coach	Andre Gray
Assistant coaches	Andrew Brown; Adam Bullard; Jackson Simmons;
Home arena	Ramsey Center

2025–26 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East Tennessee State	13	–	5	.722	23	–	11	.676
Wofford	11	–	7	.611	19	–	13	.594
Samford	11	–	7	.611	18	–	14	.563
Mercer	11	–	7	.611	19	–	13	.594
Western Carolina	10	–	8	.556	15	–	16	.484
Furman †	10	–	8	.556	22	–	13	.629
UNC Greensboro	9	–	9	.500	15	–	19	.441
Chattanooga	7	–	11	.389	13	–	19	.406
The Citadel	7	–	11	.389	11	–	22	.333
VMI	1	–	17	.056	6	–	26	.188

† 2026 SoCon tournament winner

The 2025–26 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball team represented Western Carolina University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Catamounts, led by second-year head coach Tim Craft, played their home games at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, North Carolina as members of the Southern Conference (SoCon).

Previous season

The Catamounts finished the 2024–25 season 8–22, 4–14 in SoCon play, to finish in seventh place.^[1] They were defeated by Mercer in the first round of the SoCon tournament.^[2]

Preseason

On October 1, 2025, the SoCon released their preseason coaches poll. Western Carolina was picked to finish seventh in the conference.^[3]

Preseason rankings

SoCon Preseason Poll
Place	Team	Points
1	Chattanooga	77 (5)
2	Furman	73 (5)
3	Samford	62
4	East Tennessee State	61
5	UNC Greensboro	43
6	VMI	41
7	Western Carolina	32
8	Mercer	30
9	Wofford	21
10	The Citadel	10
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[3]

Preseason All-SoCon Team

Preseason All-SoCon Team
Player	Year	Position
Marcus Kell	RS Junior	Forward

Source:^[3]

Roster

2025–26 Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Cord Stansberry	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	RS Jr	Pepperdine	Bermuda Dunes, California
F	1	Chase McKey	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	RS Sr	Marshall	Atlanta, Georgia
G	2	CJ Hyland	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	RS So	Loganville High School	Loganville, Georgia
G	3	Julien Soumaoro	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	GS	East Carolina	Bronx, New York
G	4	Justin Johnson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Arkansas State	Miami, Florida
G	5	Titian DeRosa	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	Fr	Whitman High School	Bethesda, Maryland
C	7	Abdulai Fanta Kabba	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	So	Denver	Kenema, Sierra Leone
G	8	Tahlan Pettway	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Fr	St. Thomas More School	Worcester, Massachusetts
G	11	Drew Hollifield	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	RS Fr	Shelby High School	Shelby, North Carolina
F	12	Samuel Dada	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Link Academy	Lagos, Nigeria
G	17	Max Williams	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	RS Fr	Hanover High School	Hanover, Virginia
G	20	Fischer Brown	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Wasatch Academy	Lewistown, Montana
F	21	Tayeshaun Smith	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Fr	Combine Academy	Raleigh, North Carolina
G	22	Tidjiane Dioumassi	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	GS	Southern	Paris, France
F	23	Marcus Kell	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	213 lb (97 kg)	RS Jr	Legion Collegiate Academy	Fort Mill, South Carolina
F	33	Vernon Collins	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	224 lb (102 kg)	Sr	Princeton	Chocowinity, North Carolina

Head coach

Tim Craft (Florida)

Assistant coach(es)

Andre Gray (Methodist)
Andrew Brown (Mercer)
Adam Bullard (Western Carolina)
Jackson Simmons (Charlotte)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 26, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 29, 2025* 7:00 pm		Brevard	W 87–32		Ramsey Center Cullowhee, NC
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Cincinnati	L 63–94	0–1	Fifth Third Arena (9,126) Cincinnati, OH
November 8, 2025* 1:30 pm, The CW		at No. 6 Duke	L 54–95	0–2	Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC
November 13, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Voorhees	W 95–44	1–2	Ramsey Center (854) Cullowhee, NC
November 16, 2025* 1:00 pm, Nexstar/ESPN+		Stetson ASUN/SoCon Challenge	W 76–65	2–2	Ramsey Center (1,698) Cullowhee, NC
November 19, 2025* 7:30 pm, ESPN+		UNC Asheville	W 80–73	3–2	Ramsey Center (2,387) Cullowhee, NC
November 22, 2025* 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at Lipscomb ASUN/SoCon Challenge	L 62–83	3–3	Allen Arena (1,194) Nashville, TN
November 29, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at High Point	L 73–93	3–4	Qubein Center (2,719) High Point, NC
December 2, 2025* 11:00 am, ESPN+		Virginia Lynchburg	W 124–62	4–4	Ramsey Center (2,604) Cullowhee, NC
December 6, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at USC Upstate	L 67–78	4–5	G. B. Hodge Center (419) Spartanburg, SC
December 11, 2025* 7:00 pm, ACCNX		at Virginia Tech	L 74–96	4–6	Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, VA
December 18, 2025* 7:00 pm, SECN+		at No. 25 Georgia	L 82–112	4–7	Stegeman Coliseum (6,652) Athens, GA
SoCon regular season
December 31, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Wofford	L 74–79	4–8 (0–1)	Ramsey Center (1,484) Cullowhee, NC
January 3, 2026 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Furman	W 80–77 ^OT	5–8 (1–1)	Timmons Arena (2,500) Greenville, SC
January 7, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Samford	L 77–82	5–9 (1–2)	Pete Hanna Center (813) Homewood, AL
January 10, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at The Citadel	L 77–79 ^OT	5–10 (1–3)	McAlister Field House (1,201) Charleston, SC
January 14, 2026 6:00 pm, Nexstar/ESPN+		East Tennessee State	W 72–68	6–10 (2–3)	Ramsey Center (1,498) Cullowhee, NC
January 17, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Chattanooga	L 82–90	6–11 (2–4)	Ramsey Center (1,780) Cullowhee, NC
January 21, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Mercer	L 76–88	6–12 (2–5)	Hawkins Arena (1,084) Macon, GA
January 24, 2026 3:30 pm, ESPN+		VMI	W 88–58	7–12 (3–5)	Ramsey Center (1,418) Cullowhee, NC
January 29, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at East Tennessee State	W 90–88	8–12 (4–5)	Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,012) Johnson City, TN
January 31, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Samford	L 74–88	8–13 (4–6)	Ramsey Center (1,146) Cullowhee, NC
February 4, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at UNC Greensboro	L 78–81	8–14 (4–7)	Bodford Arena (1,204) Greensboro, NC
February 7, 2026 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Wofford	L 66–77	8–15 (4–8)	Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (1,932) Spartanburg, SC
February 11, 2026 6:00 pm, Nexstar/ESPN+		The Citadel	W 87–49	9–15 (5–8)	Ramsey Center (1,041) Cullowhee, NC
February 14, 2026 4:30 pm, ESPN+		at Chattanooga	W 81–76	10–15 (6–8)	McKenzie Arena (3,347) Chattanooga, TN
February 18, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+		UNC Greensboro	W 91–77	11–15 (7–8)	Ramsey Center (1,692) Cullowhee, NC
February 21, 2026 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at VMI	W 81–62	12–15 (8–8)	Cameron Hall (2,284) Lexington, VA
February 25, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Mercer	W 78–74	13–15 (9–8)	Ramsey Center (1,970) Cullowhee, NC
February 28, 2026 5:30 pm, ESPN+		Furman	W 86–67	14–15 (10–8)	Ramsey Center (3,486) Cullowhee, NC
SoCon tournament
March 7, 2026 8:30 pm, ESPN+	(5)	vs. (4) Mercer Quarterfinals	W 77–73	15–15	Harrah's Cherokee Center (4,768) Asheville, NC
March 8, 2026 4:00 pm, ESPNU	(5)	vs. (1) East Tennessee State Semifinals	L 67–69	15–16	Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville, NC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[4]^[5]

References

^ "2024-25 Standings". SoCon. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
^ "Mercer wins in dramatic fashion, VMI claims first SoCon tourney win in four years". Mid-Major Madness. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
^ ^a ^b ^c "SoCon men's hoops preseason all-conference team, poll announced". SoCon. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". Western Carolina University. Retrieved October 26, 2025.
^ "Western Carolina Catamounts 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved October 26, 2025.

[1] "2024-25 Standings". SoCon. Retrieved October 26, 2025.

[2] "Mercer wins in dramatic fashion, VMI claims first SoCon tourney win in four years". Mid-Major Madness. Retrieved October 26, 2025.

[poll-3] "SoCon men's hoops preseason all-conference team, poll announced". SoCon. Retrieved October 26, 2025.

[4] "2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule". Western Carolina University. Retrieved October 26, 2025.

[5] "Western Carolina Catamounts 2025-26 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved October 26, 2025.

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[3]

[4]

[5]

Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball
Venues	Breese Gymnasium (1929–1956) Reid Gymnasium (1956–1986) Ramsey Center (1986–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26