Some interesting info on Bradley's basketball opponent Western Carolina University

Bradley hosts Western Carolina on Tuesday December 20 - only two days before heading to play Michigan, so I hope our guys focus on WCU and don't be looking ahead to the road trip.
This game with Western Carolina is the completion of a 3-year 2-for-1 deal where we will have played them twice in Peoria (12/07/09 & 12/20/11) and once there (11/30/10).

WCU calls themselves the Catamounts - another name for a mountain lion or puma.
Prior to 1933 they went unofficially by "Mountain Boomers" - a nickname for a type of squirrel.

This past season we lost there 66-65 in a game we had won then let it slip away.
It was the first game after it was announced that Sam Maniscalco would join Taylor Brown on the "walking wounded" list and not play the rest of the season.
Sadly, little did we know then that we would never see Sammy in a Bradley uniform again...
WCU finished with RPI 172, 18-15 and they won the North Division of the Southern Conference.
They were 11-1 at home but just 6-11 on the road.

This year Western Carolina starts with their first seven games away from home with two road games (at South Carolina & Presbyterian), then they go to Northern Iowa & Iowa State as part of the South Padre Island Tourney, then two more games on South Padre Island, then at Samford.
Just immediately prior to playing Bradley on December 20, they host Kent State there in Cullowhee, North Carolina...where their home arena (Ramsay Athletic Center)that holds 8,000 has only once had a sellout and only twice ever had a crowd over 4,700.
Their average home attendance is 2,000....as football is still the big draw there, about 9,000 per game, although they just played in front of about 45,000 fans at the Georgia Dome last night in Atlanta against Georgia Tech.

The Catamounts lose their best scorer Mike Williams (15.4 ppg), and their 3rd best Richie Gordon (10.2 ppg), but return everyone else and some new guys..
Their most recognizable name will be Harouna Mutombo - a Canadian kid who already has hit their 1000 point club, and averages 10 ppg, 6 rpg....and who is the nephew of NBA'er Dikembe Mutombo.
2nd leading scorer Trey Sumler also returns, he was the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year last season...11.5 ppg, 4 rebs, 3 asst.
BTW -- Mutombo was the 2008-2009 conference Freshman of the Year.

In the one-point win for them against Bradley last season, Mutombo had 7 pts, 8 rebs, and 6 assists...
In that game Bradley had a 58-47 lead with only 9:51 to play and were outscored 19-7 down the stretch ...with Bradley going MORE THAN nine minutes without a basket until Dodie scored with just 46 seconds left.


Western Carolina has had a couple players make it to the NBA

-Mel Gibson - no NOT that Mel Gibson -- this guy who played just 9 games for the Lakers in 1963-64 - http://is.gd/UGupPy

-Kevin Martin -
http://basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=MARTIKE02

-Jarvis Hayes - who transferred to Georgia then made it to the NBA -
http://basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=HAYESJA01

-Henry Logan - the first Black athlete to play on any college team in North Carolina - http://basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=LOGANHE01


Lastly -- they have one other famous basketball player....something that I guess they can forever brag about!!!

Ronnie Carr - who is credited with having made the first three-point field goal in College Basketball history on November 28, 1980.
http://www.catamountsports.com/genrel/011205abc.html
http://www.catamountsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/052107aaa.html