Pilchard
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Our 1-0 Deacs start off a big weekend for WF sports with a Friday night tilt versus the Western Carolina Catamounts. Here is the rundown on WCU:
HC Justin Gray: Our own Justin Gray leads the Cats into Winston replacing another coach with a strong WF connection, Mark Prosser (who moved on to lead Winthrop, replacing Pat Kelsey, yet another WF connection). For those too young remember Justin Gray, he is an all-time WF favorite as a player and leader. Gray played for WF between 2002-6, received All-ACC recognition over three different seasons. Gray is 2nd on the WF all time 3 point scorer list with 319, behind only Randolph Childress, and is 8th on the WF all-time scoring list with 1946 points as a Deac.
LOL at Dino's typical clueless expression... yes, Dino, your team gets three points for that shot... also love that Chris Mack is next to Dino in that shot...
2021-22 Catamounts: When WCU hired Justin Gray last Spring, he inherited a mess. The Cats had just finished an 11-16 (4-13) and 9th in the 10 team SoCon. Already with his "best" players in the transfer portal, Prosser left for Winthrop aware that WCU was heading for an ugly 2021-22 season, which would've put Prosser's job in jeopardy. The current Catamount roster returns none of their top 5 scorers from last year, and only one player that started a game last year. The cupboard was beyond bare. With the promise of a lot of PT available, Gray and his staff worked the transfer portal to build a team. In fact, of the 8 players that logged time in WCU's opening game on Tuesday, all are juniors and seniors, and seven transferred into WCU this Spring or Summer. Gray undertook team building and developing cohesion on the fly. Despite the adversity, in their first game, WCU jumped on #139 Bowling Green early (led 14-3) and then battled back after BG seemed to have the game under control late. WCU's Cam Bacote (an Indiana State transfer and teammate of Jake LaRavia) hit a layup at the buzzer to force OT, and then the Cats pulled away in OT to beat a solid Bowling Green team 79-71. WF (#100) is the highest rated team on WCU's schedule, and even with the upset on Tuesday, KP projects a rough season for the Cats -- 10-21 (4-14) last in the SoCon.
WCU Roster:
On Tuesday, Gray started:
PG 6-3 Sr. Cam Bacote: Bacote is from Bethel HS (same as Tony Rutland) in VA. Started at MD-Eastern Shore; transferred to Indiana State; played two years, but never started a game; scored in double figures twice in 59 games while playing next to LaRavia; 12 pts, 5 assists; 3 TOs on Tuesday
SG 6-6 Sr. Nick Robinson: started at St. Joe's, transferred to Valpo before landing at WCU; he's a scorer and had 15 against Purdue last year; led WCU with 15 points and 13 boards on Tuesday; shot 3 for 6 from three
G/F 6-6 Jr. Tyler Harris: the lone holdover from last year; started 18 games last year; shoots 3s, but often misses -- 26% career from 3; 11 points, but fouled out on Tuesday
BF 6-5 Jr. Marlowe Gilmore: JUCO transfer; averaged 10 ppg and 5.5 rpg at that level; 7 points (3 for 3 from the field) 6 boards on Tuesday
C 6-10 Jr. Joe Petrakis: K State transfer; played a total of 29 minutes for K State last year; 14 points, 11 boards, 2 blocks on Tuesday; not afraid to shoot from deep: shot 8 threes on Tuesday (made 2)
The bench:
G/F 6-5 Jr. Vonterius Woolbright: JUCO transfer; fills the stat sheet: played 31 minutes against BG; 8 assists, 7 points (1-7 from the field), 5 boards, 5 TOs, 4 steals
G 6-3 Jr. Madison Monroe: started at Oakland U, went JUCO and then ended up at WCU: 7 points and 4 boards against BG
G/F Jr. 6-5 Marvin Price: JUCO to Ohio U to WCU; only played in 5 games for Ohio; 6 points, 2 boards and 2 assists on Tuesday
The outcome:
KP projects a 79-62 WF win. While the Cats showed grit pulling out an OT win over BG on Tuesday, some warts were exposed. WCU committed 18 TOs and shot 56% from the line. WCU did hang on the boards with a +6 advantage. The Cats benefitted from some awful Bowling Green shooting as the Falcons went 5 for 34 (14%) from 3. BG's leading returning scorer Daeqwon Plowden missed all 8 of his three point shots... Yuck. Gray scrambled to assemble a roster made up of essentially misfit toys, and his team reflected Gray's toughness on Tuesday when it defeated a mid-tier MAC team. That said, WF should name the score on Friday. WCU appears to lack a true PG, and the Deacs forced WM into 21 TOs yesterday. Would expect more the same on Friday night. Will ride the Deacs again as Forbes wasn't happy with the 2nd half last night (WF outscored 23-11 to close the game after leading 66-36 with 9 minutes left). WF in a rout.
HC Justin Gray: Our own Justin Gray leads the Cats into Winston replacing another coach with a strong WF connection, Mark Prosser (who moved on to lead Winthrop, replacing Pat Kelsey, yet another WF connection). For those too young remember Justin Gray, he is an all-time WF favorite as a player and leader. Gray played for WF between 2002-6, received All-ACC recognition over three different seasons. Gray is 2nd on the WF all time 3 point scorer list with 319, behind only Randolph Childress, and is 8th on the WF all-time scoring list with 1946 points as a Deac.
LOL at Dino's typical clueless expression... yes, Dino, your team gets three points for that shot... also love that Chris Mack is next to Dino in that shot...
2021-22 Catamounts: When WCU hired Justin Gray last Spring, he inherited a mess. The Cats had just finished an 11-16 (4-13) and 9th in the 10 team SoCon. Already with his "best" players in the transfer portal, Prosser left for Winthrop aware that WCU was heading for an ugly 2021-22 season, which would've put Prosser's job in jeopardy. The current Catamount roster returns none of their top 5 scorers from last year, and only one player that started a game last year. The cupboard was beyond bare. With the promise of a lot of PT available, Gray and his staff worked the transfer portal to build a team. In fact, of the 8 players that logged time in WCU's opening game on Tuesday, all are juniors and seniors, and seven transferred into WCU this Spring or Summer. Gray undertook team building and developing cohesion on the fly. Despite the adversity, in their first game, WCU jumped on #139 Bowling Green early (led 14-3) and then battled back after BG seemed to have the game under control late. WCU's Cam Bacote (an Indiana State transfer and teammate of Jake LaRavia) hit a layup at the buzzer to force OT, and then the Cats pulled away in OT to beat a solid Bowling Green team 79-71. WF (#100) is the highest rated team on WCU's schedule, and even with the upset on Tuesday, KP projects a rough season for the Cats -- 10-21 (4-14) last in the SoCon.
WCU Roster:
On Tuesday, Gray started:
PG 6-3 Sr. Cam Bacote: Bacote is from Bethel HS (same as Tony Rutland) in VA. Started at MD-Eastern Shore; transferred to Indiana State; played two years, but never started a game; scored in double figures twice in 59 games while playing next to LaRavia; 12 pts, 5 assists; 3 TOs on Tuesday
SG 6-6 Sr. Nick Robinson: started at St. Joe's, transferred to Valpo before landing at WCU; he's a scorer and had 15 against Purdue last year; led WCU with 15 points and 13 boards on Tuesday; shot 3 for 6 from three
G/F 6-6 Jr. Tyler Harris: the lone holdover from last year; started 18 games last year; shoots 3s, but often misses -- 26% career from 3; 11 points, but fouled out on Tuesday
BF 6-5 Jr. Marlowe Gilmore: JUCO transfer; averaged 10 ppg and 5.5 rpg at that level; 7 points (3 for 3 from the field) 6 boards on Tuesday
C 6-10 Jr. Joe Petrakis: K State transfer; played a total of 29 minutes for K State last year; 14 points, 11 boards, 2 blocks on Tuesday; not afraid to shoot from deep: shot 8 threes on Tuesday (made 2)
The bench:
G/F 6-5 Jr. Vonterius Woolbright: JUCO transfer; fills the stat sheet: played 31 minutes against BG; 8 assists, 7 points (1-7 from the field), 5 boards, 5 TOs, 4 steals
G 6-3 Jr. Madison Monroe: started at Oakland U, went JUCO and then ended up at WCU: 7 points and 4 boards against BG
G/F Jr. 6-5 Marvin Price: JUCO to Ohio U to WCU; only played in 5 games for Ohio; 6 points, 2 boards and 2 assists on Tuesday
The outcome:
KP projects a 79-62 WF win. While the Cats showed grit pulling out an OT win over BG on Tuesday, some warts were exposed. WCU committed 18 TOs and shot 56% from the line. WCU did hang on the boards with a +6 advantage. The Cats benefitted from some awful Bowling Green shooting as the Falcons went 5 for 34 (14%) from 3. BG's leading returning scorer Daeqwon Plowden missed all 8 of his three point shots... Yuck. Gray scrambled to assemble a roster made up of essentially misfit toys, and his team reflected Gray's toughness on Tuesday when it defeated a mid-tier MAC team. That said, WF should name the score on Friday. WCU appears to lack a true PG, and the Deacs forced WM into 21 TOs yesterday. Would expect more the same on Friday night. Will ride the Deacs again as Forbes wasn't happy with the 2nd half last night (WF outscored 23-11 to close the game after leading 66-36 with 9 minutes left). WF in a rout.
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