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| WCU Sophomore Center Samuel Dada/photo courtesy of WCU athletics |
Western carolina (15-16, 10-8/5th in socon)
Last season Western Carolina's men's basketball team caught fire at the right time, winning six-straight entering the Southern Conference Tournament, and with a 14-point halftime lead over top seeded East Tennessee State, appeared well on their way to the title game Monday night in Asheville, as well as an eighth-straight win. The Catamounts had opened their account in Asheville with an impressive 77-73 come-from-behind win over No. 4 seed Mercer the previous night.
Then with about eight minutes remaining in the semifinal clash against the Bucs, WCU hit a wall. They couldn't make shots from the field or the free throw line, and adversity hit at exactly the wrong time for head coach Tim Craft's team.
The difference in that semifinal and the one in 2023 was that Western Carolina was the one that blew the big lead this time around rather than the one that scratched and clawed their way back into one it trailed by as much as 22 in 2023 against top-seeded Furman. The result, however, in both was the same-a loss by two points.
Craft was still the head coach at Gardner-Webb in the 2023 semifinal, 83-81, overtime loss to Furman, but he experienced the same heartbreak as predecessor Justin Gray did at the penultimate step in March in the same venue--the Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville--as he could only watch everything that the Cats had built over the final month of the regular-season to solidify an opening-round bye crumble in the span of just over eight minutes.
A 12-2 run by the top-seeded Bucs over the final three minutes was Western Carolina's ultimate undoing, and it would see the Bucs post what was a 69-67 semifinal win. The top-seeded Bucs had to fight and claw much like Western had three years earlier against Furman, however, that might have proved costly in the quick turnaround to Monday night, as Furman dispatched the top-seeded Bucs, 76-62 in Asheville to make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four years.
Western Carolina has been that program so close to getting back to the ultimate proving ground of the Southern Conference basketball hierarchy, which has now narrowly missed out twice on making it back to the their first title game in over a decade.
Had the Catamounts been able to win either of those semifinal tilts--2023 vs. No.1 seed Furman or 2026 vs. No. 1 seed ETSU--the Catamounts would have been playing for the right to make an NCAA Tournament for just the second time since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1975-76. In case you were wondering, the last time the Catamounts made it to the championship game of the tournament was 2014, losing to Wofford in the championship game, 56-53.
That 2013-14 campaign had seen the Catamounts flip the script when facing the top overall seed in the SoCon Tournament in Asheville, defeating No. 1 Davidson, 99-97, in overtime in what was the Wildcats' final game as a SoCon hoops member before joining the Atlantic 10.
In 2012, the Catamounts made it all the way to the title game from the opening round but came up just short of becoming the first team since Clemson to win four games in four days in 1939, as the Catamounts dropped a 93-91 double-overtime game against No. 1 Davidson in the title game in the first tournament played back in Asheville since 1995.
That was just a year prior to moving to the Greensboro Coliseum, which would be the sight of WCU's greatest athletic achievement as an NCAA Division I athletics program, with the Catamounts shocking top seeded and SoCon unbeaten Davidson, 69-60, in the title game.
Ultimately, Western Carolina has been right there at the door threatening to knock it back down, but Tim Craft has been charged with the task of doing what Larry Hunter, Mark Prosser, and Justin Gray have failed to do, which is get the Catamounts back to the Big Dance for a second time in program history.
Now entering his third season as the head coach, Craft has a good familiarity with the SoCon and will work and what won't. Like every other coach in the league, Craft had to build his roster based on what he knows what has worked in his previous two seasons as the head coach, and that's also based a little on what hasn't worked as well.
Figuring out a winning culture in Cullowhee has been a difficult thing for some recent coaches, with guys like Justin Gray and Prosser looking for the quickest way out of Cullowhee. Tim Craft doesn't exactly strike me as that type of individual, however, and I think he wants to leave his own mark on the Catamount basketball legacy.
Without any disrespect to any other sports program at Western Carolina, this is the sport that Cullowhee should be behind. We've seen what it's like when the Ramsey Center is filled to the brim just as it was just three years ago in what was WCU's greatest regular-season as an NCAA Division I program, when the Catamounts took on Samford before better than 5,000 fans in what was part of a 22-win season.
A lot has changed in that short time, and it's a lot harder to keep even a few players around more than a season or two, so sometimes how you build that winning culture is largely based on how you do it from season-to-season rather than development within four and five-year windows. What WCU needs is a coach that will actually stay through one four-year cycle, and that has maybe been a bigger challenge than keeping any player around for that period of time.
That's what you have to admire about a guy like Marcus Kell, who stayed through a coaching change and waited his turn to get his chance. Now, Kell has transferred within the league to Furman, which on the surface might look bad, however, not when taken in the different viewpoint that players have as opposed to fans. To players, this is a business.
To fans, it's about rivalries. But Kell's contributions will likely all be forgotten back on at least two nights next season, when Craft and the Catamounts try and beat Furman on the hardwood, just as they did twice this past season. The Catamounts posted their first win in Greenville since 2012 with an 80-77 win over the Paladins last season, while handing Furman one of its worst SoCon losses over the past decade, posting an 86-67 win over the Paladins on the final day of the regular-season to lock down the No. 5 seed in the tournament.
That win over the Paladins was win No. 6 in a row, which was then promptly followed by winning a 79-77 thriller over No. 4 seeded Mercer in the final quarterfinal of the opening two days of the tournament.
The point I am making is there are fewer Marcus Kell's these days, and the fact that he stayed through a coaching change to get a chance to progress means that he valued the program over any allegiances that he might have had to a coach.
Kell is only one of the major departures the Catamounts and coach Craft had to address during the off-season, with others like guards Tahlan Pettway, Tijdianne Dioumassi, Julien Soumaro, Justin Johnson, CJ Hyland and Cord Stansberry to name a few. While Kell ended up at Furman, WCU's other top player--Cord Stansberry--ended up finding a place on Dennis Gate's roster at Missouri.
In the front court, Chase McKey, Vernon Collins, and Abdulai Fanta-Kabba have all departed. That represents a large majority of the scoring and rebounding off a team that helped establish itself as one of the most physical teams in the SoCon last season, and one of the top rebounding units in the league and one of the best in the country, with the Catamounts finishing the season ranking 12th nationally in offensive rebounding (13.81 OFF RPG) and 23rd in overall rebounding margin (+6.0).
Just three players return off last season's roster, with the only major contributor being Samuel Dada. Dada is one piece, but he is a major piece and will have a chance to develop into one of the league's top big men this season.
One thing you have to admire about Craft's Catamounts last season is they went out and challenged themselves in the non-conference, taking on the likes of Cincinnati, Duke, Virginia Tech and Georgia in the pre-league slate. They didn't duck any smoke, and as a result, it made Western Carolina a better basketball team for having played those games as the season progressed.
The time is now for Western Carolina basketball, and let's see what Craft's Catamounts can do in year three after making some pretty major improvements for year one to year two. After winning just eight games in Craft's first season, he nearly doubled the win total last season with 15 wins and a top five finish last season. Now will be a bit bigger challenge, without having guys like Kell and Cord Stansberry around to help build a solid core around, however, the incoming roster might be Craft's most talented to date.
Portal Losses/Portal Adds and Returners
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| WCU sophomore center Samuel Dada/photo courtesy of WCU Athletics |
Western Carolina went out and made some useful additions from the transfer portal once again this season, but it's the major returnee, in Samuel Dada that has a lot of Catamount fans excited.
The 6-9 rising sophomore hails from Lagos, Nigeria, and comes off a stellar freshman campaign which saw him average 6.6 PPG and 7.6 RPG, seeing action in all 31 games, including having made 12 starts.
To me, Dada is the type of player that has the potential to enjoy the type Achor Achor had at Samford from his first year as a Bulldog to his second, without maybe some of the drama that went along with Achor at times.
But like Achor, Dada has that "it" factor about him, and there's a lot to like about the energy he brings to this WCU team. Last season, Dada was one of two Catamounts to appear in all 31 games, as well as being one of seven to score at least 200 points, finishing the campaign with 204 and finished his rookie season by reaching double figures 10 times, which included his signature performance of the season in early January, posting 19 points and 14 rebounds in a heartbreaking loss at Samford last season.
Dada also nearly missed a double-double performance in a win over VMI last season, posting 14 points and nine boards in what was an 88-58 blowout home win over the Keydets. Dada, who finished the season shooting an impressive 69.0% (87-of-126) from the field last season, put together what was a pair of perfect performances against Voorhees and ETSU last season, connecting on all six shots from the field in a pair of Catamount wins.
Dada did most of his important board work on the offensive end of the floor, as his 97 offensive rebounds ranked second overall in the SoCon last season, as his 235 total rebounds on the season ended up leading the entire squad. He finished the campaign averaging 3.1 offensive rebounds per game, and he saved his best performance in the SoCon Tournament on the offensive glass, ripping down a season-high nine offensive boards in Western's opening round win over Mercer.
While Dada is the most significant returnee on the roster that is still around and that saw some big minutes a year ago, the others that return off that 2025-26 roster include guards Titian DeRosa and Drew Hollifield, as well as 6-7 forward Tayeshaun Smith.
The 5-9, 150-lb DeRosa redshirted as a true freshman last season and came to WCU from Whitman High School and hails from Bethesda, MD. He posted 15 PPG and four rebounds-per-game as a prep, while shooting 43.5% from three-point range.
Hollifield is a 5-11 redshirt sophomore guard out of Shelby, N.C., that didn't see much action as a true freshman for the Catamounts last season. Hollifield logged action in six contests, averaging 2.2 PPG and 0.3 RPG.
Tayeshaun Smith saw the most meaningful minutes for the Catamounts outside of Dada last season. Smith ended up making appearances in 30 of 31 games for the Purple and Gold last season, totaling 45 points on the season, including a season and career-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor in a lopsided win over Virginia-Lynchburg last season.
Smith also posted nine points, which included burying a pair of triples in Western's loss at Georgia. All told, Smith finished the season averaging 1.5 PPG and 1.7 RPG, shooting 41.0% (16-of-39) from the field. At 6-7, 220 lbs, Smith has the size and athleticism to once again give the Catamounts some serviceable reserve minutes at the four position in 2026-27.
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| WCU guard Malachi Brown comes to Cullowhee having posted an impressive career so far |
Tim Craft and staff went out and secured the signatures of 10 newcomers that will be employed to provide immediate impact to the 2026-27 Catamounts, joining the quartet returning from a year ago.
Six portal transfers and four freshmen comprise the total breakdown set to join for the 2026-27 season and it's a haul that will likely play immediate dividends, giving the Catamounts to finish among the upper echelon in the league and perhaps even be a dark horse for the league regular-season and tournament titles for a second-straight season.
Leading the impressive list of incoming talent is 6-1 senior guard Malachi Brown, who comes to Western Carolina after having spent the past two seasons at Georgia State and a season at Seton Hall, which is where he started his college basketball journey back during the 2023-24 season as a freshman, helping the Pirates to the NIT crown as a reserve guard off the bench.
Brown's most significant impact as a player came during his time at Georgia State. The Legacy Early College product out of Greenville, S.C., who is a native of Buford, GA., returned to his home state in search of more playing time following the 2023-24 campaign. He would be a major impact player for the Panthers over the course of his sophomore and junior campaigns, as he logged action in a total of 65 games over the last two campaigns he spent in Atlanta.
In those two seasons, Brown posted 622 points, averaging 10.2 PPG over the course of two seasons with the Panthers, including averaging an impressive 12.9 PPG in the 2025-26 campaign. His most impressive attribute is his tremendous acumen as a three-point specialist, posting a 38% shooting clip, while knocking down 96 triples (96-of-253) from long-range over the course of two seasons, including having gone 58-of-150 from downtown (38.7%) this past season.
In terms of overall field goal percentage, Brown connected at a 42.6% (218-of-512) from the field in two seasons at Georgia State, scoring in double figures in 20 of 28 games last season, which included six 20-plus point scoring performances in 2025-26. He started 31 of 32 games last season for the Panthers and started a totaled 62 starts in his 65 total games in two seasons at GSU.
Brown has the ability to play either the point guard spot or can play off the ball, averaging 3.2 APG in his two seasons as a Panther, totaling 193 assists across two seasons in Atlanta, including posting 111 helpers during the 2024-25 campaign. Brown posted an impressive 1.85 assist-turnover-ratio to rank fourth in the Sun Belt in the 2024-25 campaign.
He finished with several impressive performances in Sun Belt play last season, posting a season-high 26 points 76-71 late-season home loss to Coastal Carolina, while posting a career-high 10 rebounds in 69-62 home win over Southern Miss.
Brown will remind WCU fans a little of a smaller version of Tidjiane Dioumassi, with his defensive ability and his ability to rebound as a guard. In two seasons with the Panthers, Brown posted 3.8 RPG in his two seasons at Georgia State and was second on the team with 37 steals in 2024-25.
In his time at Seton Hall, Brown logged action in 18 games off the bench in his freshman season at Seton Hall back in 2023-24. In his time at Legacy Early College in 2022-23, he averaged an impressive 22.6 PPG, 4.3 APG and 4.0 RPG in 2022-23 and in his senior season at Buford HS in Buford, GA in 2021-22, he helped the Wolves to a 6A State title.
While Brown will give the Catamounts an instant All-SoCon caliber player as a combo guard in the backcourt, Craft and staff went out and found a quality big man to help give Samuel Dada some help in the low-post, as the Catamounts added 6-10, 225-lb redshirt junior Donovan Raymond from Old Dominion, where he has spent the past two seasons.
Raymond played the past two seasons with the Monarchs after starting his career at Hampton where he ended up redshirting after seeing time in only eight games. He totaled 51 games over the past two seasons at Old Dominion, and he has the potential to have a big impact for the Catamounts in the coming basketball season. The Charlotte native could log action in the paint alongside of Dada, making the Catamounts once again a force in the paint.
In his first season with the Monarchs, Raymond saw action in a total of 20 games, finishing his sophomore season averaging 1.9 PPG and 1.7 RPG. His overall size and rebounding ability to be another force on the backboards are two characteristics that coach Craft loves, as he looks to mould this team into very much the same image as the one that he had last season, which possessed a certain amount of grit and toughness. That came in handy down the stretch in the grueling rigors of SoCon regular-season play.
In keeping with the front court theme, the most impressive acquisition during the off-season via the transfer portal might have been 6-8 Isaiah Manning, who comes to Cullowhee after having spent time at both Sam Houston State and TCU, respectively.
Manning spent just one season at SHSU, seeing action in total of 16 games, where he averaged 10.7 PPG and 3.9 RPG. He finished the season by connecting on 46% from the field, while knocking down a total of 22 triples and was solid from the charity stripe, connecting on 33-of-38 from the line. He finished the season with nine double-figure scoring performances, with his highlight of the season being a 27-point, 10-rebound performance against Biblical Studies.
Manning will be a key piece and will look to be one of the go-to-performers in the paint this season for the Catamounts and will likely contend for a starting spot in the post right away this season. Manning will have one season of eligibility remaining in Cullowhee.
Guards Jaxon Prunty and Jaeden Roberts round out the players that joined from the transfer portal during the spring, and both figure to have some impact this coming season, though it will be hard to completely replace the collective talent the Catamounts lost in the backcourt from a year ago.
Prunty is a 6-6 junior combo guard that comes to Catamount country from the College of Charleston, where he spent his first two seasons playing college basketball. He saw action in 37 games over the course of two seasons, however, logged action in only five contests during the 2024-25 season.
Last season, Prunty was given more time to show what he could do, logging action in total of 32 games, which included making 10 starts for the Cougars. Prunty finished the season scoring 123 points in the time he logged in the lineup with CofC, and he ended up averaging 3.8 PPG and posted a total of 63 rebounds, averaging 2.0 boards-per-game.
His top performance while in uniform with the Cougars was a 13-point effort, which he recorded in a 94-77 loss. Prunty ended that contest by connecting on 1-of-3 shots from the field, including going 1-for-2 from three-point land. He logged 33 minutes of action in the loss to the Owls and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line.
Prunty ended up shooting just 33.3% (32-of-96) from the field for the Cougars last season, and only 26.1% (12-of-46) from three-point land. Look for those numbers to improve with a more regular role as a part of Tim Craft's offense this coming season, as he expects to be a significant part of the Catamounts rotation this coming season.
Roberts also plied his trade in the CAA prior to coming to Western Carolina, as he played for the Hofstra Pride before his arrival in Cullowhee. The 6-3 sophomore guard will have three years of eligibility remaining, and as a he saw time in 23 games off the bench in his only season in West Hempstead, NY. He posted four double-figure performances during his time with the Pride.
Roberts is the latest talented guard out of the state of Massachussetts to come to the Southern Conference, joining both Alex Wilkins (Furman) and Tahlan Pettway (Western Carolina), who both starred in the league last season. Wilkins moved on to Kentucky, while Pettway moved on to mid-major power UNC Wilmington in the CAA. Roberts hopes to have the same kind of impact that both Wilkins and Roberts did.
During his Hofstra, Roberts recorded his best performance against North Carolina A&T, as he posted 20 points in that contest, as he went 6-for-9 from the field, which included a 5-for-7 effort from three-point land. Roberts posted a 17-point effort in a game against Old Westbury, while finishing with 14 points against Campbell and finished with 11 in a game against Syracuse.
He finished his one season with the Pride averaging 4.1 PPG, 0.8 APG and 0.8 RPG. Roberts has a high ceiling, and like Prunty, Roberts should thrive in Tim Craft's system, which is a dream offense if you're a perimeter threat, which Roberts is. Roberts was a 41.2% (21-of-51) shooter from long range last season.
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| Combo guard Travelle Bryson at Howard last season |
Junior Travelle Bryson is another addition from the transfer portal that will add another combo guard/small forward into the fold this coming season.
Bryson hails from Anderson, S.C., and was attended the same prep school that produced Malachi Brown, which is Legacy Early College in Greenville, S.C.
Bryson has spent time at both JUCO Vincennes University and then last season at the Howard playing for the Bison, helping them to make the NCAA Tournament last March. Bryson logged action in 32 games in his lone season with Howard, scoring a total of 273 points, averaging 8.5 PPG.
He brought down 103 rebounds to finish out the season averaging 3.3 RPG and finished shooting a solid 46.2% from the floor and was an impressive 81.6% from the charity stripe. Bryson's top performance of the season came in a 100-67 win over North Carolina Central, as he posted 22 points on a 10-of-11 shooting effort from the field, which included a 5-for-7 effort from the line. In his one season with Howard, Bryson posted 11 starts in 32 outings.
Rounding out the players to join the program from the transfer portal is Cross Arias, who hails from just up the road in Lincolnton, N.C., and he spent his debut season at Emory & Henry. Arias will be a preferred walk-on for the Catamounts this season.
freshman/walk-on additions
For the second-straight season, Western Carolina really went out and hit the recruiting trail hard and that work paid off, as the Catamounts brought in one of the most talented and one of the more athletic recruiting classes in the SoCon.
Four freshmen will have a chance to make a pretty big impact. Point guard Jacob Zhu, forward Fola Sodipo, freshman combo guard Antonio McKoy and combo guard Jose Martins are a talented group of freshmen that can make an impact right away this coming season for the Catamounts.
Zhu is a 6-1, 175-lb point guard that comes to WCU from Atlanta, GA, following his senior season spent at Overtime with Fear of God Christian Academy where he ended up averaging an impressive 13.4 PPG and 4.1 APG. Zhu also showed that he was an outstanding shooter from long-range, connecting on 42.6% of his shots from long range during his senior season as a prep.
He performed especially well as a member of the U-19 Chinese National Team in the World Cup, as well as in the National Games of the People's Republic of China. He had an outstanding performance in the World Cup against the Canadian National Team, posting 19 points, while finishing with 26 points during a qualification tournament, helping lead the Chinese National Team to a bronze medal. Zhu, who is listed as a three-star recruit by some services, figures to compete for the starting point guard role and his quickness running the point could be a game-changer for the Catamounts in the coming 2026-27 season.
Combo guards Antonio McKoy and and Jose Martins also figure to compete for some big roles for the Catamounts in the coming campaign. McKoy is a native of Salemsburg, N.C., and played is prep basketball at Harrells Christian Academy, turning in an impressive prep career. McKoy is an absolute highlight-reel player at wing guard and can score at all three levels on the floor. The 6-6 guard scored an astounding 3,000 points in his high school career, including 1,051 points alone in his senior campaign, sporting an average of 28.4 PPG. In addition to his 3,000-career points as a prep, McKoy also pulled down 1,119 rebounds and dished out over 300 assists in his prep career.
Like Zhu, it wouldn't shock me at all if McKoy started from the outset of his career at Western. As has been the case with so many guards in WCU's past, McKoy is best when he can get down hill and get a defender on his shoulder, with the ability to use his power and athleticism. He reminds of guys from the 1990s and early 2000s that played at WCU like Dondrell Whitmore, Bobby Phillips and Jarvis Hayes, who were all similar type of players to that of McKoy.
As for Martins, he's a 6-4 guard that played point at Seven Lakes High School in Katy, TX, but can also play off the ball, which he will probably be asked to do a little of both this season. He could offer a nice changeup to the diminutive overall quickness of a guy like Zhu. During his time at Seven Lakes High School, Martins was named 19-6A first-team All-District and averaged 12.2 PPG on an impressive 53.6% shooting from the field, which included an impressive 36% from long-range.
One of the most impressive things about Martins, however, is his length and quickness to affect passing lanes and close down gaps will be something that the Catamounts can use to improve their perimeter defense this season. Martins was able to use that length and athleticism to post 75 steals as a senior. Martins also spent time with the U18 Brazilian National Team last summer.
Rounding out the class of talented freshman commitments for head coach Tim Craft heading into the 2026-27 season is 6-8 Fola Sodipo, who comes to Cullowhee from the same city as Martins--Katy, TX--but played at a different high school, as Sodipo attended Tompkins High School. The 215-lb forward will most likely lend support immediately playing the four position this season for the Catamounts, and as his game grows and he gets stronger, could also play some five.
Sodipo is extremely efficient around the basket, averaging 18.3 PPG during his four-year prep career, posting 8.2 RPG, and showed excellent skill for a big man, dishing out 2.4 APG over his four years at Tompkins. His versatility can be found with a little more of a deep dive into his impressive numbers as a prep, as he connected on 58% from the field and 38% from long-range.
Sodipo was also impressive on the defensive end of the floor, where his superior athleticism allowed him to average 2.6 steals-per-game and a blocked shot per game over the course of his prep career. Like Martins, Sodipo was an all-district team selection, while also garnering defensive player of the year accolades as a senior.
This is one of the most impressive freshman classes brought in by the Catamounts in quite sometime, as it appears to be even better than the one brought in by Craft last season. These four are going to be fun to watch in Cullowhee. Catamount nation better enjoy this quartet while they have them because they don't appear to be guys that will be overlooked for long by power six programs.
Catamount Outlook for 2026-27
Originally, I had thought the Catamounts might be in for a down year because it's so hard to replace 10 outgoing players, especially with talents like Cord Stansberry, Marcus Kell and Tahlan Pettway all having moved on, as all could have returned to Cullowhee this season, but all decided to transfer for to get paid more money.
However, head coach Tim Craft and staff did maybe the best job of replacing the outgoing talent with an eclectic blend of talent from the transfer portal, as well as four talented freshmen, as well as returning Samuel Dada and an improved Tayeshaun Smith into the fold.
There may not be a more physical big man and more talented defender in the post than Samuel Dada. He was also a menace on the offensive glass last season, and if he can learn to stay out of foul trouble, he could really have an all-conference type of season. In fact, he'll be on one of my all-conference teams heading into the 2026-27 season. Putting him underneath with a versatile, athletic big like Fola Sodipo is going to be fun to watch.
The Catamounts also have a nice blend in the backcourt, with the size discrepancy between Jacob Zhu and Jose Martins offering a nice 1-2 punch at point guard. I won't go as far as to say that this team is better than last year's team, but it definitely could build on and eclipse the breakthrough season had by Craft last season in Cullowhee. This team will be pretty good defensively, with the only question mark that I really have being low-post depth.
It also might be too early to tell whether or not this is a better shooting team or not, but there's a good chance that it is at least on-par with a 2025-26 team that only seemingly shot the ball better and better, especially from deep, as it got later in the season.
Catamounts Breakdown 2026-27
Players With Starting Experience Lost: (8) G-Cord Stansberry (started 29 of 30 games played, 14.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 36.0% FG% . 29.6% 3PT FG%, 59 made threes, 80.3% FT%/Third-Team All-SoCon selection/transferred to Missouri); F Marcus Kell (started all 31 games for the Catamounts, 13.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 44.6% FG%, 29.7% 3PT FG%, 42 made threes/transferred to Furman); G Julien Soumaoro (started 23 of 27 games he logged action in last season, 11.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.2 APG, 42.1% FG%, 39.8% 3PT FG%, team-leading 64 made threes/out of eligibility); G-Tidjiane Diouassi (started 24 of 29 games he logged action in, 8.9 PPG, 2.7 RPG, team-leading 2.7 APG, 44.0% FG%, 36.4 3PT FG%, 24 made threes/out of eligibility); G Tahlan Pettway (started 10 of the 30 games he logged action in, 8.5 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 2.3 APG, 43.1% FG%, 39.4% 3PT FG%, 50 made threes, 76.2% FT%/transferred to UNC Wilmington); G-CJ Hyland (started four of the 20 games he logged action in, 6.2 PPG, 1.2 RPG, 40.9% FG%, 42.9% 3PT FG%, 16 made threes/transferred to the University of Denver); G/F Justin Johnson (Started three of the 30 games he logged action in, 6.7 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 41.1% FG%/transferred to Arkansas State); C-Abdulai Fanta-Kabba (Started 19 of 29 games he logged action in, 4.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 67.4% FG%; team-leading 27 blocked shots/transferred to the University of Denver)
Other Significant Losses: G-Fischer Brown (2.2 PPG, 0.3 RPG); C-Vernon Collins (only played in four games/transferred to UNCG)
Potential Breakout Player in 2026-27: Samuel Dada (6.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG)
Best Returning Player: Samuel Dada (6.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG)
Best Transfer Portal Get: G-Malachi Brown (Georgia State)
Potential Glue Guy: CG-Travelle Bryson (8.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG at Howard in 2025-26)
Best Freshman Addition: CG Antonio McKoy (Harrells Christian Academy NC) or F-Fola Sodipo (Tompkins High School/Katy TX)
Overall Portal/Freshman Recruiting Synopsis and Grade: A+
