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2023 A Look Back: Comeback Player(s) of the Year Award

Senior guard Vonterius Woolbright has been a key factor in WCU men’s basketball’s success this year. Senior guard Vonterius Woolbright has been a key factor in WCU men’s basketball’s success this year. WCU photo

Raise your hand if you’ve been paying attention to Western Carolina University athletics this academic year. 

If your hand is down, hit Google and peep some highlight reels from this year’s football team. The squad finished 7-4, which is pretty darn good, but there for a while, it was looking like the Catamounts might stand a chance of making a deep playoff run. The team featured a strong line and quick skill players, especially Desmond Reid, who could light up a stat sheet on any given day, almost as though he could break a big one at will.

And now, let’s turn our attention to the pitch, where the WCU women’s soccer team asserted its dominance all season and even came away with the Southern Conference championship, all after having a losing season in 2022.

news 2023

But those teams’ seasons are done, so excited fans may be left wanting to see some action. Fear not. The Catamounts men’s basketball team may be in the midst of the most impressive run of any WCU team this academic year. Led by the sensational 6-foot-7 guard, Vonterius Woolbright, the team is 10-2 with impressive wins over Power Five schools Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. Coach Justin Gray, who made a name for himself playing at Wake Forest, is doing something special over there in Cullowhee, and it’s not too late for fans to a part of it.

Here’s to WCU athletics for fielding some of the finest teams the school has seen in years, and here’s to that trend continuing.

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