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  • Publications (documents)
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• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
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  • HL_WesternCarolinian_2010-06-18_Vol76_No07_09

Page 9 WESTERN CAROLINIAN June 18, 2010 SEORITS WCU Trustees approve contract WCU pitcher Matt Benedict Beat Larry Hunter talks to his players during a game last season. Justin Caudell | Editor-in-Chief The Western Carolina University board of trustees unanimously approved -a two-year contract extension for head mens basketball coach Larry Hunter, who recently guided the Cata- mounts their highest win total since becoming a Divi- sion I program in 1977. The board approved the contract extension as part of its quarterly meeting Friday, June 4. Hunter, who became WCUs mens _ basketball coach in 2005, led the Cata- mounts to a record of 22-12 in the 2009-10 season; eatn- ing the team a spot in the CollegeInsider.com Tourna- ment, its first post-season appearance since 1996. . With the contract amend- ments. approved by the extension for Larry Hunter _ ville and some of the largest Ramsey Center crowds in years, it is important to dem- onstrate our commitment to keeping the momentum go- ing and getting the program to the next level of success. Hunter, who ranks 12th nationally among active NCAA mens basketball . head coaches in terms of victories with 581, came to Western Carolina after four years as an assistant coach at North Carolina State, the final three serving as asso- ciate head coach. He spent 12 years (1989-2001) as head coach at his alma ma- ter Ohio University prior to his stint in Raleigh, also serving as the head coach at Wittenberg University from 1976-89. IT am very thankful to. have the opportunity to con- tinue to coach and direct the Photo By Mark Haskett vision title in 2008-09. Six players have garnered All- SeCon plaudits including | David Berghoefer (2005), | Nick Aldridge (2007), Bran- don Giles (2008-10), Jake | Robinson (2010), Brigham Waginger (2010) and 2009 Freshman of Harouna Mutombo. The team has re-written | the schools 3-point shoot- | ing record books in four | of the five seasons, con- | necting on 274 treys a year | ago to again set a school | coached two WCU career | 124 upon by NCCSIA record holders: Jake Robin- | son, who broke the schools placing a total of three play- : ' ers on the team, the second record held by former Cata- | straight year that the fellow mount standout and current | assistant McCollum; aad 2009-10 co- | honorees. The programs at : Charlotte, High Point, North 14-year old 3-point shooting coach, Anquell Defensive Player of the Year in the SoCon, Brigham Wag- named All-State by NCCSIA Benedict pitches in a win against Georgia Southern From Staff Reports | Western Carolina junior | Matt Benedict added to his | post-season accolades as he was named one of three | Starting pitchers on the 2010 _ North 2010 North Carolina | Collegiate Sports Informa- : tion Association (NCCSIA) | University Division All- eo ve. State Baseball Team released. | on Friday. | The seventh-annual team : consists of NCAA Division I : student-athletes from North ' Carolina colleges and uni- | versities that were nominat- _ ed by North Carolina sports _ information professionals | members. Elon, led the charge by | Southern Conference pro- _ gram has topped the list of honor after earning second- team All-Southern Confer- ence plaudits, finished tied for the team lead with nine victories this season. The right-hander posted a 9-2 overall record, starting 13 of his 18 appeatances on the year, In 92.2 innings pitched, he struck out 66 batters and finished the year with a 3.11 ERA - all career-best statis- tics for Benedict. He helped guide the Cata- mounts to the 2010 SoCon Tournament Championship game and its runner-up fin- ish, A native of St. Peters- burg, Fla. Benedict was impressive during the regu- lar season, amassing an 8-1 record prior to post-season play with a 2.89 ERA - tops among SoCon pitchers. Dur- ing the 2010 season, Bene- dict made the transition from the bullpen to mid-week starter before eventually so-- lidifying the Saturday start- le Photo Starters Jimmy Reyes from Elon and Esterlin Paulino from North Carolina A&T. Benedict is again pitch- ing this summer with the Haymarket Senators of the Valley League where he is joined by teammates Austin Schultz and Tyler White. The 2010 team had two unanimous selections, Char- lotte reliever Patrick Lawson and High Point outfielder Nate Roberts, Elon catcher Mike Melillo and Charlotte infielder Cory Shaylor are the only players to have claimed previous All-State accolades. Founded in 2002, NCC- SIA is comprised of sports information __ profession- als from North Carolinas NCAA Division 1, I, Il, NAIA and independent in- " stitutions for the purpose of promoting, college athletics . in the state. Membership is open to anyone affiliated with a college, university or | Carolina A&T and UNC ing role for the Catamounts, conference located in North WCU board, Hunters em- ployment agreement is ex- tended through April 2014. It is the second such contract extension for Hunter, who initially received a two-year approval in-June of 2007. The current contract in- cludes several performance incentives based on_ his teams academic progress rate (APR), Southern Con- ference Tournament champi- onships, NCAA tournament wins, and victories against opponents with a high rank- ing on the rating percentage index (or RPI). Coach Hunter is build- ing the kind of basketball program that Catamount fans deserve, said Chip Smith, director of athletics at | WCU. After the excitement of last years season, includ- ing winning the sub-regional tournament of the OReilly Auto Parts CBE Classic, a big road win over Louis- mens basketball program at Western Carolina. Univer- " sity, said Hunter of his con- tract extension. I have great respect for the people I work for and with in our athletics department and University. I am deeply committed to the student athlete concept and will continue to work hard to improve our program and help the young people we touch grow as_ individuals and learn how to work to be the best they can be. _ He added, We will con- tinue to operate the program with great integrity and class and hopefully along the way make positive contributions to our campus and win some championships. Under Hunters tutelage in Cullowhee, the Cata- mount mens . basketball team has compiled a com- bined record of 72-85, and claimed a share of the South- em Conference North Di- inger, who shattered all-time steals record with 285 thefts. With the on-court suc- cluded a combined 15-game home winning streakthe average attendance figures in the Ramsey Center more | than doubled from the pre- | vious year. WCU averaged | 2,427 fans last season while also posting two of the top | three attendances in Ramsey | Center history. (6,024 vs. Appalachian State on Feb. 6 and 4,765 vs. Charleston on Jan. 25). All told, WCU has won 27 of its last 31 games over- | all at home, and 18 of its last 21 SoCon match-ups. Under Larry Hunter, WCU is 49-20 at home, a 71-percent win- ning percentage. Western Carolina returns | four seniors amongst seven letter winners next season. Check Out Our Next Issue For Before They Were Educators FEATURING John Bardo, Western Carolinas Chancellor If you know someone you would like to see featured, please e-mail catamountspotlight@gmail. com. | resentatives. Benedict, who captured : se his first career post-season Goss) of 2009 10s which ie) | oe _ WCU baseball has two selected in MLB Draft From Staff Reports Western Carolina had two players taken during | the three-day Major League | Baseball First-Year Player | Draft which concluded late on Wednesday, June 9. Dan- jel Ottone, a senior right- | handed pitcher, and Michael | White, an incoming transfer pitcher for next season, were | drafted during the 50-round | event. Ottone was taken by the | San Diego Padres in the 33rd _ round with the 994th over- _ all pick, while White was _ drafted in the 13th round | with the 399th overall pick | by the Milwaukee Brewers. | All told, 23 players from the | Southern Conference repre- senting eight schools were | taken during the 2010 draft. | San Diego took two play- | ers from the SoCon includ- ing Ottone and Bryan Alt- _ man from The Citadel, while | Milwaukee selected three | from the conference includ- | ing Elons Daniel Britt and | Mike Melillo in addition to | White. | According to available records, Ottone is the first | Catamount player drafted by the Padres orga- | nization while White is the fourth WCU player to be taken by Milwaukee, the first since David Pember in 1999. The other two were | Stephen Pritchard in the ' 22nd round in 1994 (599th ' Wilmington all had two rep- great Henry Logans career | ever which finished 37-21-1 - the most wins under third-year head coach Bobby Moranda. He was joined by fellow pick) and Dan Kyslinger in . the fifth round of the 1992 draft (136th pick). Also, in 2001, former catcher Matt Price was signed as a free agent by the Brewers. WCU has had two players make it to the Majors with the Brewers including Pem- ber and Mark DiFelice, who was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in 1998. Paul Men- hart is the only former Cata- mount to ever make it to the big leagues with the Padres, doing so in 1997, Ottone, who graduated from WCU this past May, . was a four-year member of the WCU baseball team, serving as a team captain during his senior season. The Cary, N.C., native posted a career 5-7 record and a 4.77 ERA, transitioning from the bullpen to occasional starter back to the bullpen before becoming one of the top closers in the SoCon. For his four-year career, Ottone posted two of the top 10 single-season best perfor- mances in saves with eight saves in 2009 and seven this past season. All told, his 15 career saves rank him sixth in school history. Ottone finishes his WCU career with 100. strikeouts against 41 walks in 105.2 innings pitched. Amongst his five career starts were two against perennial power, Clemson, back during the Carolina whose responsibili- ' ties include sports informa- . tion. 2008 season. Over his career, , he limited opponents to a .267 batting average against , which included a career-low | .213 average against in 2010 | with just six walks against . 21K s, White, who signed a Na- | tional Letter of Intent with Western Carolina back in . December 2009, was taken in the 13th round by the Milwaukee Brewers - the same club that drafted him in the 33rd round out of high school. White was the 13th player taken by the Brewers overall and was the eighth right-handed pitcher taken by the Crew. Last season at Walters State, White earned first team National Junior Col- _ lege Athletics Association | (NJCAA) Division T All- America honors after post- ing a 10-0 overall record on the mound with an impres- sive 2.18 ERA in helping the Senators post a 40-8 over- all record. He claimed All- Tennessee Community Ath- letic Association (TCCAA) honors and was the groups Pitcher of the Year. Overall, in two seasons at Walters State, White com- piled a 13-1 overall record with 137 strikeouts against only 47 walks through 119.2 innings. He allowed 92 hits, 48 runs, only 36 of which were earned while tossing eight complete games.

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 2010-06-18
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 12.5"
  • Pages: 10
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
  • Western Carolina University -- Periodicals
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_2010-06-18_Vol76_No07
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library