SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Western Carolina had three players honored on Wednesday as the Southern Conference announced its postseason honors ahead of this week's Ingles Southern Conference Basketball Championships. Redshirt juniors
Tyzhaun Claude,
Tre Jackson, and
Vonterius Woolbright were each recognized as both Jackson and Woolbright earned second-team accolades from the league's head coaches and the voting members of the SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA) while Claude was a third-team All-SoCon selection by the media.
Jackson led the Catamounts and ranked fourth in the league in scoring with a 15.9 point per game average that included a WCU Division I-era best 47 points in a 95-91 double-overtime win at Wofford on Feb. 8. His career-best, 47-point output remains the second-most scored by an individual in the NCAA this season and earned the transfer SoCon Player of the Week plaudits on Feb. 13. Jackson recorded 23 double-figure games including 10-straight to end the season while eclipsing the 20-point plateau in six games. He was WCU's leading scorer in 11 games including five of the final six. The Columbia, S.C., native rarely came off the court, leading the team and finishing fourth in the league with an average of 34.6 minutes played.
Jackson led the SoCon in free throw percentage (67-of-73, 91.8%), 3-point field goal percentage (104-of-239, 43.5% - 11th nationally), made 3-pointers (104 – currently the fifth-most in the NCAA), and 3-point field goals made per game (3.5) – a mark that ranks him seventh nationally.
Woolbright ranked among the Top 15 in four key statistical categories during the regular season including leading the conference in assists (5.2 apg, 35th nationally). He also averaged 14.4 points (12th in SoCon), was third in rebounding as a guard with 7.3 rebounds per game, and just clipped the Top 15 with an average of 1.1 steals per game. Woolbright recorded the fourth triple-double in the program's Division I history in the regular-season finale against VMI finishing with 14 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. The Albany, Ga., native scored a career-best 30 points in the win at Wofford and first recorded a career-high 11 assists at VMI on Jan. 28 which he later matched in the home meeting.
Woolbright scored in double figures 23 times during the season, cresting the 20-point plateau on five occasions with six double-doubles in addition to the triple-double.
Claude finished the regular season ranked second on the WCU roster with 15.4 points per game and snagged a SoCon-best 8.6 rebounds per game. His 3.2 offensive boards per contest were likewise tops in the league while ranking 30th in the NCAA. He corralled a season-high eight offensive rebounds against USC Upstate with his league-best mark just one below that against The Citadel. In 28 games played, Claude finished with double-figure scoring 27 times including 13 consecutive to close the regular season and logged a team-best 10 double-doubles.
The Catamounts begin their quest for a SoCon Tournament title on Saturday in the second of four quarterfinal games as fourth-seeded WCU faces No. 5 seed ETSU at 2:30 p.m. inside the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville. Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (
paid subscription required) with live audio from the Catamount Sports Network available on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC (Sylva) and online at CatamountSports.com.
Catamount Central ahead of the men's game is at Mellow Mushroom (50 Broadway Street, Asheville) beginning at Noon on Saturday.
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