Cullowhee, N.C. – AJ Stroop, who has served as a graduate assistant coach since the 2024-25 season, was elevated to a full-time assistant coach position by head coach Tim Craft as the squad prepares for the 2026-27 campaign.
Stroop has served as a graduate assistant for the past two seasons, filling various roles including player development and positional skill group work, handling team travel, organizing on-campus recruiting visits, and assisting with team defensive schemes.
Off the hardwood, Stroop worked closely with academic advising staff and served on WCU's Student-Athlete Well-Being Committee. He also worked closely with the coaching staff and to help organize donor fundraising events for Men's Basketball.
During his time at Western Carolina, Stroop was instrumental in assisting with the development of former wing Bernard Pelote, who led the team with 426 points, averaging 14.2 points per game as a senior. Pelote finished sixth in the league in scoring during SoCon play at 16.3 ppg, recording six double-doubles in his final year.
Stroop also greatly assisted with the development of Marcus Kell (13.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG and two-time SoCon Player of the Week), returning sophomore Samuel Dada (team-best 235 rebounds, 7.6 per game average, which ranked fifth in the SoCon) and Tidjiane Dioumassi, who averaged 15.7 points per game over the final seven games of his collegiate career.
Before coming to Cullowhee, Stroop spent time as a director of Basketball Programming for Elite Athletics, where he developed, created, and organized basketball programs for all ages. He's also served as a coach and league director at Ronnie Grandison's Basketball Academy and was an operations intern for The Hoop Group.
Stroop was a four-year standout at Geneva College in Pennsylvania, where he appeared in 60 games with 13 starts throughout his four years with the Golden Tornadoes.
Stroop is married to his wife, Adrian, who works with the Western Carolina athletics department as an Athletics Academic Advisor, working mainly with football and women's tennis. Adrian also serves as the head volleyball coach at Smoky Mountain High School.
Western Carolina men's basketball returns a pair of standout rising sophomores in Dada and Tayeshaun Smith, who look to build upon strong freshman campaigns and lead the returners. Redshirt sophomore Drew Hollifield, and redshirt freshman Titian DeRosa also return to the 26-27 squad.
The Catamounts have 11 newcomers for 2026-27, including seven transfers and four freshmen.
The seven transfers include senior Malachi Brown (Georgia State/Seton Hall), redshirt junior Donovan Raymond (ODU/Hampton), juniors Travelle Bryson (Howard/Vincennes) and Isaiah Manning (Sam Houston State/TCU), along with sophomores Jaxon Prunty (College of Charleston) and Jaeden Roberts (Hofstra) as redshirt freshman Cross Arias (Emory & Henry) rounds out the transfer group. The seven transfers are joined by freshmen Jose Martins (Katy, Texas), Jacob Zhu (Atlanta, Ga.), and Fola Sodipo (Katy, Texas). Antonio McKoy (Salemburg, N.C.) signed with the Catamounts last November and also joins the program this fall.
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