June 13, 2003
Cullowhee, N.C. -
WCU football seniors Jason Whaley and Michale Spicer were singled out in the annual Street & Smith's College Football Preview. Whaley, an offensive guard, was listed on its preseason, 25-man I-AA All-American team, while Spicer, a defensive end, was tabbed the top defensive player in the Southern Conference.
Whaley (Beulaville, N.C./East Duplin, N.C.) is coming off a season in which he was named second team All-SoCon. Off the field, he earned his third-straight Western Carolina Male Student-Athlete of the Year honor, posting a grade point average of 4.0 this past spring and a cumulative GPA of 3.91 in computer information systems. He has started all 32 possible games to date for the Catamounts since his freshman season along the offensive line, including 11 this past season at right guard. Whaley helped Western lead the SoCon and rank 25th nationally in passing offense with an average of 243.5 yards per game. It is the first time WCU has led the league in passing since 1982 and just the fourth time ever. He also played a key role in the Cats allowing just 15 sacks in 370 pass attempts, an average of one every 25.7 attempts. In addition to his WCU Male Student-Athlete of the Year honor, Whaley was named to the Verizon University Division Academic All-District III Football Team, which includes players from the region from both I-A and I-AA, for the second time in his career. He additionally was one of 43 student-athletes in the nation to be named to the Division I-AA Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star team.
Spicer (Goldsboro, N.C./Southern Wayne, N.C.) is coming off a record-setting junior season. The 6-3, 260-pound end tallied 26 tackles for loss in 2002 to establish a WCU record, shattering the previous mark of 23 set by Clyde Simmons. Spicer's 2.36 tackles for loss per game additionally led the Southern Conference and ranked seventh nationally. The first team All-SoCon pick and third team All-American also registered 11 sacks in 2002, which was second in the SoCon, seventh nationally and second-most on WCU's single-season list. After collecting 53 tackles in his first two years combined, Spicer finished fifth on the team with 56 tackles for his junior season alone. Spicer enters his senior season with 21.5 career sacks to rank fourth on the WCU all-time list. He only trails Simmons (23), Steve Yates (25) and Louis Cooper (30). Spicer additionally has 42 career tackles for loss, trailing only Simmons (47) and Cooper (48) on the Catamount all-time list.
The Catamounts will open the season Aug. 30 at North Carolina State, who finished last season 12th in the final Associated Press poll. The Wolfpack are tabbed 17th by Street & Smith's in the 2003 I-A preseason poll and picked to finish third in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Western will return to the Triangle the following week (Sept. 6) to face another ACC member in Duke. The Cats will open their home schedule on Sept. 13 versus Johnson C. Smith (6 pm). The following week (Sept. 20), WCU will open SoCon play by hosting The Citadel at 6 pm.
Other games of note on the schedule include five contests versus teams ranked in the Street & Smith's preseason I-AA top 25, including No. 16 Furman (Oct. 4), at No. 6 Georgia Southern (Oct. 11), No. 12 Wofford (Oct. 18), at No. 10 Appalachian State (Nov. 15) and No. 21 Gardner-Webb (Nov. 22). Street & Smith's preseason order of finish in the SoCon goes Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, Wofford, Furman, The Citadel, Western Carolina, Elon, East Tennessee State and Chattanooga.
