WESTERN CAROLINA ATHLETICS – DEPARTMENT SENIOR STAFF
DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS ALEX GARY
Alex Gary, a former studentathlete on the Western Carolina University baseball team was named director of the Catamount athletics program in February 2020. Gary had most recently served as senior associate athletics director for development at Oregon State University.
WCU Chancellor Kelli R. Brown announced the selection of Gary on Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, to serve as director of athletics following approval of his contract by the university’s Board of Trustees during a special conference call meeting earlier in the day. The appointment followed a national search conducted by a 15-member committee working with the assistance of the North Carolina-based executive search consulting firm Collegiate Sports Associates.
During his first couple of years as the Athletics Director at WCU, Gary successfully navigated the department through the COVID-19 pandemic while also overseeing the hiring of 50 employees including four high-profile sport head coaches – men's basketball head coach Justin Gray and Tim Craft; Kerwin Bell, head football coach; Alan Beck, head baseball coach;
and women's basketball head coach Jonathan Tsipis
Gary was appointed to the 2022-23 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee, officially beginning his appointment on Sept. 1, 2022 with a term running through Aug. 31, 2027. He was also appointed to the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee. His four-year term on that committee also began Sept. 1, 2022, and continues through Aug. 31, 2026.
Prior to coming to Cullowhee, Gary served as senior associate director of athletics and the department’s chief development officer at Oregon State beginning in September 2017. He previously served as associate athletics director for development and external relations at the University of Maryland from 2014 until 2017. He also has held development positions at the University of Michigan and the UNC Charlotte.
Gary’s professional experience in major collegiate athletics conferences, such as the Pac-12 and Big Ten, combined with his personal familiarity with WCU as a former student-athlete make him a perfect fit to take over the helm of Catamount athletics.
A native of Knoxville, Tenn., who grew up in Charlotte, Gary was an outfielder on the WCU baseball team from 2001 until 2004, earning Southern Conference Player of the Week honors in March 2004. During his junior year of 2003, he was a member of WCU’s regular season and Southern Conference Tournament championship baseball team and participated in the NCAA regionals held in Wilson.
WESTERN CAROLINA ATHLETICS MISSION STATEMENT:
Catamount Athletics strives to foster a championship culture while preparing student-athletes for livelong success. #FIGHTON
Guiding Principles and Beliefs:
At Oregon State, he has been a member of the executive leadership team responsible for the athletics department’s $85 million budget, 150 employees and more than 500 student-athletes. He oversees the 16-member athletics development team, which raised nearly $26 million in 2019, a record for the Beavers’ athletics program. That fundraising effort included a $3.5 million sports performance center renovation, $2.3 million women’s locker room renovation, and $2.6 million baseball stadium expansion.
During his stint at Maryland, Gary chaired a committee focused on the financial sustainability of the athletics department, and he led annual giving growth in the Terrapin Club by 22 percent in 2015 and 13 percent in 2016. As a member of the development team at Michigan from 2010 until 2014, he worked closely with the university’s athletics department, raising $12.8 million to support the Wolverines’ athletics program’s capital and endowment needs. He began his career in 2009 as assistant director of annual giving at UNC Charlotte.
Gary earned a degree in business administration in 2005 from Virginia Commonwealth University and his master’s degree in business administration at UNC Charlotte in 2009.
Gary and the former Katie Mavis of Saint Joseph, Mich., were married in a mountain-top ceremony in Oregon on Aug. 28, 2020. The couple has two children; a daughter, Gianna, and son, Myles.
Derived from the lyrics of the Western Carolina University's Fight Song, the phrase “FIGHT ON” has been associated with Catamount Athletics for a long time. This acronym now helps to outline the guiding principles and beliefs that will support the success of Catamount Athletics.
FIRST CLASS STUDENT EXPERIENCE:
We want all Catamount student-athletes to have an experience that allows them to reach their personal and competitive goals.
INNOVATE AND BUILD THE BRAND:
We commit to continuous improvement and making Catamount Athletics known.
GROW IN EVERY WAY:
We believe growth in all areas is necessary to reach our mission.
HOLISTIC STUDENT-ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT:
We believe that the future of a student-athlete is as important as the present.
TALENT AND CULTURE WINS:
We want Catamount Athletics to be a great place to be.
OUTREACH AND ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT:
We know that partnership is critical to reach our mission.
NOW IS OUR TIME!:
We believe that Catamount Athletics is positioned for a high level of competitive success.
Daniel Hooker Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations
Wes Cogdill Associate Athletic Director for Development
Travis Chandler Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance
Ashleigh Simmons Senior Associate AD for Student Success (SWA)
Kyle Pifer Deputy Athletics Director
Amanda Murchie Assistant Athletic Director for Business
Chad Gerrety Senior Associate AD for External Affairs
WESTERN CAROLINA ATHLETICS – CATAMOUNT HEAD COACHES
ALAN BECK baseball
TIM CRAFT mens basketball
JONATHAN TSIPIS womens basketball
CORBIN HUNTLEY cheerleading
KERWIN BELL football
TIM ECKBERG mens golf
ANN MARIE COVAR womens golf
CHAD MILLER soccer
JIM CLIFT softball
BRET BEAVER tennis
JESSE NORMAN xc / track and field
KAREN GLOVER volleyball
CATAMOUNT MEN'S BASKETBALL
2024-25 SCHEDULE
BERNARD PELOTE
MARCUS KELL
HEAD COACH TIM CRAFT
First Season at Western Carolina
An experienced head coach with regional ties, Tim Craft was named head men's basketball coach at Western Carolina University on Wednesday, March 23, 2024 by Director of Athletics Alex Gary. He was formally introduced to the Catamount Nation on Tuesday, March 19.
Craft spent 11 years as the head coach at Gardner-Webb where he averaged over 17 wins per season. He becomes the 20th men's basketball head coach in Western Carolina history.
Including a pair of 20-win seasons, Craft led the Runnin' Bulldogs to eight .500-or-better overall finishes during his tenure. His 2018-19 Big South tournament championship squad won 23 games including two over ACC-foes Georgia Tech and Wake Forest, finishing the season ranked No. 25 in the MidMajor Top 25 poll. In 2014-15, GWU finished with 20 wins with a pair of Power Five conference wins at Clemson and Purdue.
All told, Craft's teams won six games against Power Five conference opponents. He also secured wins over his new team, Western Carolina, in each of the past three seasons dating back to 2021.
Just the fourth Big South head coach to win at least 15 games in each of his first four seasons – and the 10th coach to reach 50 overall wins through his third year – Craft won 188 games during his tenure at Gardner-Webb including 102 in league play to rank fourth all-time among the all-time winningest coaches in conference history. He guided the Runnin' Bulldogs to a pair of postseason appearances including the College Basketball Insider (CBI) tournament in 2015 and the school's first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2018-19.
The only Big South head coach to post 10 seasons of 10 or more league wins in conference history, Craft's squads did not finish below sixth in the Big South Conference standings during his tenure.
Runnin' Bulldog men's basketball student-athletes earned a combined 26 All-Big South Conference postseason honors
Tim Craft
Career Coaching Experience:
Western Carolina, Head Coach - (2024- )
Gardner-Webb, Head Coach - (2013-24)
East Carolina, Assistant Coach - (2010-13) Auburn, Assistant Coach - (2008-10)
Auburn, Director of Basketball Operations - (2007-08)
Gardner-Webb, Assistant Coach - (2004-07)
Pensacola Junior College, Assistant Coach - (2002-04)
Robert F. Munroe School, Varsity Boys Head Coach - ('01-02)
Robert F. Munroe School, Asst. Varsity / Head JV Coach - ('00-01)
between the first and second teams, honorable mentions, and all-freshman plaudits over his 11 seasons leading the GWU program. Six of his players collected multiple seasonal awards from the league's head coaches including three-time All-Big South honorees Tyrell Nelson (All-Freshman, 2013-14; 2nd team 2015-16, '16-17) and David Efianayi (HM, 2016-17; 2nd team 2017-18, '18-19). Also in 2023-24, Lucas Streiber became just the third Gardner-Webb player to collect the Big South's Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor, the second under Craft as Will Byron earned the distinction back in 2013-14.
Most recently coming as the head coach, Craft had a pair of stints at Gardner-Webb, first as an assistant coach from 2004-07 before joining Jeff Lebo's staff at Auburn as the director of basketball operations in 2007-08. He was promoted by Lebo to an assistant coaching role the following season where he spent two years on the Plains until making the move to ECU with his head coach.
Auburn averaged 18 wins per season with Craft on staff over three years. The 2008-09 Tigers finished with the second-most wins in program history by going 24-12 and placed second in the SEC with a 10-6 record. That squad reached the quarterfinals of the NIT in postseason play.
While at ECU, Craft helped the Pirates to its best season in school history in 2012-13, as the Pirates won a school-record 23 games and capped the run with the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) championship.
During his three-year stint as an assistant at GardnerWebb, Craft mentored four all-conference performers for the Runnin' Bulldogs in the ASUN Conference. He recruited and coached Tim Jennings, the program's first two-time ASUN Defensive Player of the Year, as a part of assembling a Top 50 national recruiting class at GWU in 2006. He was part of Gardner-Webb's first team title as an NCAA Division I program, winning the ASUN regular-season title in 2004-05, advancing to the conference title game. The regular-season crown represented the first ASUN title for GWU in any sport.
Craft began his coaching career as the assistant varsity coach and the head junior varsity coach at Robert F. Munroe School in Quincy, Fla., in 2000-01, and was later promoted to head varsity coach at Munroe in 2001-02. He made the move into the collegiate ranks in 2002-03 as an assistant at Pensacola (Fla.) Junior College (PJC) under head coach Paul Swanson. While at PJC, the Pirates posted a 20-win season and were ranked as high as No. 13 nationally.
Originally from Tallahassee, Fla., Craft earned a Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in secondary education from the University of Florida in 2000. He is married to the former Jessica Arenas of Tallahassee, Fla. The couple has four children – Lola, Macy, Bennett, and Christian.
COACHING CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
• Secured 188 career head coaching wins at GardnerWebb – fourth all-time among head coaches within the Big South Conference, by-passing former Winthrop head coach Pat Kelsey this season and sitting three wins ahead of Barclay Radebaugh, the active head coach at Charleston Southern;
• Became the fourth coach in Big South history to win at least 15 games in his first four seasons … 10th coach in league history to reach 50 overall victories in his third season in the conference … and the only coach in Big South Conference history to have 10 seasons of 10 or more victories in league play;
• His Gardner-Webb teams scored SIX victories over Power Five competition including defeating Clemson (ACC), Georgia (SEC), Georgia Tech (ACC), Nebraska (Big Ten), Purdue (Big Ten), and Wake Forest (ACC);
• Led Gardner-Webb to a pair of postseason appearances during his tenure: guided the Runnin' Bulldogs to the CBI in 2014-15 – just the school's second postseason bid in its NCAA Division I history … Led Gardner-Webb to the program's first-ever NCAA D-I Tournament appearance in 2019 … In that first-round game, built the largest lead of the tournament over eventual national champion Virginia as the Runnin' Bulldogs led the Cavaliers by 14 points;
• Finalist for the 2020 Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, which is presented annually to recognize those who not only achieve success on the court but also display moral integrity off it as well;
• Was a finalist for the 2014 Joe B. Hall Award, which is presented annually to the top first-year head coach in college basketball by CollegeInsider.com;
• Was part of an ECU men's basketball staff that won 23 games in 2012-13 including winning the CollegeInsider. com Postseason Tournament (CIT) championship.
CATAMOUNT MEN'S BASKETBALL – ASSISTANT COACHES & STAFF
Andre GRAY Associate Head Men's Basketball Coach
Andrew BROWN Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator
Conner ANDERS Graduate Assistant
Chase RIDENOUR Graduate Assistant
Connor STARK Graduate Assistant
AJ STROOP Graduate Assistant
Adam BULLARD Assistant Men's Basketball Coach
Jackson SIMMONS Assistant Men's Basketball Coach
WESTERN CAROLINA CATAMOUNTS
MEN’S BASKETBALL
ROSTER
CATAMOUNT MEN'S BASKETBALL – DID YOU KNOW...?
• Western Carolina’s HENRY LOGAN – the program’s all-time leading scorer – helped break the color barrier in college basketball when he signed with WCU in 1964 becoming the first African-American collegiate athlete in the history of North Carolina and perhaps at any predominantly white institution in the southeastern United States ... Logan scored an astounding 3,290 points – an average of 30.7 points per game – during his WCU career and was a four-time NAIA All-America selection ... One of 11 in WCU’s initial Athletics Hall of Fame Class in 1990, Logan was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2000;
• WCU gave birth to the 3-point shot in the NCAA as former Catamount RONNIE CARR buried the NCAA's first 3-pointer in WCU’s 77-70 victory over Middle Tennessee State on Nov. 29, 1980 … the ball he used is on display at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. … The shot was made from the left corner with 16:09 left in the first half (7:06 pm) ... Carr, who is in the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame, actually took and missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the 18:15 mark of the first half;
• WCU finished as the 1963 NAIA National Runner-Up under head coach Jim Gudger ... With a 28-7 overall record, WCU won the Carolina’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAC) tournament and the NAIA District title ... the Catamounts then rattled off wins on consecutive days over Eastern Montana, Miles, Lewis & Clark and Fort Hayes State before falling in the championship game to Texas Pan American;
• In its only NCAA tournament appearance, the 1996 Catamounts led by WCU Hall of Famer ANQUELL McCOLLUM nearly pulled off the most improbable of upsets as the No. 16 seed fell by two, 73-71, to No. 1 seed Purdue in Albuquerque, N.M. ... the game was tied 71-71 with under three minutes to play with Purdue’s Brandon Brantley scoring the game’s final bucket with 1:30 showing on the clock at “The Pit” ... WCU had two looks at both a game-winning and a game-tying shot inside the closing seconds but both attempts missed;
• WCU’s bid to play in the CollegeInsider.com Post-Season Tournament (CIT) following the 2009-10 season represented the Catamounts’ return to post-season play for the first time since 1996 ... WCU made its third post-season appearance all-time in 201516 when it traveld to Burlington, Vt., in the first-ever meeting against the Vermont Catamounts in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI);
• WCU’s most recent former player to play in the NBA is KEVIN MARTIN, who played for the Catamounts from 2001-04 ... Martin, a 2019 inductee into the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame and the first-round pick of the Sacramento Kings in ‘04, was the FIRST Catamount to ever be selected in the first round of the NFL, NBA or MLB Draft;
• KEVIN MARTIN (2001-04) and FRANKIE KING (1993-95) were both named to the Southern Conference's 100th Anniversary Men's Basketball team at the end of the year-long celebration in 2021.
RONALD ROGERS
HENRY LOGAN
RONNIE CARR
FRANKIE KING
ANQUELL McCOLLUM
KEVIN MARTIN
CATAMOUNT WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
2024-25 SCHEDULE
JADA BURTON
AC CARTER
ZANORIA CRUZ
HEAD COACH JONATHAN TSIPIS
First Season at Western Carolina
A former head coach at both George Washington University and the University of Wisconsin, Jonathan Tsipis was named the head women's basketball head coach at Western Carolina University by Director of Athletics Alex Gary on April 5, 2024. Tsipis (pronounced SIP-iss) came to Cullowhee having most recently served on the staff at Marquette University.
Tsipis is the 14th different head women's basketball coach in Western Carolina history dating back to 1965. He is a veteran coach with 27 years of experience, including nearly a decade as a NCAA Division I women's basketball head coach.
Tsipis spent the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons as the Advisor for Scouting and Analytics at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis., alongside Megan Duffy, who played for him while an assistant at Notre Dame and coached under him at George Washington. Duffy recently accepted the head coaching job at Virginia Tech in the ACC. The Golden Eagles women's basketball team went 44-20 over the past two years with consecutive 20-win seasons with Tsipis on the bench. Last season, Marquette posted the best seasonal start in program history. The Golden Eagles were one of just three non-Power 5 programs in the country to receive atlarge bids to each of the last two NCAA Tournaments.
Before starting on staff in the "Original Brew City" in September 2022, Tsipis spent five seasons on the sidelines an hour to the west at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. With the Badgers, Tsipis coached players to eight All-Big Ten honors including a pair of 1,000-point scorers Marsha Howard and Cayla McMorris. His 2018-19 season recruiting class featured three Top 100 players marking one of the highest-ranked classes in program history.
Tsipis coached the Badgers to their best finish in nearly a decade in 2018-19 with a 15-win season and helped the team advance to the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals for the first time since 2013.
Prior to his time at Wisconsin (2016-21), Tsipis served as the head coach at George Washington from 2012-16 where he helped turn the Colonials into a national power.
Taking over a program that went 11-18 the year prior to his arrival, GW posted a record of 92-38 through four seasons with Tsipis at the helm. In his final two seasons in the nation's capital, the team had a 55-11 record with Atlantic-10 titles and NCAA Tournament appearances in both years. In 2014-15, Tsipis was named the A-10 Coach of the Year after seeing the Colonials peak as high as 19th
Jonathan Tsipis
Collegiate Coaching Experience:
Western Carolina University, Head Coach (2024 –) Marquette University, Advisor for Scouting & Analytics (2022-24) University of Wisconsin, Head Coach (2016-21) George Washington University, Head Coach (2012-16) University of Notre Dame, Associate Head Coach (2008-12) University of Notre Dame, Assistant Coach (2003-2008) UNC Greensboro, Director of Basketball Operations (2002-03) Elon University, Men's Basketball Assistant Coach (2000-02) LeMoyne College, Men's Basketball Assistant Coach (1999-2000) Cornell University, Men's Basketball Assistant Coach (1996-99) Duke University, Men's Basketball Staff Assistant (1995-96)
in the national polls. He also coached and helped develop two-time honorable mention All-American and 2016 WNBA first-round draft pick Jonquel Jones, who was inducted into the GW Athletics Hall of Fame in February 2024.
In four seasons at George Washington, Tsipis led the Colonials to three postseason appearances including the WNIT third round in 2013-14 and consecutive NCAA tournament berths in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Working under Women's Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Muffett McGraw at Notre Dame from 2003-12, Tsipis made a name for himself as one of the top assistant coaches in the country with a strong track record of player development. In 2008 he was promoted to associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, and that same year was named the BasketballScoop.com National Assistant Coach of the Year.
In his nine seasons with the Fighting Irish, the team compiled a 228-77 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament every year including five Sweet 16 appearances and national runner-up finishes during his final two seasons.
Tsipis earned his start in the coaching world with several positions in men's basketball, three in the state of North Carolina. Before his time at Notre Dame, he worked as the director of men's basketball operations at UNC Greensboro (2002-03) under Fran McCaffery, assistant men's basketball coach at Elon (2000-02), Le Moyne College (1999-2000) in Syracuse, N.Y., and Cornell (1996-99) and was an undergraduate men's basketball staff assistant at Duke (1995-96) under another Hall of Fame head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
A native of Hinckley, Ohio, before moving to Durham, N.C., as a junior in high school, Tsipis graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in pharmacy. He and his wife Leigh are parents to two children, a daughter Emily, and a son Joshua.
CATAMOUNT WOMEN'S BASKETBALL – ASSISTANT COACHES & STAFF
Alison SEBERGER Associate WBK Head Coach
Sydney LOWERY Assistant WBK Coach
Darius BARKSDALE Assistant WBK Coach
Danielle RAUCH Assistant WBK Coach
Andrea SHIRE Graduate Assistant
WESTERN CAROLINA CATAMOUNTS 2024-25 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ROSTER
CATAMOUNT WOMEN'S BASKETBALL – DID YOU KNOW...?
• Western Carolina’s 1969 women’s basketball team made history on March 22 as the first team to compete in the CIAW Championship, facing West Chester State (Pa.) in the title game, falling 65-39 ... Coached by BETTY WESTMORELAND, the team finished its fourth season with a 14-3 record, losing only to UNC Greensboro twice and West Chester in the final game ... the 1969 Catamount women’s basketball team was inducted into the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003;
• JAYNE ARLEDGE was the first female student-athlete to receive athletic grantin aid at WCU in 1976 and was later the first female student-athlete to have her jersey retired in school history ... In 1992, Arledge was inducted into the Western Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame ... She coached at North Greenville University for 36 years, remaining on-staff as the Senior Woman Administrator ... She was inducted into the Crusaders’ Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019;
• JAYNE ARLEDGE is the program’s all-time leading scorer, finishing with 1,928 career points, averaging 21.7 points per game over four seasons ... Arledge scored 30 points five times and owns 11 Western Carolina game, season and career records ... Arledge led the Catamounts to four-consecutive winning seasons and was twice named All-State;
• WCU won its first Southern Conference tournament title in 2005, outlasting fifth-seeded Georgia Southern, 97-95, in double overtime to earn the program’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament ... WCU also became the first team in SoCon history to reach and win the tournament championship after playing in the opening round;
• In 2007, Western Carolina won its first SoCon regular season title ... the Catamounts won a school-record 15 league games and tied Chattanooga for the regular season title, earning the program’s first-ever No. 1 seed in the SoCon tournament ... WCU went on to play in the postseason WNIT;
• It took three overtime periods, 101 points and clutch free throws down the stretch, but WCU weathered it all to capture the 2009 SoCon Tournament title, the second in program history ... No. 3 seed WCU defeated No. 5 seed College of Charleston, 101-87, in the come-from-behind victory ... the game was the third-highest scoring game in SoCon Tournament history and also the first triple OT game in the tournament ... WCU earned a No. 13 seed in the NCAA tournament, the highest in school history;
• LAURA ECHOLS (1998-2002) and JENNIFER GARDNER (2001-05) are both in the WCU Athletics Hall of Fame and were named to the SoCon's 100th Anniversary Women's Basketball team in 2021 ... Both Echols and Gardner were three-time, first-team All-SoCon selections in their WCU careers.
LAURA ECHOLS
JAYNE ARLEDGE
JENNIFER GARDNER
BETTY WESTMORELAND
RAMSEY CENTER QUICK FACTS:
DEDICATION: December 6, 1986
First Game / First Women’s Basketball Game: Western Carolina 65, Mars Hill 61 (12/4/86)
First Men’s Basketball Game: N.C. State 96, Western Carolina 75 (12/6/86)
First Men’s Basketball Win: Western Carolina 90, Tusculum 58 (1/5/87)
Top Men’s Basketball Attendances:
1. 8,114 North Carolina State (12/6/86)
2. 6,024 Appalachian State (2/06/10)
3. 5,018 Samford (1/16/24)
4. 4,765 College of Charleston (1/25/10)
5. 4,603 No. 16 Kansas (12/3/87)
6. 4,577 Appalachian State (2/26/96)
7. 4,343 Chattanooga (1/14/06)
8. 4,217 Georgia Southern (2/10/07)
9. 4,178 Davidson (1/24/13)
10. 4,121 Appalachian State (2/28/04)
Top Women’s Basketball Attendance: 2,178 - vs. Chattanooga (02/10/07)
CAT HOUSE PEP BAND AND PURPLE THUNDER
