Whether attending a football game at E.J. Whitmire Stadium/Bob Waters Field, a basketball game in Ramsey Regional Activity Center or sitting in the stands at a soccer game, there is a collective sentiment of renewed hope and excitement around Catamount Athletics. A big part of this resurgence is due to the leadership of Alex Gary, WCU’s director of athletics, who knows what it takes to be successful on and off the field at WCU. Gary was part of the 2003 WCU baseball team that won the Southern Conference championship.

Knowing what it felt like to win a championship, he was excited to have the opportunity to take the helm as the leader of Catamount Athletics when he was hired in February 2020. “As a former WCU student-athlete myself, I was excited to have the opportunity to change the expectation and the culture around competitive success at Western Carolina University,” Gary said. “I was part of a very successful team when I was here as a student-athlete and I knew that we could achieve this level of success with our other athletic teams, regardless of our past challenges.

I like the challenge of figuring things out and it is a matter of doing just that and hiring the right people.” Attending a football game, especially a home one, proves how far the Catamounts have come in terms of coming together to be a championship level team. The atmosphere at E.J. Whitmire Stadium is electrifying. The fans, the students, the band, and of course the team giving their heart and soul every play on the field makes for an exciting Saturday afternoon in Cullowhee.

Under the direction of head coach Kerwin Bell, the football team, which was once circled as an easy win on other SoCon teams’ calendars, went 7-4 in 2023 and just barely missed the playoffs. Since 1985, WCU has only had two seasons where it won seven games. “I think everything really begins with making our priorities clear and that starts with our mission statement, ‘Catamount Athletics strives to foster a championship culture while preparing student-athletes for lifelong success,’” Gary said. “Two things we talk about every single day is that we want to win and how can we best prepare our student-athletes for what’s next.” Not only has the sentiment about athletics been more upbeat, but alumni are also excited about the resurgence of their beloved athletic teams. “We’ve got some big game changers in Catamount Athletics,” Mark Ethridge ’83 said. “I have attended the past few signing events and I am very excited to see what the future holds. I am proud to be an alumnus of WCU and support our athletic teams.”

Not only has the sentiment about athletics been more upbeat, but alumni are also excited about the resurgence of their beloved athletic teams. “We’ve got some big game changers in Catamount Athletics,” Mark Ethridge ’83 said. “I have attended the past few signing events and I am very excited to see what the future holds. I am proud to be an alumnus of WCU and support our athletic teams.”

The men’s basketball team has also seen renewed success going 22-10 during the 2023-2024 season. This is just the second 20-win season as an NCAA Division I program, while also matching the most wins since 2009-2010, the program's best since moving to D-I. Other Catamount teams making their mark in the SoCon include women’s golf, who won four titles in 2023, men’s golf and the men’s track and field team, which finished second in the SoCon Indoor Championships last spring. Volleyball, tennis and baseball have also had successful seasons the past few years with top three finishes.

“The competitive piece of Catamount Athletics is we want all of our teams to finish in the top three,” Gary said. “The goal every single year is to finish in the top three because if you finish in the top three, you've had a very competitive season, you put yourself in position to win a conference championship and participate in postseason play.” The women’s soccer team made history during the 2023 season on and off the field. The Catamounts were Southern Conference regular season and tournament champions. In the classroom, the Catamounts had a 3.7 team GPA for the 11th straight season.