SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Western Carolina guard Vonterius Woolbright has been named the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for all contests from Jan. 8-14 after leading the Catamounts to two road conference victories. The award is selected by the league office.
 
Woolbright extended his school record for conference player of the week selections in one season, picking up his sixth of the season this week. His six recognitions also tie him with Frankie King, who played for the Catamounts from 1993-95, with the most player of the week selections in program history.
 
Woolbright led Western Carolina to an 80-66 victory at ETSU on Jan. 10, before the Catamounts defeated Mercer, 64-52, on Jan. 13, giving the team their ninth straight win.

Against ETSU, the Albany, Georgia, native recorded his second career triple-double, finishing with 20 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists and two steals. The senior’s triple-double was just the fifth in Western Carolina’s men’s basketball NCAA Division I history. Three days later versus Mercer, Woolbright had 14 points, 15 rebounds and four assists, logging his 14th double-double of the season, which is tied for the most in the NCAA with Akron’s Enrique Freeman.
 
For the week, Woolbright averaged 17.0 points, 14.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game. Woolbright was named to the Lou Henson Award Mid-Season Watch List last Wednesday. On Saturday, Woolbright was featured on College Gameday as Seth Greenberg’s “Dude of the Day” and was interviewed by Greenberg and others on ESPN on Sunday.
 
Western Carolina (15-2, 4-0 SoCon) hosts Samford (15-2, 4-0) on Tuesday, a game that will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network, and travels to Furman (8-9, 2-2) on Saturday.
 
Other nominees: Alex Williams (Furman), David Thomas (Mercer), Kobe Langley (UNCG), Achor Achor (Samford), Trey Bonham (Chattanooga) and Corey Tripp (Wofford)
 
2023-24 SoCon Men’s Basketball Players of the Week
Nov. 13             Vonterius Woolbright, Sr., G, Western Carolina
Nov. 20             Keyshaun Langley, Gr., G, UNCG
Nov. 27             Mikeal Brown-Jones, Sr., F, UNCG
Dec. 4              Vonterius Woolbright, Sr., G, Western Carolina
Dec. 11             Alex Williams, Jr., F, Furman
Dec. 18             Vonterius Woolbright, Sr., G, Western Carolina
Dec. 25             Vonterius Woolbright, Sr., G, Western Carolina
Jan. 1               Jaden Seymour, Jr., F, ETSU
Jan. 8               Vonterius Woolbright, Sr., G, Western Carolina
Jan. 15             Vonterius Woolbright, Sr., G, Western Carolina