SoCon Basketball: In-depth look at Western Carolina star Mason Faulkner

By Bryan Mauro | Oct 18, 2020

Western Carolina Catamounts guard Mason Faulkner (11) collects a loose ball away from Xavier Musketeers forward Zach Freemantle (32) during the second half of an NCAA basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019, at Cintas Center in Cincinnati. Xavier Musketeers won 74-61.Western Carolina Catamounts At Xavier Musketeers Basketball 12 18 2019 /

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Nov 15, 2019; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Western Carolina Catamounts guard Mason Faulkner Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports /

Why you should know Mason Faulkner

The Catamounts had one of the best season-to-season turnarounds in the country last year, and the redshirt senior guard Faulkner was a giant catalyst for that. He is one of the top 10 returning players in the country overall and virtually no one knows about him.

Faulkner started his career for John Brannen and the Northern Kentucky Norse, but after Brannen decided to become the head coach and Cincinnati the guard felt it was his best interest to transfer and he landed at Western Carolina. The guard was not on the team that seven games in 2018-2019, but his contributions on the floor were a huge reason the Catamounts had success last year.

It was hard to imagine the type of player that Faulkner would become after he left the Norse program. In 65 games with Northern Kentucky, the guard averaged just a shade under seven points per game, but the potential for greatness was always there. The guard was able to use his redshirt year to learn the Catamount system and he got stronger and more confident on the offensive end. He is now one of the most feared players in the Southern Conference and honestly, it should be nationally.

The guard was tied for the nation’s triple-double lead with two and he was tied with another player who has been spotlighted in Kameron Langley. Outside of the triple-doubles, the senior Faulkner finished in the top 20 in assists per game with 6.1 per game. He was also able to haul in 6 rebounds per game as well as his 18 points per game.

Overall, he finished in the top 10 in the league in seven offensive categories. He is already one of the best players to ever wear a Catamount uniform and he has only been on campus for one season.

Back to the triple-doubles. No other Catamount had ever recorded a triple-double in a division 1 game. Western Carolina has been in the Division 1 ranks since the 1976-1977 season. So an easy answer to a trivia question to impress your friends is who holds the only triple-doubles in Western Carolina division 1 basketball history.

The answer is guard Mason Faulkner and he currently has two but with his skill level and how well he does everything on a basketball floor expect for that number to rise this season.