Former Tennessee player visits 49ers

Duke Crews, who a played basketball the past two seasons with Tennessee and was a consensus top-10 player in high school, made a one-day unofficial visit with the Charlotte 49ers on Monday, the Observer has learned.

Crews' visit included a meeting with Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz and a visit with some of the players who remain on campus this summer.

Crews, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound sophomore forward from Hampton, Va., previously said he planned to transfer in the fall and the 49ers and Pittsburgh were his top two choices. Sources said Crews has added Southern Cal to the short list of schools he is considering.

Neither Charlotte nor Pitt has a scholarship available and Crews would have to pay his own way his first season, during which he would not be eligible to play anyway. USC, however, does have an available scholarship.

Crews and point guard Ramar Smith were dismissed from Tennessee on May 2 by coach Bruce Pearl citing violations of unspecified team rules.

A story in May by the Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel cited violations of the university's substance abuse and academic shortcomings as contributing to both players' departures, but the Observer last month was shown Crews' official release from Tennessee, which states Crews was in good standing academically and did not violate any university or NCAA substance abuse policies.

Since Crews would be a transfer, he has not set timetable to announce a decision. He could wait until the final day to enroll at a school for fall semester if he so chose.

2 Niners make notable teams

A couple of notable upcoming adventures for some Charlotte 49er student-athletes:

-- Incoming Charlotte women's basketball freshman guard Rachelle Coward has been invited to try out for a spot on the 2008 Canadian Junior Women's National Team. Coward, who played at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy and a native of Nova Scotia, is one of 23 players invited to the tryout in Barrie, Ontario, Canada on July 11 and 12.
The tryout will determine the Canadian Junior National Team which will compete in the FIBA U18 Americas Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 23-27. The Canadian team won the silver medal in the 2006 competition.

-- Recent 49ers graduate Jonas Enander Hedin will begin play Thursday with the European team at the 2008 Palmer Cup, an annual Ryder Cup-style competition between a team of college players from Europe and a team of college players from the United States. Enander Hedin is a native of Taby, Sweden.
The two-day event will be held at the Glasgow Golf Club Gailes Links in Gailes, Scotland. Enander Hedin helped Charlotte win three consecutive Atlantic 10 Conference golf championships and consecutive top-10 finishes in the NCAA Championships the past two seasons.

Top girls players considering 49ers

Three top high school girls basketball players -- including two from Charlotte -- who participated in Charlotte 49ers coach Karen Aston's select basketball camp last week have expressed interest in joining the 49ers' program.
Chelsea Davis, ranked the second-best player this season in the state of Delaware by the recruiting Web site rivals.com, is a 6-foot-3 forward and rising senior. She has not committed to any school but is considering Charlotte and Florida State, among others.
The only player ranked higher than Davis in Delaware this season was 6-5 senior center Elena DelleDonne, who has signed to play at national power Connecticut.
Providence Day's Janee Johnson and West Mecklenburg's Jaquaria Forney, both rising seniors, also participated in the camp and are considering Charlotte. Johnson, a 6-1 forward, was named second team All-Mecklenburg by The Observer while Forney, a 5-10 guard, was named to the third team.
Johnson said she hasn't narrowed her list of schools but would be open to remaining near home and considering Charlotte. "I think when I first thought about going to college I just wanted to get out on my own," she said. "Now, I think I wouldn't want to go too far away because I really want my family to be able to see me play."
Forney is considering offers from Charlotte, Kansas, Alabama, Kentucky and Clemson, said her summer coach, Clyde Dickerson. Forney, who averaged 21.1 points per game this season, is attending several high-profile camps and tournaments this summer, including the Best of Summer in Atlanta and Fab Five in New Orleans.

49ers basketball schedule taking shape

Although its 2008-2009 men's basketball schedule is far from complete, some of the Charlotte 49ers' nonconference schedule is beginning to take shape.
The 49ers are tentatively scheduled to open the season Nov. 14 at home against UNC Greensboro, one of at least three Southern Conference schools Charlotte will face this season. The 49ers will also play road games at Appalachian State and Davidson.
Charlotte has also tentatively scheduled three home games in December against Youngstown State, Long Island and Tulsa.
Long Island, of the Northeast Conference, finished 15-15 last season and had an RPI of 201 by collegerpi.com. Youngstown State, of the Horizon League, finished 7-21 last season and had an RPI of 227. Tulsa, of Conference USA, finished 25-14 last season and won the inaugural postseason College Basketball Invitational.
Charlotte also will host Winthrop of the Big South, and Clemson of the ACC, both likely in December, at Halton Arena. The matchup with the Tigers is a return game from last season, won by the 49ers at Clemsons' Littlejohn Coliseum. The game with the Eagles will be the first between the schools and first of a three-year contract.

Summer Pro-Am is underway

The Mecklenburg Parks and Recreation Summer Hoops pro-am league - formerly known as the Jeff McGinnis Summer League - is underway and once again several current and new members of the Charlotte 49ers basketball team are participating.
Five members -- junior Phil Jones, junior transfers Shamari Spears and Rashad Coleman, sophomore An'Juan Wilderness and freshman Shamarr Bowden -- are all scheduled to play on the Pepsi Team and will see action for the first time at 6:30 p.m. Monday.
Senior forward Charlie Coley is scheduled to play on the Rosemaxx Team and his next game is Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.
Junior point guard DiJuan Harris and sophomore forward Gaby Ngoundjo are playing for the Los Allstars Team and play again at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Finally, sophomore Charles Dewhurst and redshirt freshman Javarris Barnett play for John P. Kee and play again at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
As last year, all games are free and played at the Grady Cole Center. Playoff games begin August 5.
Several other local college stars are playing this summer, including Davidson's Stephen Curry (BTTB team), Wake Forest's Jamie Skeen (PCS team) and Washington Wizards player (and former North Carolina star) Brandon Haywood on Cube On team.

Here is the remaining summer league schedule:
Monday: 6:30, Pepsi v. MC Allstars; 7:30, JCSU v. Prime Time; 8:30, McNasty v. CLI; 9:30, Skillz Athletics v. Bring It On.
Tuesday: 6:30, PCS v. BTTB; 7:30, Titus Ivory v. Los Allstars; 8:30, Rosemaxx v. USC Aiken; 9:30, John P Kee v. Cube One.
Wednesday: 6:30, CLI v. MC Allstars; 7:30, Pepsi v. Skillz Athletics; 8:30, Bring It On v. Prime Time; 9:30, McNasty v. JCSU.
Thursday: 6:30, BTTB v. Rosemaxx; 7:30, Los Allstars v. John P Kee; 8:30, PCS v. Titus Ivory; 9:30, Cube One v. USC Aiken.
June 30: 6:30, Prime Time v. MC Allstars; 7:30, CLI v. Pepsi; 8:30, McNasty v. Skillz Athletics; 9:30, JCSU v. Bring It On.
July 1: 6:30, John P Kee v. BTTB; 7:30, Cube One v. PCS; 8:30, USC Aiken v. Los Allstars; 9:30, Titus Ivory v. Rosemaxx.
July 2: 6:30, McNasty v. MC Allstars; 7:30, Pepsi v. Prime Time; 8:30, JCSU v. Skillz Athletics; 9:30, Bring It On v. CLI.
July 3: 6:30, Titus Ivory v. Cube One; 7:30, John P Kee v. Rosemaxx; 8:30, Los Allstars v. BTTB; 9:30, USC Aiken v . PCS.
July 7: 6:30, CLI v. Rosemaxx; 7:30, John P Kee v. Prime Time; 8:30, PCS v. McNasty; 9:30, Pepsi v. Los Allstars.
July 8: 6:30, JCSU v. BTTB; 7:30, PCS v. Los Allstars; 8:30, Rosemaxx v. Cube One; 9:30, John P Kee v. USC Aiken.
July 9: 6:30, Pepsi v. Bring It On; 7:30, MC Allstars v. JCSU; 8:30, McNasty v. CLI; 9:30, Skillz Athletics v. Prime Time.
July 10, 6:30, John P Kee v. PCS; 7:30, Rosemaxx v. Los Allstars; 8:30, BTTB v. Titus Ivory; 9:30, USC Aiken v. Cube One.
July 14, 6:30, John P Kee v. Pepsi; 7:30, CLI v. Los Allstars; 8:30, PCS v. Prime Time; 9:30, Rosemaxx v. McNasty.
July 15: 6:30, Cube One v. Skillz Athletics; 7:30, BTTB v. Pepsi; 8:30, Bring It On v. USC Aiken; 9:30, Rosemaxx v. JCSU.
July 16: 6:30, Prime Time v. Titus Ivory; 7:30, CLI v. John P Kee; 8:30, PCS v. MC Allstars; 9:30, McNasty v. Los Allstars.
July 17: 6:30, Old Timers Game; 7:30, Alumni Challenge; 8:30, Overseas Challnege; 9:30, College players challenge.
July 21: 6:30, John P Kee v. McNasty; 7:30, PCS v. CLI; 8:30, Rosemaxx v. Prime Time; 9:30, Pepsi v. Cube One.
July 22: 6:30, Skillz Athletics v. Los Allstars; 7:30, Bring It On v. BTTB; 8:30, MC Allstars v. Titus Ivory; 9:30, USC Aiken v. JCSU.
July 23: 6:30, Rosemaxx v. Pepsi; 7:30, McNasty v. Titus Ivory; 8:30, John P Kee v. Bring It On; 9:30, USC Aiken v. CLI.
July 24: 6:30, Los Allstars v. Prime Time; 7:30, Cube One v. JCSU; 8:30, PCS v. Skillz Athletics; 9:30, BTTB v. MC Allstars.
July 30: 6:30, Bring It On v. Cube One; 7:30, BTTB v. Skillz Athletics; 8:30, Titus Ivory v. JCSU; 9:30, USC Aiken v. MC Allstars.
July 31: 6:30, BTTB v. JCSU; 7:30, Cube One v. MC Allstars; 8:30, Bring It On v. Titus Ivory; 9:30, Skillz Athletics v. USC Aiken.
Aug. 4: 6:30, Pepsi v. Titus Ivory; 7:30, Bring It On v. MC Allstars; 8:30, CLI v. Skillz Athletics; 9:30, McNasty v. Prime Time.

More honors for 49ers' golfers

Charlotte's top-10 men's golf team produced a pair of All-Americans this season.

Senior Jonas Enander Hedin was named third-team All-America by the Golf Coaches Association of America and GolfWeek. Sophomore Corey Nagy, who starred at Vance High, was named honorable mention All-American by the two organizations.

Enander Hedin led the 49ers with a 71.78 stroke average, becoming the second player in school history to finish a season of under-par golf. Enander Hedin will represent Europe in the 2008 Palmer Cup, a Ryder Cup-style event pitting the best college players from Europe against those from the United States.

Nagy posted a 72.14 stroke average this season and was ranked among the nation's top 50 players in the final Golfstat and GolfWeek individual rankings. He was Charlotte's top performer in the NCAA Championship, finishing tied for 16th.

Enander Hedin was also tapped a second-team Academic All-American by ESPN The Magazine. He graduated cum laude with a 3.77 GPA as a business management/managerial leadership major.

Niners hire women's soccer assistant

Former Western Carolina women's soccer standout Heather Dittmer has been hired as an assistant coach with the Charlotte 49ers.

Dittmer finished her career at Western Carolina with 15 goals which is tied for the fourth highest in the program’s history. She also finished fifth in the program’s history with 39 career points. As a junior, she earned first-team All-Southern Conference and N.C. Collegiate Sports Information Association All-State honors.

"I really like the qualities that she possesses as a player and a person. To be able to watch her have an opportunity to take what she has learned as a player and continue to grow as a young coach is exciting for me," said Charlotte coach Jon Lipsitz.

Dittmer played two years with the W-League’s Cocoa Expos from 2006 to 2007. In 2006, she led the Expos in goals while leading them to a third place finish in their inaugural season.