Recent additions bode well -- for 2014

 Wednesday’s news that the 49ers’ men’s basketball team has added Florida transfer Braxton Ogbueze further solidified Charlotte's roster -- for the 2014-15 season. They’ve already got another transfer, forward Bernard Sullivan from Clemson, signed for that year, as well (they both have to sit out a season under NCAA rules).

But depth might still be a problem for next season, with Tulane transfer and shooting guard Ben Cherry and freshman forward Cameron Blakley (as well as sophomore guard Shawn Lester) the only new players (for now) coming in to offset the losses of four seniors and the transfers of Darion Clark and E. Victor Nickerson.

Coach Alan Major has said he wants to make Charlotte and Mecklenburg County a primary recruiting area, and he’s done that this spring, at least through the transfer route. Cherry (Myers Park), Sullivan (North Mecklenburg, Davidson Day) and Ogbueze (Vance, United Faith) are all local products that Charlotte no doubt would have preferred to have signed out of high school – as he’d already done with Terrence Williams (West Mecklenburg) and Ivan Benkovic (Mack Academy).

In signing Blakley from Apalachee High in Winder, Ga., Major also continues to recruit the state of Georgia aggressively. The results so far, however, have been mixed at best, at least in terms of player retention from that state. Sophomore forward Willie Clayton (Thomasville) should be an all-star candidate next season.

But three other Georgia players, although talented and apparently headed for solid careers at Charlotte, didn’t pan out.

DeMario Mayfield (Royston), Major’s first recruit at Charlotte and a transfer from the Georgia Bulldogs, was kicked off the team (he’s now at Morehead State). Nickerson (Atlanta) and Clark (Conyers) have transferred for what they hope are greener pastures elsewhere.

-- 49ers football coach Brad Lambert will be busy with clinics over the next month. Lambert and Charlotte’s Belk Bowl will hold an NCAA Youth Football Clinic on Saturday at the 49ers’ stadium. Check in begins at 8 a.m. and the clinic begins at 9:15. The clinic is open to the first 150 players who register (ages 8-14, grades 3-8): Register at www.ncaafootballclinics.com. Lambert will be joined by area youth, high school and college coaches.

Also, Lambert and his staff will hold a women’s football clinic June 15 from 9 a.m.-noon at the stadium. Participants will take part in a film session, participate in drills, review the rules with a referee and also see a fashion show for football equipment.

To register, call the 49ers Athletic Foundation at 704-687-4950.

 

 

Big baseball series for 49ers

-- Charlotte takes a nine-game winning streak into a crucial regular-season ending baseball series at Saint Louis, which begins Thursday night. The 49ers (32-19, 16-5), have a one-game lead over the Billikens (34-17, 15-6) and La Salle (24-24, 15-6), can clinch the top seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament next week at Hayes Stadium.

There are a few ways for the 49ers to do that: sweep the Billikens; win the series against Saint Louis and La Salle fail to sweep George Washington; win two games against Saint Louis (winning a tiebreaker with La Salle if the Explorers sweep GW); win one game against Saint Louis with La Salle winning two of three against GW (Charlotte wins the tiebreaker).

Charlotte is led by Justin Seager, who is second in the A-10 in hitting (.368) and was 7-for-11 in a sweep of Dayton last weekend. Tyler Barnette (5-3, 3.81 ERA) starts Thursday for Charlotte.

-- The 49ers broke their baseball home-attendance season record Sunday against Dayton. Charlotte has drawn 35,104 fans in 35 games this season. It's the first time in school history the 49ers have broken the 35,000-fan barrier.

-- The 49ers' golf team is competing in its ninth consecutive NCAA regional beginning Thursday morning at the Ohio State Golf Club Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio. The 49ers, led by two-time A-10 medalist Raoul Menard, are one of 13 teams in Columbus and are paired with Virginia and San Francisco in Thursday's first round.



 

Charlotte 49ers to host C-USA men's soccer

The Charlotte 49ers will host the Conference USA 2013 men's soccer Nov. 13-17 at Transamerica Field, the league announced Wednesday.

The league finished its spring meetings in Destin, Fla., with the announcements of its 2013-14 championships, along with other news:

-- The league will recommend to its board that all 16 men's and women's basketball teams play in the C-USA tournaments in a five-day format; that men's basketball teams have travel partners with league games being played on Thursdays and Saturdays; women's league basketball games be played Wednesdays and Saturdays; and increase the league volleyball tournament to 12 teams, women's soccer to 10 and men's soccer to seven.

The meetings were attended by the league's athletics directors, senior women's administrators, faculty athletic representatives and football, men's basketball and women's basketball head coaches.

Eight potential football bowl partners also attended, as did the league's television partners.

Other championship dates and sites were announced:

Cross-country; TBD; women's soccer, Houston, Nov. 6-10; volleyball, Murfreesboro, Tenn., Nov. 22-24; football, division champ with best record, Dec. 4; women's swimming and diving, Atlanta, Feb. 19-22; indoor track and field, Birmingham, Ala., Feb. 19-20; men's and women's basketball, El Paso, Tex., March 11-15; women's tennis, Norfolk, Va., April 17-20; men's tennis, Tulsa, Okla., April 17-20; women's golf, Gulf Shores, Ala., April 21-23; men's golf, Texarkana, Ark., TBA; softball; Boca Raton, Fla., May 8-10; outdoor track and field, TBD, May 15-18; women's rowing, Oak Ridge, Tenn., May 17; baseball; TBD, May 21-25.

--

49ers sign Florida-transfer Ogbueze

The Charlotte 49ers have signed Florida-transfer Braxton Ogbueze, a point guard who was a top-100 prospect when he left Charlotte's United Faith Christian Academy two years ago.

Ogbueze (6-foot-0) didn't play much last season for the Gators, getting in just 23 games and playing a total of 107 minutes. He'll have three seasons of to play with the 49ers when he becomes eligible in the 2014-15 season. He began his high school career at Vance High, before transferring to United Faith, where he averaged 21.9 points and 3.8 assists as a senior. He shot 60.9 percent from the field and 54.2 percent from 3-point range his senior season.

Ogbueze's father Godwin is a former Clemson soccer player and is eighth on the Tigers' career scoring list.

Ogbueze is the second transfer the 49ers have signed recently who won't be eligible until 2014-15, joining forward Bernard Sullivan from Clemson.

Another transfer, shooting guard Ben Cherry (Tulane) will be eligible for the 2013-14 season. The 49ers also signed freshman forward Cameron Blakely last week.

There is still plenty of room on Charlotte's roster for next season, with forwards Darion Clark and E. Victor Nickerson transferring out.

Charlotte 49ers pick up first freshman member of 2013 class

  

   On Wednesday, Cameron Blakley, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound senior power forward from Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., is expected to sign a letter of intent to play for Charlotte.

   Blakley’s high school coach, Kevin Morris, confirmed Blakley verbally committed to the 49ers after making a visit to the school last week.

   Blakley, who averaged 16.9 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game this season, also received offers from Northwestern, East Carolina, Furman and USC Upstate, his coach said.

   "I think Cam is a good fit for Charlotte," Morris said. "He’s a big-time shot blocker and he and can step out and shoot the 3-pointer."

   Morris said Blakley was already academically eligible. Blakley is the first freshman for the 49ers’ 2013 recruiting class.

   - Jim Utter

49ers, Butler in big baseball series

Charlotte is host to Butler this weekend in a crucial Atlantic 10 baseball series at Hayes Stadium.

The 49ers (26-19, 10-5) and Bulldogs (22-19, 10-5) are part of a four-way tie for third place in the league (joined by Xavier and Rhode Island), which is important because only seven teams will advance to the conference tournament, scheduled for May 22-25 at Hayes Stadium.

Tyler Barnette (3-3, 4.30) starts Friday for Charlotte, although he is 0-3 in league games. The Bulldogs have won six straight overall and six in a row in the conference.

Before Saturday's game, Charlotte will honor its 1993 baseball team, which was the first in program history to win a conference championship and play in the NCAA tournament. On Sunday, the 49ers will retire the jersey of former star and current assistant coach Bo Robinson, whose 100 RBIs in 1998 remain a school record.

Game times are 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday.

Spring game rosters, info

Here's a look at the rosters for Saturday's Green-White spring football game. The game begins at 1 p.m., with gates opening at 11:30 a.m. More than 11,000 tickets have been distributed for the game in the 15,300-seat stadium. Tickets are $10 and available on the 49ers' website.

 

Green offense

Quarterback Matt Johnson, running backs Alan Barnwell and Damarrell Alexander, receivers Mikel Hunter, Austin Duke, Jamel Ross and Will Thomas, H-backs C.J. Crawford and Justin Bolus, linemen Mason Sledge, Thomas La Bianca, Daniel Book, Casey Perry and Jamal Covington.

 

Green defense

Line: Devin Clegg, Larry Ogunjobi, and James Middleton; linebackers: Nico Alcalde, Terry Caldwell, Micah Bryan and Rick LeGrant; secondary:  Tank Norman, Greg Cunningham, Desmond Cooper, and Daquan Lucas. Alex Petzke and Ardy Holmes will also play on the white team.

 

White offense

Quarterbacks Lee McNeil (who will also play on the green team) and Patrick O'Brien.  Running backs Quintin Gay and Donjore Gainey; receivers Corey Nesmith, E.J. Rhinehart, Luke Sonricker and Darius Smalls; H-backs Elijah Roberson, Peter Fields and Jason Eury.  Linemen Kyle Hoffman, Joe Wolljung, Jared Barr, Zach Thomas, Zach Bumgarner, Thomas Frazier, Cameron Curlings and Cody Brown.  Zach Thomas and Nesmith will also play for the Green.

 

White defense

Line: Payton Thompson, Hayden Beck, Fletcher O'Neill and Kyle Taylor; linebackers: Jalen Holt, Brandon Rodriguez and Mark Pettit and Kendal Parker (also for Green), Zeb Little, Tyler DeStefani and Robert Williams. Secondary: Jordan Abrams, Cortezz Nixon, Petzke, Holmes, Sam Dexter, Danny Leonardi and DaQuavius Reid. 

 

Here's what Charlotte says the parking situation is (lots open at 9 a.m.):

 

Game-day parking requires a parking permit. Those without a permit will be directed to Cone Deck (enter via main entrance) for cash purchase parking.

FSL account holders who have already paid the parking fee and made their annual giving contribution to the Athletic Foundation received a parking permit for the spring game. That permit is to the same lot that the FSL holder will use during the 2013 season (new permits will be mailed in August). It is important to review directions on the back of the permit to see the specific campus entry route assigned for that lot. Not all entrances are available to fans. Most entrances will allow only fans with the proper parking permit.

re-Purchase Parking permit:

Any fan without an FSL parking permit can purchase a permit online at https://uncc.

clickandpark.com/event/?search[event_id]=3670 to park in the West or Union Decks. Th at online system can also be used for ADA parking in the Orange CRI Deck

Game Day Purchase:

Fans arriving on campus without a parking permit will be directed to the Cone Deck via the

main entrance for the $10 cash parking purchase. Parking permits for the tailgating (surface) lots are not available to anyone who is not an FSL account holder.

Students:

With the exception of Lot 25, student resident lots will not be affected by football. Resident permits will be required in any resident lot. Resident students will be required to remove their vehicles from Lot 25 to North Deck on Friday evening. The designated student tailgate lots are lots 5, 5A and 6.