49ers land high-scoring transfer from N.C. Central

Jamar Briscoe earned plenty of recognition and accolades for his stellar performance in his freshman season as a point guard with N.C. Central.

What he didn’t have, and craved, was a chance to compete for postseason conference titles and NCAA berths.

That will change.

Briscoe, a 5-foot-10, 155-pound point guard from Baltimore, is transferring to the Charlotte 49ers. He will spend his first season as a walk-on paying his own way, then have three seasons of eligibility remaining during which he will be on scholarship.

Briscoe is expected to arrive in the Charlotte area by the middle of next month and will enroll as a student for the fall semester in August.

“I was looking for the opportunity to go to a school and compete for championships and face better competition on a regular basis,” said Briscoe, who averaged 17.8 points a game for the Eagles, second-best in Division I among freshmen.

Only Charlotte native Seth Curry, who played at Liberty, scored more as a freshman last season. Curry has since transferred to Duke.

Briscoe said he picked the 49ers after also considering N.C. State, Virginia Tech, Duquesne, La Salle and Niagara.

“I decided I wanted to play in the Atlantic 10. I did some research and although Charlotte and a lot of the schools in the A-10 are not necessarily close to home, the league has produced a lot of good guards,” Briscoe said.

“This is the first step in a long journey. It will be a challenging and new experience sitting out next season, but I will use the time to become a better player and focus on my academics.”

At N.C. Central, Briscoe’s awards were numerous: He was named to the Black College Men’s Division I All-America Basketball Team, named the Division I Independent Newcomer of the Year, named to the CollegeInsider.com Freshman Mid-Major All-America Team and the N.C. Collegiate Sports Information Association All-State Team.

Briscoe started in 30 of 31 games for N.C. Central, which completed its second season as a Division I independent. He also led the team in assists (2.6) and steals (1.8) per game.

He scored 20 or more points 11 times and had five games with 30 or more. Among his highlights: 28 points, four assists and four steals in a loss to N.C. State and 34 points and three assists against Duquesne.

“I have no doubt we will be competing for championships while I’m playing at Charlotte,” said Briscoe, who was recruited by 49ers associate head coach Rob Moxley. “Coach (Bobby) Lutz lets his guards play in a controlled, open system.

“I’m a scoring guard for sure, but I never expected the opportunities I got my first year. It was a good year and I worked hard and I hope the best is yet to come.”