Niners lose one player; add another

The Charlotte 49ers men’s basketball team truly saw the highs and lows of the game on Monday.

Freshman 6-foot-3 shooting guard Shamarr Bowden, who was named to the Atlantic 10 preseason all-rookie team, notified the team he was transferring at the end of the spring semester.

He did not participate in practice on Monday but will finish out his spring semester classes. Bowden had played in all 15 games this season, averaging 5.7 points in roughly 10 minutes of action per game. He was shooting 31.6 percent from 3-point range.

“While I am unhappy with Shamarr’s decision not to play, I respect the decision,” said Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz. “We wish him the best.”

Bowden did not specify the reason for his transfer and said he doesn’t know where he will play next season.

“I like the coaching staff and as for my teammates, I wish them the best of luck,” Bowden said. “I still support them and hope they make the NCAA Tournament. “As far as my career goes, I don’t feel like I have the best basketball opportunity by staying.”

The 49ers did receive some good news Monday night on the recruiting front.

Charlotte received a commitment from Hargrave Military Academy’s Jarvis Davis, a 6-1, 175-pound senior point guard, his coach Kevin Keatts confirmed.

Davis was ranked the 72nd best point guard in the country in the Class of 2009 while he attended Ridge View High in South Carolina and originally committed to Louisiana Tech. He was considered one of South Carolina's top five 2009 prospects in Class 4A and averaged 19.5 points and 4.3 assists.

Instead, Davis elected to attend one year at Hargrave, where he is averaging 12 points and five assists per game on a undefeated team (15-0). Davis chose Charlotte over Marshall.

“Jarvis has played very well this season and is a very explosive guard who can get to the rack and finish over bigger guys,” Keatts said. “Since playing on a bigger stage this season, he’s open a lot of eyes to his potential.”