Dewhurst named to U.S. Maccabiah team

Charlotte 49ers sophomore Charles Dewhurst, who starred at Charlotte Latin, has earned a spot on the U.S. open men's basketball team that will compete at the 18th World Maccabiah Games, July 12-23, in Israel.

More than 9,000 of the world's best Jewish athletes from 54 countries will compete at the Games. Dewhurst is one of eight NCAA student-athletes who have made the U.S. Maccabi Team, which will be coached by Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl.

The other players named to the team include: New Hampshire center Dane DiLiegro, Arizona State guard Derek Glasser, Saint Mary's (Calif.) guard Todd Golden, Brown guard Steve Gruber, Tennessee forward Steven Pearl, Penn guard Zack Rosen and Duke guard Jon Scheyer.

49ers-Tulsa tip-off time changed to 4 p.m.

The Charlotte 49ers have moved the game time of their Jan. 10 men's basketball home contest against Tulsa to 4 p.m.

It was originally scheduled for 7 p.m.

The 49ers opted to change the game time following the announcement of the NFL playoff schedule. The Carolina Panthers will host a playoff game that evening in Charlotte.

News mixed for Coley, Wilderness

The Charlotte 49ers’ men’s basketball team got some good medical news and some bad Sunday.
Senior forward Charlie Coley still sports a distinctive cut over his left eye but will be ready for Tuesday night’s home game against Long Island.
Coley took an elbow above his eye with less than seven minutes left in Charlotte’s 100-80 win against Youngstown State on Dec. 21. He did not return to the game but finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Coley, who was in attendance for Charlotte’s women’s game Sunday against No. 12 Notre Dame, said he needed eight stitches to close the cut and his eye was swollen shut for a day or so.
Also Sunday, the team announced sophomore forward An’Juan Wilderness has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left foot and could miss two weeks of action.
Wilderness has started all 10 games and is tied for third on the team with a 10.4 scoring average. He has scored in double figures five times, including three of the past four games.
Wilderness is expected to miss Charlotte’s games with Long Island on Tuesday, Saturday at Maryland and Jan. 7 at Duquesne. He hopes to return to action for the Jan. 10 home game against Tulsa.

Tickets on sale for A-10 women's tournament

Tickets are now on sale for the 2009 Atlantic 10 women's basketball tournament, which will be played March 6-9 at the Charlotte 49ers' Halton Arena.

The tournament will feature the league's top 12 teams, and the winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. First-round action starts on March 6, followed by the quarterfinal round on March 7. Both days feature two sessions each starting at noon for the early session and 5:30 p.m. for the afternoon session. The semifinal games will be played on March 8 starting at noon. The final is on March 9 at 5 p.m.

Ticket packages are on sale by calling (704) 687-4949 for $40 for the four-day, six-session event. Students, children and senior citizens can get their packages for $20.

Single-session tickets will be sold for $10 for adults and $5 for children per session.

Lyerly 2nd-team AA in Collegiate Baseball

Charlotte 49ers junior Rob Lyerly was selected to the preseason Louisville Slugger Collegiate Baseball second-team All-America squad, the publication announced.

Lyerly has also been named to the Wallace Watch List - which includes players that could vie for the nation's top collegiate baseball player honor in conjunction with the College Baseball Hall of Fame ceremonies in Texas.

Last season, Lyerly led the 49ers with 26 doubles and 76 RBI while batting .364 and slugging .705. A former standout at Piedmont High in Union County, Lyerly transferred to Charlotte after one season at Campbell.

Lyerly, a junior this season, set or tied four school records last season with a 6-for-6, three home run, 19 total bases performance in an April 19 game at Massachusetts.

Upcoming Niners basketball promotions

Some upcoming promotions at Charlotte 49ers basketball games:

-- Sunday is Youth Day, with free admission to Charlotte's game with Youngstown State for kids 17-and-under if they accompanied by a paying adult.

-- At Sunday's game, the Dec. 30 men's game against Long Island and the Dec. 28 women's game against Notre Dame, the Community Blood Center of the Carolinas will be on site collecting blood donations. Fans interested in donating blood at one of those games will receive a voucher for free admission to the game at which they donate.

Niners sign seven for baseball

The Charlotte 49ers baseball team, which has won the past two Atlantic 10 Conference tournament titles, has signed seven players - five from the Charlotte area - to nation letters of intent during the early signing period.

Those who committed include:

Infielder Shane Basen, a baseball and basketball standout at Marvin Ridge High in Union County, who played in the World Wood Bat Assocation National Championships this year.

Infielder Jim Lyerly of Piedmont High, the younger brother of current 49ers star Rob Lyerly. Jim Lyerly is listed as a Top 50 player in North Carolina by Impact Baseball.

Right-handed pitcher Sean Pope of North Mecklenburg High. Pope is listed as a Top 30 player in N.C. by Impact Baseball and played in the N.C. State Games.

Right-handed pitcher Cory Roberts of Olympic High, who is ranked a Top 45 player in NC by Impact Baseball and a nationally-ranked player by PGCrosschecker. He was also the Queen City Conference's player of the year last season.

Right-handed pitcher Corbin Shive of East Rowan High, who is listed as a Top 25 player in N.C. by Impact Baseball and nationally ranked by PGCrosschecker. Shive, along with Roberts, played for the South Charlotte Panthers last summer. Shive was part of an East Rowan team that advanced to the state championship series last season.

Second baseman Michael Green of Richmond, Va. He was all-region in baseball last season and football this season and played summer ball for former Richmond Spiders coach Ron Atkins.

Outfielder Zachary Semenza will transfer in from Colby Community College in Kansas, who hit .333 and stole eight bases last season as a freshman. Semenza is a native of Great Falls, Mont.

"It's a credit to our assistant coaches, our former players and our current players that we can return, year after year, to the same areas and recruit quality student athletes," said 49ers coach Loren Hibbs. "That community has played a major role in our program's success over the past 17 years."

Charlotte contacting FSL reservation-holders

Charlotte 49ers officials have stopped keeping track of the number of reservations for Forty-Niner Seat Licenses since the goal set by the school's chancellor, Dr. Philip Dubois, of 5,000 was reached a couple of weeks ago.

However, reservations are still being taken. At some point they will cut off the requests, but not yet. In the meantime, school officials have begun follow-up contacts with those who made reservations.

This week, Charlotte 49ers Athletic Foundation officials began making e-mail contact with those who made reservations to ask if their mailing address or number of FSLs requested had changed since they originally contacted the school.

In January, Charlotte will unveil its pricing and payment plans for the FSLs and begin taking payment.

If you reserved FSLs but are not contacted for updated information over the next several days, call the foundation at (704) 687-3766. To make a FSL reservation, go to www.charlotte49ers.com.

49ers losing women's soccer coach

Jon Lipsitz, who in his short reign as the Charlotte 49ers women’s soccer coach took the program to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, has resigned, athletics director Judy Rose confirmed Monday night.
Rose said Lipsitz had accepted the coaching job at Kentucky of the SEC. Rose declined further comment and said a formal announcement of Lipsitz’s departure would be made on Tuesday.
Lipsitz, a native of Chapel Hill who graduated from North Carolina in 1988, just completed his fourth and most successful season with the 49ers. Charlotte won its third consecutive regular-season Atlantic 10 title and second consecutive A-10 tournament. He was 58-23-4 during his stint with Charlotte.
The 49ers, who finished 18-4-1 this season, went 1-1 in the NCAA tournament, beating Tennessee and losing to eventual national champion North Carolina in the second round.
Lipsitz will replace Warren Lipka, who had been the coach of the Wildcats since the program’s inception in 1992 until he was fired last month.

Salvaggione second-team All-America

Charlotte 49ers senior men’s soccer forward Chris Salvaggione has been named second-team All-America by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Two others from the Atlantic 10 also were All-Americans. Saint Louis junior Calum Angus was on the first team and Temple’s J.T. Noone joined Salvaggione on the second.
This season, Salvaggione was Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year as well as first-team all-conference for a second straight season.

Salvaggione invited to MLS combine

Four Atlantic 10 Conference men's soccer players, Calum Angus, Brandon Barklage and Kyle Patterson from Saint Louis and Charlotte's Chris Salvaggione have been invited to participate in the 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine as announced by Major League Soccer.

The combine, which will be held at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Jan. 9-13, will be attended by the coaching and management staffs of all 15 MLS teams in preparation for the MLS SuperDraft slated for Jan. 15 in St. Louis.

Saint Louis is one of just three schools that will send three or more players to the combine, joining Wake Forest (5) and Duke (3).

Salvaggione was named Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year as well as first-team All-A-10 for the second straight season. The native of Monument, Colo., led the league in goals (15) and points (38) and ranked among the nation's leaders in points (2.00 per game).

Notes off 49ers' win at Mississippi State

There were many things Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz liked in the 49ers' 70-64 win against Mississippi State. He was somewhat disappointed with Charlotte's play in the final five minutes, when the 49ers mustered four points on offense - all from the free-throw line.

"That was a team that for 35 minutes tonight we thought we could be," Lutz said. "We've struggled through a lot of close games. I'm not happy with the way we finished but it was nice to have a working margin and have enough lead to win the basketball game."

Lutz said down the stretch the 49ers fouled too much. "We gambled a little more and weren't quite as solid and paid for it," he said. "They attacked a little more aggressively. The fouls I wasn't thrilled with."

- Former Concord High star and 2007 Observer Male Athlete of the Year Dee Bost had a tough time against the 49ers. He scored a team-high 15 points for Mississippi State but made just 3 of 10 shots from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers in the final 15 seconds when the outcome was determined. He had one assist and two turnovers.

- Charlotte point guard DiJuan Harris played all but four minutes of the game. He finished with 11 points, three rebounds, five assists and no turnovers.

"We actually have been doing the same thing that we have been doing all season," Harris said. "It's just the last two or three games coach has really emphasized on making things more simple on defense and making it more of a team effort, and we came out with a victory."

- Charlotte (3-6) will take a break for exams and next plays Youngstown State at Halton Arena at 2 p.m. Dec. 21. The 49ers' last home game was a one-point loss to Clemson on Nov. 22.

Charlotte-Mississippi St. not on MASN

Wednesday night's game between the Charlotte 49ers and Mississippi State is not on MASN as some original schedules (including schedule cards and the media guide) had it listed. That fell through just before the season began.

Instead of Mississippi State, MASN has switched that game with Charlotte's Atlantic 10 road game at Saint Louis. More recently, MASIN also added Charlotte's game at Xavier to its programming list.

MASN has three Charlotte games remaining on its schedule:

Jan. 28 at Xavier

Feb. 11 at Saint Louis

Feb. 25 at George Washington (game time for GW may change back to 7:30 p.m.)

Beam honored as 3rd-team all-American

Charlotte 49ers junior midfielder Hailey Beam has been named third-team all-America by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Beam was also named first-team All-Southeast Region, while sophomore teammate Whitney Weinraub earned second-team region honors.

Beam and Weinraub played integral roles in helping the 49ers to their third consecutive Atlantic 10 regular season title this season, second straight A-10 tournament title, second NCAA bid and first NCAA victory.

Beam is the second Charlotte player to receive all-America honors. Courtney Crandell was named first-time all-America in 2002.

Checking in with A-10

Some Atlantic 10 and Charlotte 49ers basketball notes:

• According to RealTime RPI, the Atlantic 10 ranks fourth among Division I conferences in strength of schedule. A-10 teams have faced 11 ranked opponents since the season opened Nov. 11.
• Entering play Sunday, 16 of the league’s 44 nonconference losses have been by four points or less. A-10 teams also have dropped six overtime contests, including two by Charlotte.
• Charlotte will enter its Dec. 10 game at Mississippi State averaging 8.25 steals per game, good for second in the conference. Junior DiJuan Harris leads the 49ers with 19 steals (2.38 per game), including five versus Providence on Nov. 28. Last season, Charlotte registered 271 steals, its highest total since 1991.
• Charlotte junior guard Ian Andersen has averaged 16.5 points and shot 10 of 21 from 3-point range over his past two games, including Saturday’s win at Southern Illinois.

Niners sign 6 for softball

The Charlotte 49ers softball team this week signed six players to national letters of intent for next season's class - three infielders, a pair of outfielders and a pitcher.

The class includes one local player, Chelsea Stamey from Matthews Butler High. She was twice named all-conference as a second baseman and played on Butler's three state championship teams. During Butler's state title run last season, Stamey batted .364 and had a perfect fielding percentage.

Also joining the 49ers are middle infielder Brittney Brinkley of Chesapeake, Va.; outfielder Nikki Gayle of Bear, Del.; infielder Brianna Gwaltney of Anaheim Hills, Calif.; third baseman Lindsey Holloman of Suffolk, Va.; and first baseman Virginia Prince of Cumming, Ga.

Charlotte opens the 2009 season on Feb. 13 when it hosts the Green and White Tournament at the D.L. Phillips Softball Complex.

Spriggs is A-10 women's player of week

Charlotte 49ers women's basketball player Ashley Spriggs was named the Atlantic 10 Conference player of the week following her performance over the weekend in the Hoops for the Cure Tournament in Dallas, Tex.

Spriggs, a junior forward, was named most valuable player of the tournament, hitting the game-winning shot as time expired to give the 49ers a 76-74 win over host Southern Methodist in the championship game. For the week, she averaged 16.7 points and seven rebounds in three 49ers games, including a home loss to Wake Forest last Wednesday.

-- Fans interested in attending the 2009 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament in Atlantic City, N.J., can purchase all-session group tickets now at (609) 348-7021. Prices are $300 for Gold, $140 for Silver and $120 for Bronze. Individual session tickets will go on sale in early 2009. The tournament is March 11-14.