NASCAR and 49ers mix quite well

It was good to see Charlotte complete the season sweep of Richmond Wednesday night as I was watching from afar. I started a two-week break from basketball to cover Speedweeks in Daytona Beach, Fla., leading up to the Feb. 18 Daytona 500. I will return to the 49ers beat for the Feb. 21 game at Duquesne and finish out the season. In the meantime, I will continue to keep an eye on the team and recruiting.

Even here in the world of NASCAR there are plenty of Charlotte 49ers connections. Senior walk-on Travis Gordon from the basketball team spent the past two summers interning at Hendrick Motorsports and hopes to work there fulltime after he completes his MBA. Also, some of my best friends on the road during the NASCAR season -- Josh Snider and David Hovis -- are UNC Charlotte graduates. Both are also good friends of NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose sister, Kelley, graduated from UNCC.

Some of my friends in NASCAR find it odd I would work two beats that seem so different -- college basketball and NASCAR. I find the change in sports refreshing.

In some other 49ers news:
* Charlotte 49ers women’s soccer coach Jon Lipsitz received 14 commitments to the team for the 2007 season, to add to 16 returning letter-winners and 10 returning starters. Among the commitments were two players ranked among the top 100 by Soccer Buzz magazine. They are: Katie Davies, a 5-foot-4 defender at Xenia High in Ohio and member of the U.S. National Pool; and Samantha Huecker, a 5-7 midfielder at Oldham County High in Kentucky. She is a two-time state player of the year and also a member of the U.S. National Pool.

* Sabrina Gregory, a junior guard on the Charlotte women's basketball team, was named to the first team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III team. She has a 3.75 grade point average and majors in math.

Charlotte-Richmond notebook: 49ers impressive on boards

Hidden behind Leemire Goldwire's 25-point outburst in the Charlotte 49ers' 61-46 Atlantic 10 victory against Richmond on Wednesday was a strong rebounding effort. Charlotte's effort on the boards – especially on the offensive end – kept the 49ers in the game when the Spiders ran out to an early 16-6 lead. E.J. Drayton and Jerell Jamison each had 10 rebounds to lead Charlotte, which clobbered Richmond 42-18 on the boards. "I always focus on my role and (rebounding) is my role," said Jamison, who had a career-high night. "My rebounding should give my team a lift." Jamison, a 6-foot-5 senior, also had a career-high rebounding game (six) against Dayton earlier this season. -- The Spiders, who play a Princeton-style offense, led by 10 points early. Frustration might have set in for the 49ers. "You sit there on two points, then four points for a while," said Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz. "The longer it goes, the worse it can get." But Charlotte held Richmond scoreless for 8:49, spanning both halves, during a 19-0 run that saw the 49ers take the lead and never give it back. -- Goldwire's seven 3-pointers – tying a career high – moved him into sixth place on the 49ers' all-time list. He passed Shanderic Downs (179) and now has 185. -- Maybe the A-10 cellar-dwelling Spiders weren't much of a draw. Halton Arena's 9,105 seats were barely half full with a crowd of 5,221. -- David Scott

Lutz encouraged by effort in practice

Charlotte 49ers coach Bobby Lutz said this week's practices would say a lot about his team after its lopsided loss Saturday at Xavier. Tuesday, after two days of hard practice, Lutz said he was generally pleased with the team's effort.

"Yesterday was a great practice," Lutz said. "Today wasn't quite as good but I thought our second group created some of that. They played well today and that's good because did a better job today of simulating Richmond. Overall, it's been good. I know we're ready to play and we're ready to get that game Saturday out of our system."

Repeatedly Tuesday, Lutz asked his team to pass the ball on offense. At one point he said, "I promise if you pass the ball at least four times, I guarantee you will get a wide-open shot." Lutz no sooner finished when the offense started back, and on the fourth pass, Sean Phaler was wide open on the corner and drained a 3-pointer.

Charlotte's Antwon Coleman, who has a right thumb injury, was able to participate in much of practice. Jerell Jamison (back) went the distance.

-- Jim Utter

Freshmen, jucos the problem on defense?

Post game thought from Charlotte's lopsided loss at Xavier:

This Charlotte 49ers team, more than others in the past, clearly has difficulty putting 40 minutes together of good defense. Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz likes to utilize changing defenses throughout a game and this year's team is having a hard time adjusting to that. Some games they are better than others. Clearly they can do it at times (look at performance against Saint Joseph's, Massachusetts and George Washington), but sustaining it for the long haul is the 49ers' biggest problem right now.

Part of the 49ers' difficulty this year is because of their reliance on freshmen and junior college transfers. Both have little time to learn the system in the brief preseason. Where transfers from other Division I schools sit out a year (and get a year of practice with the team before they play and a year to get in shape), freshman and jucos are basically thrown into the fire.

The difficult decision a coach is left with is whether giving those players court time, despite their problems, is better for the long haul. Game experience, particularly on defense, is invaluable. So, do you sit them every time they make mistakes or play them for the experience? It's a fine line and Charlotte has been lucky in the past to come out on the plus side more often than not.

Practice update from Cincinnati:

-- Charlotte 49ers coach Bobby Lutz spent a great deal of time emphasizing his belief that Xavier will use constant continual double teams against forward E.J. Drayton in Saturday’s game.
"Why will they do that?" Drayton asked. "Because you’re killing them inside," freshman Ian Andersen yelled out.
He is right.
How Drayton responds will likely be key to the 49ers’ chances. If he is double-teamed, good recognition of that should allow him to find one of Charlotte’s perimeter players open on the outside.
-- Antwon Coleman returned to practice despite a right thumb injury. Forward Jerell Jamison sat out most of practice still nursing a sore back but did some work on stationary bike.
-- Expect a hostile crowd Saturday. The game is a sellout and tickets to the game were found being sold Friday night on eBay.

Is NCAA control of officials the answer?

It’s sad so much time is spent complaining about the officiating this season in the A-10. In my mind, it’s time for the NCAA to take over control of all officiating and end the ridiculous concept of conferences each hiring their own officials. Aren’t they all supposed to be following the same rulebook? If so, why would should the quality of the officiating be any different in the Sun Belt, the Atlantic 10 or the ACC? But it is. It’s time to try the random assignment of officials.

49ers likely to play Salukis next season

Random observations about the Niners:

-- It looks like Charlotte has secured a home game next season against Missouri Valley Conference power Southern Illinois (18-5, 9-3). Charlotte is 5-1 all-time against the Salukis, with the most recent meeting being the 49ers' 64-59 win in Carbondale, Ill., in 2004 which ended SIU's then 31-game home winning streak (third-longest in the country at that time). The tentative date for the game is Saturday, Dec. 8.

-- Injuries mounting: A total of three players missed practice Thursday. Travis Gordon, who injured his right shoulder and is awaiting a magnetic resonance imaging test, sat out. Joining him were Jerell Jamison (sore back) and Antwon Coleman (injured right thumb).

-- Considering how difficult this season has been and how much E.J. Drayton has meant to what success the 49ers have had, how bad would things be if Drayton had played one more minute in an additional game last season and had been ineligible for a medical redshirt? He gets my early vote for team MVP.

-- Jim Utter